Digital Technologies

When looking at how Digital Technologies can be explained to elementary and primary aged students, the easiest way is to break it into two core areas. These are; Computational Thinking for Digital Technologies, and Designing and Developing for Digital Outcomes. 

So, what do these two technological areas focus on?

• Computational Thinking is centred around looking at a problem in such a way that a computer can help us to solve it. It involves students being able to identify the steps needed to solve a problem, and then use their technical skills to get the computer “working” on the problem. This whole learning area is a problem solving process.
• Designing and Developing looks at how humans create digital applications and systems for humans. Students develop increasingly sophisticated understandings around designing and producing digital content. 

Now it’s important to note that while we can define digital technologies in two parts. That doesn’t necessarily mean they need to be taught separately. Certainly in the earlier years like Kindy – Grade 2, you might want to teach the core understandings within each technological area separately. As a way to ensure that children are grasping the concepts. But as they develop, you’ll find that these two technological areas overlap. This not only makes it easier to teach, but it also develops students’ ability to be more creative with their digital solutions.