Primary Catalogue

Algo is supposed to be sweeping the floor, but why does he keep on making an even bigger mess? In this episode, students learn about computer bugs, including logical bugs and syntax bugs, and why debugging is important to ensure that programs run smoothly. Show Less

Paul is trying to keep track of the money he’s saved, but he keeps losing count. In this episode, students learn about how variables can be used to store and retrieve information, including the three parts of a variable—type, name and value—and the string, integer and float data types. Show Less

Polly and Paul decide to play a game of ‘What am I Thinking?’ with Algo. But how can Algo tell them whether their guesses are true or false? In this episode, students learn about Boolean expressions, Boolean values and what the Boolean operators NOT, AND, and OR mean. Show Less

Algo is having trouble deciding what to wear for the weather. How can Polly and Paul help him work out his wardrobe? In this episode, students learn about how to make computers make decisions under multiple conditions by using IF-ELSE and IF-ELSE IF-ELSE statements. Show Less

Paul wants to blow up a lot of balloons for a party, but how can he get Algo to do it so he only needs to give the instruction once? In this episode, students learn how they can use ‘for’ and ‘while’ loops to do things over and over again with a single instruction. Show Less

There are news stories on the internet which are not real; this is known as fake news. Sometimes, fake news are shared to make us laugh, to get more likes or to hurt someone. This video provides tips and advice to learn how to tell the difference between fake and real news, how not to trust exaggerated numbers, how to double-check dates and author's name or be doubtful when they come across expressions like "important" or "you'd never believe that". Show Less

Binary is the language of computers! In this episode, students will learn what binary code is and how it allows us to see images, hear sound, watch movies, and read text on our computers. They will also discover how transistors and the processor work together to create binary, and how to convert between the decimal system and binary system! Show Less

There are so many programming languages out there – so how do you pick the right one? In this episode, students will discover different programming languages such as HTML, Javascript, Python, C#, Ruby, and more. They will learn how each language serves a different purpose, and how programmers choose the right one for a project. Show Less

Polly and Paul program Algo to cook them breakfast using instructions written as an algorithm – but what exactly is an ‘algorithm’? In this episode, students will discover what an algorithm is, the importance of writing them logically and specifically, and how multiple algorithms create a programme. Show Less

Computers are all around us and we use them every single day. But why should students learn how to code? In this episode, students will learn what coding is, why it’s important to develop computational thinking skills, and an overview of the different programming languages. Show Less

Have you ever wondered what makes up a computer? In this episode, students will learn why computers were invented, the different parts of a computer – including hardware and software – the role of the CPU, and the four functions that every computer does. Show Less

Students read, sing and learn about technology and the earliest inventions, such as the wheel. They also gain appreciation for the importance of using technology respectfully. This curriculum-aligned song targets outcomes of curriculum documents and supports and integrates classroom learning across key subject areas. Show Less

Using the analogy problem of washing dirty dishes, this video explores the IPO model and pseudocode as tools to guide computational thinking. Students of lower secondary digital technologies will understand how using pseudocode can be an accessible preliminary step in the design process before attempting to write a program in their chosen syntax. Show Less

Introducing the concepts of abstraction, decomposition, algorithm design and pattern recognition, this video gets inside the ‘mind’ of a computer to understand why computational thinking this is a crucial first step to designing a successful program. Students and teachers of lower secondary digital technologies will find this an approachable foundation to computational thinking. Show Less

Even the most experienced programmers use simple visual models and techniques to plan an effective algorithmic solution. In this video, students are introduced to the IPO model and flowcharts as two such methods to abstract unnecessary information in a problem, decompose it into smaller tasks, a recognise patterns and repetition, and program a series of simple steps for a computer to follow. Show Less

A person’s intellectual property does not just refer to their ideas or words. It also means any images, music and videos that they have created. These types of works are protected online by a licence that tells us if and how we can use or modify them. Understanding these licences is important not only for accessing great media for your research projects, but for making sure you're a respectful digital citizen. Show Less