Year 9 Digital Technology

What is Technology?

Technology is intervention by design. It uses intellectual and practical resources to create technological outcomes, which expand human possibilities by addressing needs and realising opportunities.

Technology makes enterprising use of knowledge, skills and practices for exploration and communication, some specific to areas within technology and some from other disciplines. These include digitally-aided design, programming, software development, various forms of technological modelling, and visual literacy – the ability to make sense of images and the ability to make images that make sense.

What is Digital Technologies?

In Year 9, students spend one, 10-week term term studying Digital Technology.  They are taught knowledge and skills through project work which enables them to follow a predetermined process to design, develop, store, test and evaluate digital content to address a given issue. Throughout this process, students look at social and end-user considerations. They begin to gain independence in  decomposing a computational problem into an algorithm which could possibly be used to create a program incorporating inputs, outputs, sequence, selection and iteration. They begin to understand the role of systems in managing digital devices, security and application software. Students learn to apply file management conventions using a range of storage devices.

What is Digital Literacy?

Digital literacy is about being skilled at using a range of technologies that support living, learning and working in a digital society – now and in the future. Digital skills include:

- using a computer

- communicating through online applications (apps) and other technologies

- performing a variety of tasks in digital environments

- using the internet and other digital technologies to find, evaluate, use or create information

- operating mobile devices of various kinds, such as phones or tablets

- being familiar with enough online tools to choose the right one to accomplish a given task

- understanding how to comply with the law in terms of copyright and intellectual property rights

Year 9 students begin to hone the digital skills they have collected in their primary school journey, applying these specifically to Wesley College networks, devices and subject areas. Students are expected to confidently and correctly use their digital knowledge and skills to be independent, productive and supportive members of the school community.

A grounding in Digital Technologies is helpful for many career pathways. Specific Digital Technologies career pathways for ākonga are wide and varied and include creative endeavours such as interactive design and more technical pathways such as software engineering or support. The skills and attributes acquired through Digital Technologies will also prepare ākonga for related fields such as business or communications.