Primary Subject Leaders March 2013

The Proposed National Curriulum – some highlights from it

You can download the pdf from this link, at the DfE website. Observations from our group discussion included that it was good to be teaching some programming; it was going back to basics; it may be a step back; it may be inaccessible to other teachers in the school; some of it is already taught via roamers/beebots.

The difference between ICT and Computing is essentially that ICT is about using software effectively and Computing is about learning to create software. Some people describe it as the difference between reading and being able to write.

We looked at some of the words, phrases and descriptions from the Computing section: algorithms; sequence; repetition, variables; and how the internet works.

What is an algorithm?

An algorithm is a recipe that can be followed precisely and will always give the same results. It is a set of steps that can be taken to provide the same predictable outcome.

Why do we need algorithms?

Because computers are very literal and can only do exactly what they are told, in the order they are told to do it.

 A well-known example:

‘Draw a square’ .. could be interpreted in lots of different ways by a person eg draw a shape in the sand, use pencil and paper and ruler and protactor or compass, just sketch one quickly on the white board, drag tables around to form a square shape

However, an algorithm – a precise recipe – could be:

1. Take a new piece of paper
2. Place a dot in the centre
3. From the dot, draw a line of 5cm
4. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line
5. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line
6. From where you end up, draw a line of 5cm at a right-angle to the previous line

When these instructions are implemented in a computer program, we can make use of sequence, repetition and variables in:

• Logo
• SmallBasic
• Scratch

And this looks like….

Another algorithm – what does it do?

1. start with a countOfNumbers = 0 and sumOfNumbers = 0
2. if you have a number:
3. add 1 to countOfNumbers
4. add number to sumOfNumbers
5. keep repeating steps 3 and 4 until you have no more numbers
6. divide the sumOfNumbers by the countOfNumbers
7. print results

Understand computer networks including the internet
How pages appear on your screen:

1. your browser (internet explorer, Chrome, Firefox) makes a request for a page, file, image, video when you type in an address
2. this page sits on a server (another computer) and this could be located anywhere in the world
3. when the server recieves a request for the page, it sends it to your browser
4. the page is broken up into small packets of data
5. these packets are sent from 1 router to another (these are called hops)
6. this continues until the packets reach your browser
7. your browser pieces the packets of data together and displays them

You can see this happening using tracert google.com in the cmd window. This will display all the ‘hops’ taken to get to the server. Each address is unique and is actually a set of numbers (eg 173.194.34.105 is google.com). You can type in 173.194.34.105 into the address bar and it will take you to google.com

Sharing:

1. Can make instructions concrete by getting children to act them out first
2. Sony Bloggie
3. Transum for some online logo and some challenges
4. iPad managment – trollies are a necessity
5. Musicians get the best out of GarageBand
6. AppShed
7. Raspberry Pi after-school club running at East Sheen Primary