Australian Computing Academy in Sydney, Australia | School

Australian Computing Academy

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 8627 8686

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• School

25.01.2022 Where should you start with teaching programming to younger students? The Scratch series of coding challenges are an engaging spot to begin, and offer explicit teaching of coding concepts while exploring the fun graphical elements of Scratch. The Wombot challenge focuses on short simple instructions to direct our favourite animal, the Wombot, around the screen. Especially if you've been using Beebots in your classroom, this is a great follow on activity.... Blockly Tree allows students to create geometric art with the Turtle using simple instructions. Blockly Get Started teaches students key concepts using Blockly and using code to create fun feedback in a cooking show! And don't forget about our unplugged activities which will keep students engaged and learning whether you have access to computers or not. Explore them all here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/#years-3-4

25.01.2022 On August 30 Grok Learnings student messaging system will go into hiatus. Student Messaging was rushed out the door to help you & your students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grok team plan to turn it off and assess & decide if they should build it out properly. Keep an eye out for our upcoming survey where you can give us your feedback on student messaging and our other COVID support initiatives.

23.01.2022 Learn how to use the Turtle in Blockly! Draw an awesome satellite while learning advanced programming concepts like loops and functions. Try the Blockly Satellite mini Challenge for Years 5-6 here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/blockly-satellite/ #AussieEd #remotelearning #CSEd

23.01.2022 Password security and information privacy - they're huge issues for teachers and students. How do you keep information secure, but still accessible when you need it? Explore these issues with students in our unplugged and online activities:... Learn about code cracking and creating superhero passwords in our DT@Home Activity, suitable for years 3 and up: https://aca.edu.au/resources/code-cracker/ For older students, our online Information and Privacy Security Challenge introduces teens to sharing, oversharing, and good passwords in our specially created online social media world of fistbump and flashtag: https://aca.edu.au/resources/cyber-infosec/

22.01.2022 Webinar alert! Our free Monday afternoon webinars continue throughout August and September. Coming up next week we explore data collection and interpretation. Learn about transforming data from from disconnected numbers and text into helpful information that answers real world questions. We will explore how to teach students about collecting, storing, analysing and visualising data from the start of primary to the end of year 10.... Register now: https://aca.edu.au//teaching-data-collection-and-interpre/

22.01.2022 Pycon is this weekend! Pycon is an annual convention celebrating all things Python! Presented online (like much else this year) it's more accessible than ever! Happening across 46 September 2020, the education stream runs on tomorrow for those interested. You will see some familiar ACA faces popping up, with the first education session being presented by Bruce Fuda, Amanda Hogan, and Nicky Ringland. There's also a lecture from Grok team member and NCSS challenge content que...en, Renee N. All the details are here: https://2020.pycon.org.au/

17.01.2022 Please complete our survey to tell us what you thought about our responses to Covid-19, so that we can keep meeting your needs and improve what we do. (PS: there are freebies on offer too). You'll need a Grok Learning account to complete this survey. https://groklearning.com/surveys/covid-survey-2020

16.01.2022 Become a leader in teaching digital technologies at your school Enhance your skills and expertise in teaching the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies through our new Master of Education (Digital Technologies) taught by the experts at the Australian Computing Academy in conjunction with the University of Sydney. The program will provide you with an in-depth understanding of fundamental computer science concepts such as digital systems and data representation, algorithm... design and implementation through professional development and training, and strategic planning and school leadership. Further information is available at https://www.sydney.edu.au//master-of-education-digital-tec or send us a message if you'd like to discuss enrolling in this course with one of our team.

16.01.2022 Join us for a free webinar on August 31st to discuss combining Digital Technologies with other learning areas. With separate primary and secondary sessions, hear from our expert educators about how you can maximize your teaching time by weaving DT through other subjects and activities. Explore connections between code and art, maths, music and more! Primary teachers, register here: https://aca.edu.au//integrating-digital-technologies-with/... Secondary teachers register here: https://aca.edu.au//linking-digital-technologies-with-oth/

16.01.2022 We were saddened over the weekend to learn of the passing of an education heavyweight, Sir Ken Robinson. Ken's views on creativity inspired teachers everywhere, and shifted their views on what creativity was, where it belongs at schools, and how teachers can foster creativity in all subjects and settings. Vale Sir Ken. Your vision and thoughts live on amongst teachers, leaders and students around the world.

16.01.2022 We aim to make programming accessible to students across all coding levels. Our mini challenges relay fundamental digital technologies and coding concepts through short-burst activities. Like our longer courses, they also come with offline projects, teacher notes and/or lesson plans addressing specific learning outcomes. Discover short courses to introduce #Digitech concepts here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/#mini-dt-challenge

16.01.2022 Did you catch our webinar on understanding coding concepts? We stepped through all the key coding concepts in the Australian Curriculum, and used the example of creating a project to get to school in the morning to show how inputs, branching, loops, variables and lists can be implemented in coding projects. We've created a doc with code snippets in python, blockly and Scratch which steps through all the ideas from the webinar, as well as creating a live Scratch project.... Let us know what you think, and if you use these examples as the basis for a bigger project with your student we'd love to see it! Code snippets: https://docs.google.com//1SYK4Miq_uq5Qn8rDslSo3utU0u/edit Scratch project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/416509129/ Webinar recording: https://youtu.be/GvdtkBQVYR4

15.01.2022 Are you enjoying our webinar series? Not everyone can make them live we know, so weve created a playlist of all of term 2 and 3 webinars, which we add to each week. Whether youre teaching coding to primary students or exploring digital systems with high schoolers, there is something to watch. The webinars are an hour long, free, and linked back to the key ideas in the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. Check them out now and let us know if you have a favourite: https://www.youtube.com/playlist

14.01.2022 ACA News: Caring for yourself | end of term activities | office hours - https://mailchi.mp/aca/aca-update-6452034

14.01.2022 Are you enjoying our webinar series? Not everyone can make them live we know, so we've created a playlist of all of term 2 and 3 webinars, which we add to each week. Whether you're teaching coding to primary students or exploring digital systems with high schoolers, there is something to watch. The webinars are an hour long, free, and linked back to the key ideas in the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. Check them out now and let us know if you have a favourite: https://www.youtube.com/playlist

14.01.2022 This week we're talking about human-human and human-computer interactions in our free Monday webinar. Dan and Kenni discuss how to critique and create user interfaces and experiences. We will also share resources and activities for exploring online safety and healthy digital interactions. Don't miss it! Register today at https://aca.edu.au//teaching-digital-technologies-interac/

14.01.2022 Quick! If you're entering our Tech Trek competition you only have until 12pm! The name is being announced in half an hour! cmp.ac/hello

13.01.2022 Its wear it purple day today! Hello from our team at our daily meeting today.

13.01.2022 Are you teaching years 9-10? Check out all the resoures that we have available for students, from Cyber Security Challenges, assessment tasks and unplugged activities here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/#years-9-10 . Schools Cyber Security Challenges are free for students right up to year 12 and introduce programming, networks, and cryptography in the context of cyber security.

12.01.2022 Have you heard of ethical hackers? Or white hat hackers? They're the industry professionals that understand how data and apps can be hacked, but use their powers for good, to keep the rest of us safer. Students learn how to be ethical hackers, and explore this fascinating career in our Web App Security Cyber Security Challenge. The challenge is mapped to the Australian Curriculum:Digitial Technologies and is a great introduction to cyber security for High School students. It'...s expected to take 6-8 hours and students complete it online at their own pace. Details here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/cyber-websec/

12.01.2022 ACA Newsletter is out now: Cyber sneak peak || our greatest hits || the Cat is back - https://mailchi.mp/aca/aca-update-6448210.

12.01.2022 During Science Week, explore the connections between Biology and Programming in our Blockly Biology and Python Biology DT Challenges. Students explore how scientists classify animals, and use technology to make their lives easier. These challenges are part of our DT+X series of challenges which integrate other subjects - explore the full range here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/#dt-challenge,plus_x

12.01.2022 ACA News: PyCon goes online, are you eSmart, and schedule your PD when it suits. - https://mailchi.mp/aca/aca-update-6449366

12.01.2022 There's nothing better than a game you build yourself! Get your students interested in simple web development, using Blockly, by working through the Cookie Clicker DT Challenge. This is a great activity for year 5 and 6 students to explore visual programming and learn about user input. https://aca.edu.au/resources/blockly-cookie-clicker/

12.01.2022 We hope you can make it to our next workshop in conjunction with QSITE. (With apologies to those of you who would love nothing more than a trip to FNQ right now but are prevented by border closures )

11.01.2022 Theres nothing better than a game you build yourself! Get your students interested in simple web development, using Blockly, by working through the Cookie Clicker DT Challenge. This is a great activity for year 5 and 6 students to explore visual programming and learn about user input. https://aca.edu.au/resources/blockly-cookie-clicker/

09.01.2022 The last few years have seen big changes in school curricula globally, to include computer science, coding and computational thinking for all ages from K to 12. Hear from Australian Computing Academy Academic Director James Curran about why everyone should learn to code: https://www.smartcompany.com.au//why-everyone-should-lear/

08.01.2022 This week were talking about human-human and human-computer interactions in our free Monday webinar. Dan and Kenni discuss how to critique and create user interfaces and experiences. We will also share resources and activities for exploring online safety and healthy digital interactions. Dont miss it! Register today at https://aca.edu.au//teaching-digital-technologies-interac/

08.01.2022 Join us for our final webinar of the term: its an office hours style event, where you ask the questions! Were ready to chat curriculum, challenges, unplugged ideas and assessment. Join us, and either submit questions in advance (in the comments, via messenger, or by email: mail[at]aca.edu.au) or surprise us on the day. https://aca.edu.au//digital-technologies---office-hours-1/

08.01.2022 From a really young age students can explore how computers work, and the components that create a digital system. We are all surrounded by digital systems, whether they are recognisable as computers, part of a smart home set up, or the tools that we use to search the internet and communicate with friends and family far away. The progression of what students learn when they investigate digial systems is set out on our curriculum unpacking page: cmp.ac/systems... To support your teaching, you can enrol students in a networking challenge (https://aca.edu.au/resources/python-microbit-radio/), explore networks in the context of cyber security (cmp.ac/networksec), use our unplugged LAN party DT@Home activity (cmp.ac/lanparty) and for younger students, explore the systems around you (cmp.ac/computerhunt).

07.01.2022 Join us for our final webinar of the term: it's an office hours style event, where you ask the questions! We're ready to chat curriculum, challenges, unplugged ideas and assessment. Join us, and either submit questions in advance (in the comments, via messenger, or by email: mail[at]aca.edu.au) or surprise us on the day. https://aca.edu.au//digital-technologies---office-hours-1/

06.01.2022 On August 30 Grok Learning's student messaging system will go into hiatus. Student Messaging was rushed out the door to help you & your students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grok team plan to turn it off and assess & decide if they should build it out properly. Keep an eye out for our upcoming survey where you can give us your feedback on student messaging and our other COVID support initiatives.

04.01.2022 Are you coming to our webinar this week? We think theres never been a more important time to consider the impact of technology on our lives, and that is this weeks theme: IMPACT. What are the impacts and consequences, intended and otherwise, when new tools and resources are developed and released? Join us for a thought provoking webinar which goes into the big issues, and how to address them in the classroom.... Register at aca.edu.au/events

04.01.2022 Here are all of our upcoming events in one place so you can find the right one for you:

03.01.2022 Have you heard of ethical hackers? Or white hat hackers? Theyre the industry professionals that understand how data and apps can be hacked, but use their powers for good, to keep the rest of us safer. Students learn how to be ethical hackers, and explore this fascinating career in our Web App Security Cyber Security Challenge. The challenge is mapped to the Australian Curriculum:Digitial Technologies and is a great introduction to cyber security for High School students. It...s expected to take 6-8 hours and students complete it online at their own pace. Details here: https://aca.edu.au/resources/cyber-websec/

03.01.2022 Are you coming to our webinar this week? We think there's never been a more important time to consider the impact of technology on our lives, and that is this week's theme: IMPACT. What are the impacts and consequences, intended and otherwise, when new tools and resources are developed and released? Join us for a thought provoking webinar which goes into the big issues, and how to address them in the classroom.... Register at aca.edu.au/events

02.01.2022 Take your students' interest in how the internet works, and how our data is protected, by completing the Data Encryption Schools Cyber Security Challenge. In the challenge students explore simple cyrptography, stenography and other ways that we use code to protect data. It's a perfect activity to explore as a complement to National eSmart Week cmp.ac/crypto

02.01.2022 It's wear it purple day today! Hello from our team at our daily meeting today.

02.01.2022 Password security and information privacy - theyre huge issues for teachers and students. How do you keep information secure, but still accessible when you need it? Explore these issues with students in our unplugged and online activities:... Learn about code cracking and creating superhero passwords in our DT@Home Activity, suitable for years 3 and up: https://aca.edu.au/resources/code-cracker/ For older students, our online Information and Privacy Security Challenge introduces teens to sharing, oversharing, and good passwords in our specially created online social media world of fistbump and flashtag: https://aca.edu.au/resources/cyber-infosec/

01.01.2022 Take your students interest in how the internet works, and how our data is protected, by completing the Data Encryption Schools Cyber Security Challenge. In the challenge students explore simple cyrptography, stenography and other ways that we use code to protect data. Its a perfect activity to explore as a complement to National eSmart Week cmp.ac/crypto

01.01.2022 How will I use the ACA resources in class? https://aca.edu.au/resources/ Lesson plans provide curriculum mapping, additional context, activities and subject reflections for the easy and seamless implementation of the ACA #Digitech Challenges in your class. Don't forget the teacher notes tab within the online Challenges on Grok where you'll find teacher insights specific to the module and tips for students who get stuck in a problem. Limited internet connection or computers? N...o problem! The unplugged versions of the Challenges are wonderfully mapped out using detailed illustrations and instructions, complete with hints and learning points for discussion. We also have a section that contains ready-to-download teaching aids (like cheat sheets on key concepts of the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum and micro:bit) and blogs on common DT teaching concerns such as assessing the curriculum and choosing the right programming language. #AussieEd #Remotelearning