Media & Digital Tech

Digital Tech

What an eventful last few weeks! In Year 7, students have been demonstrating their new Excel Formula and Graphing skills they have learnt this term. This includes summing up a range of numbers, looking at formulas to work out minimum and maximum sales for a fictitious business and the profit margin and total profit for a business for a year. Students then graph these totals and present results visually. As many parents already know, Excel is one of the most useful tools people use to create and maintain budgets, keep a track of household expenses and also planning and costing of events.  

In Year 10 students have been looking at how their social media viewing determines their social media feeds, and how perception can be distorted by Social Media Algorithms. Students have also been looking at how to use planning tools to create lists and check off completed tasks, which will become an increasingly important skill when students move into year 11 next year. The skills our teachers have been teaching students are also utilised in businesses, so project planning and management skills are very transferrable. Here are some student examples of the plans they have been making. 

Janene Watt

Art & Technology

Year 9/10 Media

In Year 9/10, students have spent the term learning about CAMELS (Camera, Acting, Mise-en-scene, Editing, Lighting and Sound) as part of our Codes and conventions unit, helping to learn the language of Media. Currently, students are completing their summative task, a video essay where they will select a scene of their choice, unpacking how their selected Codes are used to convey meaning to audiences. Next term, students will begin their production task, allowing them to create a narrative in a media form of their choice, such as film, photography or print.

VCE Year 11 Media

In Year 11, students have recently finished U2O1 on Narrative, style and genre. This has been an opportunity to learn about distinctive styles of media creators, such as Edgar Wright and Jordan Peele. Students were tasked with a selected a screen-based media creator as the focus of their SAC, in which they were required to produce a video essay. It was amazing to see an array of directors selected by students, from names such as Taika Waititi, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Wong Kar Wai, Hal Needham and Hayao Miyazaki. Moving on from this, students are now well underway on U2O2 Narratives in production, where they have the opportunity to explore and create a narrative of their choosing, in a media form of their choice. A great lead in and practice for Year 12. 

VCE Year 12 Media

They’ve done it! Students have come to the end of the road for their SATs, a year long journey with planning starting back from the previous year. From films and animation, graphic novels and zines to photography pieces, I can’t wait for students to share their amazing work with the wider school community in the upcoming Visual Art and Tech Showcase in Term 4. Students should be commended on their hard work and dedication to stay motivated across the year. It hasn’t been easy at time, with challenges along the way however they’ve pushed through and should all be proud of what they have achieved. Now with coursework finished, it’s lights, camera and ACTION for the upcoming exam period. Enjoy your final school ‘holidays’ Year 12s, and come back ready to get stuck into exam preparation. 

Benn Pollock

Leader of the Visual Arts & Technology

Year 9/10 Web Design

Our Year 9 and 10 Digital Technology students have been busy bringing their ideas to life in Web Design. Over the term, they explored the foundations of HTML and CSS, learning how to structure and style websites from scratch. From creating navigation menus to experimenting with the box model and layouts, students combined technical skills with creative design choices to build websites that reflect their own interests and ideas.

The final projects showcase a wide range of talent, with websites covering topics from sport and cleaning, to gaming, music and TV shows. Students experimented with colour schemes, typography, images and links to produce engaging and functional designs. Along the way, they also developed problem-solving skills, learned how to debug code, and gained an appreciation for the planning and design process behind every site we use daily.

These projects highlight the blend of creativity and technology that makes Digital Technologies such a valuable learning area. 

Year 11 Applied Computing 

Our Year 11 Digital Technology students have been busy designing innovative solutions inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Working in teams, they researched a problem, designed a solution, and developed prototypes to demonstrate their ideas.

Projects included Zero Hunger, an app connecting restaurants with food banks to reduce food waste and fight hunger (SDG 2: Zero Hunger); Cod of Duty: Fishy Business, an educational game teaching players about endangered fish species and sustainable fishing practices (SDG 14: Life Below Water); You X World, an app promoting environmental awareness and individual action through carbon footprint tracking and tips (SDG 13: Climate Action); Autonoma Plant & Grow, a smart, energy-efficient indoor planter supporting urban gardening (SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities); and The Guardian Tree, an artificial tree designed to monitor ecosystems, predict disasters and alert first responders (SDG 9, 13, 15: Innovation, Climate Action and Life on Land).

Students described the project as both challenging and rewarding. One group reflected, “We wanted to design something that could really make a difference, not just in our class but in the wider world.” Another commented, “It was tough at times, but we learned so much about teamwork and problem-solving.”

Through these projects, students applied the Problem-Solving Methodology, combined creativity with technical skill, and explored how digital technologies can be used for social good. Congratulations to all of our Applied Computing students for their fantastic effort and hard work.

Mel Zulfic

Art & Technology