Overview
Syllabus overview
Course requirements
Computing Technology 7–10 may be studied as a 100-hour or a 200-hour course. The content available for Stage 4 is identical to Stage 5. Teachers teaching the course in Stage 4 may adjust the Stage 5 outcomes as appropriate to the needs of students in Years 7 and 8.
Course numbers:
- 200-hour elective: 1611
- 100-hour elective: 1612
- 200-hour Life Skills elective: 1613
- 100-hour Life Skills elective: 1614
Exclusions: Students may not access Life Skills outcomes and other outcomes from the same subject.
100-hour course
Students undertaking the 100-hour course are required to complete:
- at least one Enterprise Information Systems focus area
- at least one Software Development focus area
- 2–3 focus areas either individually or combined
- practical learning and project work for most of the course time
- at least one group project.
200-hour course
Students undertaking the 200-hour course are required to complete:
- at least 2 Enterprise Information Systems focus areas
- at least 2 Software Development focus areas
- 4–6 focus areas either individually or combined
- practical learning and project work for most of the course time
- at least one group project.
Organisation of Computing Technology 7–10
Computing Technology 7–10 Syllabus has 6 focus areas:
- Enterprise information systems: Modelling networks and social connections
- Enterprise information systems: Designing for user experience
- Enterprise information systems: Analysing data
- Software development: Building mechatronic and automated systems
- Software development: Creating games and simulations
- Software development: Developing apps and web software
Image long description: A content diagram for Computing Technology 7–10 shows how Systems thinking and Computational thinking are connected via Design thinking through projects. Systems thinking is shown as a key process in the learning and understanding of Enterprise information systems. This includes Modelling networks and social connections, Designing for user experience and Analysing data. Computational thinking is shown as a key process in the learning and understanding of Software development. This includes Building mechatronic and automated systems, Creating games and simulations and Developing apps and web software.
Core learning for Computing Technology 7–10 is embedded across each focus area and within each content group. The core consists of:
- thinking skills
- social and cultural awareness
- technical knowledge and skills
- project management.
The content groups describe the knowledge and/or skills students develop to become creative, safe and responsible users of computing technologies. The practical application of knowledge and skills is embedded within the outcomes and content to support the foundation for learning in computing technology through projects. Each focus area is made up of 4 content groups.
Content groups
- Identifying and defining
- Researching and planning
- Producing and implementing
- Testing and evaluating.
Life Skills outcomes and content
Students with disability can access the syllabus outcomes and content in a range of ways. Decisions regarding curriculum options should be made in the context of collaborative curriculum planning.
Some students with intellectual disability may find the Years 7–10 Life Skills outcomes and content the most appropriate option to follow in Stage 4 and/or Stage 5. Before determining whether a student is eligible to undertake a course based on Life Skills outcomes and content, consideration should be given to other ways of assisting the student to engage with the Stage 4 and/or Stage 5 outcomes, or prior stage outcomes if appropriate. This assistance may include a range of adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities.
Life Skills outcomes cannot be taught in combination with other outcomes from the same subject. Teachers select specific Life Skills outcomes to teach based on the needs, strengths, goals, interests and prior learning of each student. Students are required to demonstrate achievement of one or more Life Skills outcomes.
Creating written texts supports learning
The development of the Computing Technology 7–10 Draft Syllabus follows Recommendation 2: ‘Clarify and strengthen writing content in syllabus documents’ from Teaching Writing: Report of the Thematic Review of Writing (NESA 2018).
Creating written texts facilitates learning as it promotes explicitness, encourages the integration of ideas, supports reflection, fosters personal engagement and aids learners to think about the significance and implication of ideas. Each subject has particular and specific writing demands relevant for communicating within and about the discipline. Writing about content enhances understanding across subjects and stages.
The secondary curriculum includes:
- systematic development of expectations for creating written texts which align with the English K–10 Syllabus (2022)
- explicit writing content to support students to become fluent creators of texts and to deepen their understanding of the subject area
- opportunities to practise the process of creating written texts to develop and communicate knowledge, understanding and ideas
- a focus on development of word consciousness and precise use of subject-specific terminology.
Creating written texts refers to the act of composing and constructing a text for a particular purpose, audience and context.
Various methods of transcription may be employed, and a student’s preferred communication form(s) should be considered when teaching.
Balance of content
The amount of content associated with a given outcome is not necessarily indicative of the amount of time spent engaging with the respective outcome. Teachers use formative and summative assessment to determine instructional priorities and the time needed for students to demonstrate expected outcomes.
The content groups are not intended to be hierarchical. They describe in more detail how the outcomes are to be interpreted and demonstrated, and the intended learning appropriate for the stage. In considering the intended learning, teachers make decisions about the sequence and emphasis to be given to particular groups of content based on the needs and abilities of their students.