Unveiling Truths: Digital Technologies doesn't need to break the bank
Written by Grok Academy
My school does not have the latest and greatest robots, so how can I teach the Digital Technologies curriculum? Great news! Digital Technologies can often be taught just as [1][2][3] effectively without the need for $5000 worth of robots by utilising a combination of unplugged and plugged activities. Join Grok Academy Educator and primary STEM specialist Bianca Willis as she offers practical ideas, activities, and strategies to ensure effective coverage of the Digital Technologies curriculum, without the need for expensive equipment.
What are unplugged activities?
Unplugged activities operate independently of physical hardware devices like laptops, tablets, or robots. Since 2018, Digital Technologies has been a mandatory subject for all Australian school students from Foundation - Year 8. Initially, unplugged activities were used when schools did not have access to devices [4], however they have increasingly proven to be very effective in Digital Technologies lessons. The key function of a Digital Technologies unplugged activity is to help students bridge the gap between everyday language and activities, and computing language, constructs and rules. As foundational tools, unplugged activities allow guided exploration while moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar [1][5]. Research supports the use of unplugged activities to improve learning outcomes, particularly in the realm of algorithmic thinking[4]. For students aged 7 to 11 years, problem solving with abstract concepts can be very difficult to comprehend, sometimes impossible, so using unplugged activities allows students to problem solve with concrete objects[8].
Digital Technologies lessons are usually the first exposure to computational thinking for students in the primary years, and it is beneficial to introduce this thinking with paper, pencils, rope, cards and games[7]. Recent research on unplugged activities has revealed that students’ self-efficacy and programming vocabulary is higher if unplugged activities occur before moving beyond following, describing and designing algorithms to implementing them in code[6]. Furthermore, unplugged activities improve student knowledge of other aspects of computational thinking such as algorithmic design, abstraction, decomposition and evaluation[9].
Unplugged activities can be used to give students a solid foundation in many of the key concepts of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. Below, you can see some examples of how this can be achieved in Years 1 and 2.
Data Representation
represent data as pictures, symbols, numbers and words [AC9TDI2K02]
Grok Academy’s DT Laundry encourages students to consider the symbols on the laundry tags of their clothing and what they mean.
Pig/Dog is another unplugged activity, where students engage in drawing images of pigs and dogs and consider the features that make it one or the other.
Specification
investigate simple problems for known users that can be solved with digital systems [AC9TDI2P01]
Students use design thinking approaches and resources such as cardboard or LEGO to prototype a digital system that will meet the need.
Scenario-based discussions could be held in cross-curriculum areas such as HaSS. For example, I need to interview my grandparent so how could I connect with Grandma? Or focussing on weather in Science, engage in a class talk aloud about if there is a digital system that we can use to know if rain is predicted so that we know to bring an umbrella?
Algorithms
explore algorithms by following and describing algorithms involving a sequence of steps, branching (decisions) and iteration (repetition) [AC9TDI2P02]
Grok Academy’s Robot Dance is a fun unplugged activity designed to allow younger students to explore using a set of instructions to design a robot dance. The activity includes six simple dance moves and students design the algorithm for the dance, deciding the order for the dance moves.
Ask students to sequence a recipe for fairy bread
Use picture books or songs to teach branching, repetition or loops.
Activities like this allow students to explore how dance routines, songs or recipes, are a set of instructions carried out in a specific order.
Privacy and security
discuss that some websites and apps store their personal data online [AC9TDI2P09]
Grok Academy’s scenario based-game Digital Detectives, gets students to consider examples of online activity and identify them as safe or unsafe.
In later years, the algorithmic concept progresses to allow students to interact with more complex scenarios. In years 3 and 4, for example, the Flat Pack LEGO activity allows students to engage in algorithmic thinking as they deliver explicit instructions to another student to help them to build a LEGO or LEGO Minifigure creation. This is an excellent activity to also introduce an effective pedagogical strategy called pair programming, with one driver and one navigator, together building the LEGO Minifigure. The use of LEGO ensures that this activity is always an instant hit in my classroom.
Race Up If Mountain is another activity in which students follow algorithms, this time including iteration and multiple alternatives for branching making it perfect for years 5 and 6. Students need a game board and dice and move around the board with if-else actions to climb over mountains if certain conditions are met.
Other than these great resources, games that students may already be familiar with can be used to teach Digital Technologies! Consider each of the following examples:
Simon Says, with students ‘programming’ their peers to undertake specific actions or move around the classroom. This is a great way to explore algorithms in a play-based way.
Capture the Flag where students write the algorithm for their teammate to move past their opponents and grab their flag.
Digital systems eye-spy is a great way to help students identify digital devices in their school environment.
Celebrity heads with words such as keyboard, mouse, monitor, iPad, laptop, allow students a chance to verbalise the function and features of digital devices.
Activities or games where students sort material by colour or shape could be used for students to explore data representation.
Even for older students, games continue to be used to teach students about Digital Technologies concepts. For example:
Engaging in group activities such as the Cyber Security card game - Know your risks is an excellent way to introduce concepts such as online safety, empowering students to investigate privacy and security concepts in an enjoyable, interactive manner.
Cabled network connections can be demonstrated using rope or string and wifi through cards, helping to show students the difference between connections. This can be further expanded to the teaching of packets where a printed image is chopped up, distributed into envelopes (headers) and then they travel around the network.
Aside from being a fantastic way to teach Digital Technologies concepts, games provide opportunities to enhance critical and creative thinking skills, encourage collaboration, active participation, as well as provide students with an effective and enjoyable learning experience. The opportunities are endless!
Low-cost activities
If your students have access to devices, Scratch’s offline editor can be another cost-effective way for students to develop their skills, particularly for Years 3 to 6, as they extend into developing simple algorithms as visual programs with control structures and input blocks. By downloading the offline editor, students can either independently, or in pairs practice pair programming, create interactive games for the purpose of either teaching or entertaining their peers. Afterwards, students can enjoy playing each other's games to give peer feedback, fostering collaboration and reinforcing their understanding of Digital Technologies in a fun and interactive way.
Using online resources such as Grok Academy’s free Micro:Bit Starter – Blockly, which includes a micro:bit simulator, allows students to explore block-based programming using loops and variables and then test their implementation of the algorithm using the simulator - no micro:bit needed!
When looking for ways to have students consider the design of complete solutions involving technology, a great option for classroom resourcing is a $150 annual subscription to Resource Rescue - a non-profit organisation which collects rejects, seconds and factory offcuts for distribution to the community. Once a term you can fill trolley loads of someone else’s unwanted items that became my treasure. Students would make catapults, bridges, balloon powered cars, Bee-Bot tunnels, oversized trains with sensors, cardboard instruments that we would code to play music using Makey Makey. I had big tubs of icy pole sticks, bottle lids, cardboard, felt, cotton reels etc and would often set open-ended challenges where students needed to create a device to move something from one spot to another using only these materials and drawing on STEM concepts.
In the primary classroom, it can be great to engage students in design thinking. Activities including ideation, failing fast, prototyping, user testing, evaluation and iteration, can be found in Grok Academy’s Design Thinking workbook and online course. These free resources include printable worksheets, posters, scenario cards and group role description cards.
Prototyping might involve having students create a cardboard or other physical resource version of a digital solution. Another example is using a ramp or obstacle course with physical resources which students engage in with robotic devices such as Bee-Bots, coding their device to move through the course and over the ramp. Creativity, collaboration and engagement were at their highest during these lessons, with endless possibilities as students brainstormed ideas, shared feedback and used an iterative approach to develop their prototype, and testing, modifying and re-testing before presenting to their peers.
Using unplugged activities as a deliberate choice to teach a younger audience, investing in physical resources that allow for creativity through open-ended tasks and utilising the many free and low-cost resources available enables a rich Digital Technologies course that doesn't break the bank.
If you would like to know more about teaching Digital Technologies in the primary classroom, Grok Academy has a series of webinars for Foundation to Year 2; Years 3 to Year 6; Years 7 to Year 10.
Free Grok Academy Activities
Grok Academy is a FREE, not-for-profit, Digital Technologies education platform and professional learning service provider. Drawing on decades of experience in teaching digital technologies, we provide support through classroom-ready online and unplugged resources, professional learning, and curriculum guidance. As an Australian charity, we aim to empower the next generation with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions they need to become the creators of tomorrow.
Grok Academy provides a range of unplugged activities to support teachers. Here are just a few of my favourites that I regularly use in my primary Digital Technologies classroom.
To access further activities, or our other lesson plans, head to the Resources section of our website. Some of our resources are available as a physical copy. If you would like these sent to you, FREE, please complete this survey here.
References
Munasinghe, B., Bell, T., & Robins, A. (2023). Unplugged activities as a catalyst when teaching introductory programming. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 7(2), 56-71. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.202318546
Caeli, E. N., & Yadav, A. (2019). Unplugged approaches to computational thinking: a historical perspective. TechTrends, July. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00410-5
Millwood, R., Bresnihan, N., Walsh, D., & Hooper, J. (2018). Review of literature on computational thinking. Paper funded by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment 2018. (pp. 10-11) https://www.ncca.ie/ media/3557/primary-coding_review-of-literature-on-computationalthinking.pdf
Bagge, P., & Grover, S. (2020). Chapter 2: Before You Program, Plan! In S. Grover (Ed.), An A to Z handbook on teaching programming (pp. 12-21). Edfinity.
Curzon, P. & Grover, S. (2020). Chapter 7: Guided Exploration Through Unplugged Activities In S. Grover (Ed.), An A to Z handbook on teaching programming (pp. 63-74). Edfinity.
Hermans, F., & Aivaloglou, E. (2017). To scratch or not to scratch?: A controlled experiment comparing plugged first and unplugged first programming lessons. In Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education (pp. 49–56). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137072
Bell, T., Alexander, J., Freeman, I., & Grimley, M. (2009). Computer science unplugged: School students doing real computing without computers. The New Zealand Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology, 13(1), 20–29. https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/computer-science-unplugged-school-students-doing-real-computing-w
Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2020). Developing young children's computational thinking with educational robotics: An interaction effect between gender and scaffolding strategy. Computers in Human Behavior, 105, 105954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.018
Dag, F., Sumuer, E. & Durdu, L. (2023). The effect of an unplugged coding course on primary school students' improvement in their computational thinking skills. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 39. n/a-n/a. 10.1111/jcal.12850. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372418908_The_effect_of_an_unplugged_coding_course_on_primary_school_students
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