Digital Technologies Snapshot

It’s been another action-packed term in Digital Technology, with students across all year levels diving into exciting, hands-on projects that blend creativity, logic, and future-ready skills!

Year 7 students kicked things off by developing their graphic design skills using Photoshop to create their very own comics. They also took their first steps into the world of cybersecurity, learning the basics of ethical hacking through the GROK Learning platform as part of their online safety studies.

Year 8 Engineering students have been working together to design and build a scale

 model of our school – in Minecraft! This collaborative project sharpened their planning and problem-solving skills while bringing the physical environment into the virtual world.

Meanwhile, Year 8 Creative students got stuck into networking by building a detailed model of a LAN network in Minecraft. They also took on more complex Photoshop challenges, pushing their creativity and technical know-how even further.

In Year 9, students explored network topographies by modelling them in Minecraft and examined ethical dilemmas in technology through a written assignment. They’ve also begun learning HTML and CSS through GROK Academy, laying the groundwork for their own websites, and have even started planning and scripting their short films!

Year 10 students explored the elements and principles of design, choosing to present their understanding through either an oral presentation or a video – a great way to develop communication and multimedia skills. They have also further developed their HTML and CSS skills and begun to explore JavaScript coding.

Our Year 11 students wrapped up their Semester 1 theory unit by tackling big topics like e-waste and digital citizenship. They also created avatars for a retro-style ‘shoot-’em-up’ game. Looking ahead to Semester 2, students will be working in specialised groups to either build gaming PCs, code a retro game, or develop a Minecraft adventure – all designed to run on the PCs they build!

Year 12 students have been focused on revising for their EST exams, but they’ve also finalised digital illustrations of their own NPC (non-player character) designs. These characters will feature in websites they create to help introduce lower school students to the world of digital technologies.

Outside the classroom, our CoderDojo and Robotics Club have been buzzing with creativity. Half the students are building battle bots for head-to-head challenges, while the others are designing functional robots, including one team working on a radar mapping system using sensors!

We’re incredibly proud of the curiosity, collaboration, and creativity our students have shown this term. Digital Technologies is more than just coding – it’s design, innovation, ethics, communication, and problem-solving, all rolled into one. We can’t wait to see what Term 3 brings!

Jocasta Collier, Digital Technologies, TiC