Nuffield Design & Technologyworking in the curriculum

Should yoursoftware speak?four and a half hours work

SECTION ONE

learning context

SECTION TWO

tasks for learning

SECTION THREE

children’s decisions

SECTION FOUR

teaching the unit

SECTION FIVE

resources and links

1

2

3

4

11

primaryyear

2solutions in design & technology

© The Nuffield Foundation, 2001

SECTION 1

learning context

1

design context

learning purposes

Most young children love usingmultimedia software. They find itmotivating and exciting. If they do nothave access to a computer at home theyhave experience of using educationalsoftware at school. In the same way thatthey learn to write their own texts onpaper they can learn to create their owneffective presentations on screen. In thisunit children will work in teams to designand make an interactive softwarepresentation for younger children.Successful examples have been a schoolbrochure and a presentation about theschool bus.

In this unit children will learn:

t to explore the features that makesoftware successful;

(Session 1)

t to consider the needs of a targetaudience; (Session 2)

t to use software tools to design ascreen presentation;

(Session 3)

t to write a specification for a groupproduct; (Session 4)

t to work co-operatively in a smallgroup. (Sessions 3-5)

SECTION 2

tasks for learning

the small tasksthe focused practical tasks

the big taskthe design and make task

2

1 Investigating existing software40 minutes

2 Finding out the needs of the audience40 minutes

3 Exploring the use of text, images andsound 40 minutes

4 Writing the specification40 minutes The big task is to build a multimedia

software presentation using an authoringprogram previously introduced during ICTlesson time. The presentation should beattractive and easy to use and should bea source of information for youngerchildren. 60 minutes

The evaluation 30 minutes

Unit review 20 minutes

the use of simple backgrounds,bold colours and strong imagesgives each screen impact. The textis simple, legible and relevant

SECTION 3

children’s decisions

design decisions

3

The children can decide on the following:

t what information will be shown

required learning in Session 2,

design decision made in Session 4;

t what background colours to use onscreen

required learning in Sessions 1–3,

design decision made in Session 4;

t what text colours to use on screen

required learning in Sessions 1–3,

design decision made in Session 4;

t what size words should be on screen

required learning in Sessions 1–3,

design decision made in Sessions 4;

t what sounds to use

required learning in Sessions 1–3,

design decision made in Session 4;

t how to move from screen to screen

required learning in Sessions 1–3,

design decision made in Session 4.

size

size

size

AA

4

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

suggested timing40 mins*

sessionone

* This session will take longer if computer access is limited.

investigating existing software

Teacher input

Tell the class that they are going to lookclosely at some software to see what isgood and what is not so good about it.Ask them these questions to find out whatthey already know about software.

t Can you learn anything from software?What?

t What kind of information could youfind out from a computer screen?Why would that be useful?

t Do you prefer software with sound orwithout sound? Why?

t Who decides which pictures go onthe screen?

Show them one or two educationalprograms and ask the same questionsabout those particular titles. Tell them thatthey will be able to make some softwarethemselves another day, and that this is agood time to think about what features itmight have.

Pupil activity

Children should have the opportunity to tryout the software titles in small groups. Theyshould discuss the features such as sound,colours, text, information content andwhether they find it easy or difficult to use.

Resources

Stimulus: two or more educational programs;

Tools: computer(s).

Health and safety check

Discuss the hazards and risks involved in using computers and how the risks can be controlled bysitting properly at the correct height and not straining to see the screen.

5

finding out the needs of the audience

suggested timing40 mins

sessiontwo

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

Teacher input

Remind the class of the last session whenthey evaluated software. Tell them thatthey are going to design and make somesoftware for younger children and todaythey need to find out what would beuseful and enjoyable for these children.Show them some sample books aimed atthe target age group. Ask for ideas anddiscuss any suggestions. Try to arrangefor a teacher of younger children, andsome children too, to come and beinterviewed by your class. Otherwise youcan advise them on reading levels andlikely interests within their targetaudience.

Pupil activity

Working in groups, children should lookat the sample books and discuss:

t ideas for content;

t restrictions that might apply, forexample reading levels;

t ways to improve ease of use, forexample spoken words should be veryslow and clear.

Each group will record their outcomes onpaper and these sheets should be put upon display to stimulate design ideas inlater sessions.

Resources

Stimulus: selection of information books for younger children;

Consumables: paper;

Tools: pencils.

Health and safety check

Discuss the hazards and risks involved in inviting younger children into the classroom and how the riskscan be controlled by the way the children treat the visitors.

6

exploring the use of text, images and sound

sessionthree

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

* This session will take longer if computer access is limited.

suggested timing40 mins*

Teacher input

Tell the class that during this session theywill have a chance to try out ideas fortheir software. They will be actuallymaking the software another day; todayis for experimenting with the authoringsoftware (which they should have usedalready in an ICT lesson). Remind thewhole class how to use and manipulateimages, sounds and words on screen andhow to create links between screens.Make sure they know how to recordsounds, both voice and sound effects. Ifyou have a digital camera or a scannershow them how to use those too. Remindthem of how they can make their owndrawings and paintings on screen andshow them how to import them into theauthoring software. There should be someexisting images and sounds forthem to start off with.

Pupil activity

Children will work in small groups at thecomputer(s), exploring the tools andfeatures of the authoring software. Theycan refer to the display of design ideasfrom Session 2.

Resources

Stimulus: display of design ideas from Session 2;

Tools: computer(s), authoring program.

Health and safety check

Revisit the discussion about controlling risks when using computers.

7

suggested timing40 mins

sessionfour

writing the specification

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

Teacher input

Tell the children that they are ready now tomake some important decisions about thesoftware they are going to make. Showthem the specification and explain that theywill need to agree on answers to all thequestions on it. Then they will use thoseanswers to guide them when they aremaking the software. There is a ready-to-copy ‘Multimedia specification’ sheet whichyou may wish to use. It will have to beenlarged so that everyone can see it, orphotocopied onto acetate and shown onan OHP, or perhaps copied out byhand onto a large wall chart. Itwill be useful in the next session ifit is displayed in the classroom.

Pupil activity

The class should be divided up into designteams. They will discuss each question onthe ‘Multimedia specification’. After theyhave spent some time doing this a series ofclass answers will be agreed by a show ofhands. These are their design decisions. Ifthey have each been given a copy of the‘Multimedia specification’ sheet they canmark it up with the class decisions. Eachteam should agree the content they aregoing to produce and mark it up on the‘Multimedia design team list’. There is aready-to-copy ‘Multimedia team list’ for youto use.

Resources

Consumables: paper or ‘Multimedia specification’ sheet and ‘Multimedia design team list’;

Tools: pencils.

Health and safety check

Discuss the hazards and risks involved in working as a group and how these can be controlled by theway the children behave and treat one another.

8

suggested timing60 mins*

sessionfive

the big task: building the software

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

Teacher input

Tell the children that in this session theywill be making the software they havedesigned. Show them the ready-to-copy‘Multimedia screen evaluation’ sheet andexplain that they should ask a member ofa different team to test each new screenthey make. That way they can fix anymistakes before the software is shown tothe real users. Remember to make back-up copies of children’s work. One teamshould be responsible for the title screenand overall navigation.

Pupil activity

Children will work in their design teamsto make the screens they have planned.They can check against the ‘Multimediaspecification’ sheet for the agreed groupdecisions and against the ‘Multimediadesign team list’ to see which content theyplanned to create.

Resources

Stimulus: ‘Multimedia specifications’ and ‘Multimedia design team list’from Session 4;

Consumables: ‘Multimedia screen evaluation’ sheets;

Tools: computer(s), authoring software, microphone(s), digital camera (optional),scanner (optional), pencils.

Health and safety check

Revisit the discussion about controlling risks when using computers. Emphasise the importancestretching occasionally and refreshing their eyes by looking at a distant object.

Extension work

Children who finish early or who need anextra challenge could be asked to do thefollowing.

t To design and make additional picturesfor the software using any art software.

t To record additional sound effects andvoice files for the software.

* This session will take longer if computer access is limited.

9

suggested timing30 mins

sessionsix

evaluating the final product

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

Teacher input

Now the software has been built, it isimportant to bring in some real users totry it out and give their feedback. Thiscould be done before or during thissession, or even over a period of time inthe users’ classroom. Some individualusers should be asked the questions onthe ‘Multimedia screen evaluation’ andtheir answers recorded. Show the classthe ‘Multimedia software evaluation’(displayed large enough for all to see).Ask them the questions on the sheet andrecord their agreed answers. Thencompare those answers with the answersrecorded on the original ‘Multimediaspecification’ sheets. If there aredifferences they should be discussed andreasons found.

Pupil activity

In their design teams children will discussthe screen(s) they have produced and thereactions to them. Each team will shareone or two findings with the rest of theclass.

Resources

Stimulus: ‘Multimedia specification’ sheets;

Consumables: ‘Software evaluation’ sheet, the finished software;

Tools: computer.

Health and safety check

Discuss the hazards and risks involved in using the software and how these risks can be controlled.

10

suggested timing20 mins

sessionseven

unit review

SECTION 4

teaching the unit

Teacher input

Explain to the children that it is importantto think about how to get better at design& technology and that they can do this bytrying to answer the following questions.

t What did you learn about computersoftware?

t How did you learn that?

t How did you know what theyounger children would like?

t What did you find difficult about thisproject?

t What did you get better at?

t Did anything surprise you aboutbuilding software?

t Is there anything you could have donebetter?

t What was the best bit of this project?

Pupil activity

The children should discuss the questionsin their design teams and when they havefinished you should ask each team to tellthe class one of their answers. The classcould agree a target for improvementbased on these answers for their nextdesign & technology unit.

Resources

Stimulus: finished software, sample books for younger children, any displays made during the unit;

Tools: computer.

Health and safety check

Discuss whether the class used hazard recognition, risk identification and risk control to design and makesafely.

11

Sessions 1 and 2 Session 3 Session 4 Sessions 5–7

educational, information experiment, microphone, design decisions, test, improvementaudience, user, evaluate authoring program specification, content

Stimulus materials Consumable materials Tools

SECTION 5

resources and links

vocabulary

resources summary

Session 1 two or more educational computer(s)programs

Session 2 selection of information books paper pencilsfor younger children

Session 3 display of design ideas from computer(s),Session 2 authoring program

Session 4 paper or ‘Multimedia specification’ pencilssheets and ‘Multimedia designteam list’

Session 5 ‘Multimedia specification’ sheets ‘Multimedia screen evaluation’ sheets computer(s), authoringand ‘Multimedia design team’ software, microphones,list from Session 4 digital camera and

scanner (optional),pencils

Session 6 ‘Multimedia specification’ sheets ‘Multimedia software evaluation’ computersheets, the finished software

Session 7 finished software, sample books computerfor younger children, any displaysmade during the unit

12

links to other subjects

SECTION 5

resources and links

Literacy

This unit will support the term 3 objectiveof the Literacy framework to studyinformation books including non-chronological reports. Paper-based textsstudied in literacy lesson time can becompared with the information texts onscreen explored and created during thisunit.

English

The English PoS also covered in thismodule are the requirement to vary theirwriting to suit the purpose and readerand the importance of clear and neatpresentation in order to communicatetheir meaning effectively.

ICT

This unit builds on the skills andknowledge learned in Unit 2A ‘Writingstories: Communicating information usingtext’ and Unit 2B ‘Creating pictures’ inthe QCA ‘ICT scheme of work’. It alsoprepares children well for Unit 3A‘Combining text and graphics’.

Art and design

There are elements of this unit thatintegrate very well with Unit 2A ‘Picturethis!’ in the QCA ‘Art and Designschemes of work’, particularly whenexperimenting with images and othervisual elements to communicate ideas andmeanings.

Multimedia design team list

Names Screen content

Team 1 Title screen and links to and from it

Team 2

Team 3

Team 4

Team 5

Team 6

Team 7

Team 8

Team 9

Team 10

Multimedia specification

Who is the software for?

What information will it tell them?

What colours will screen backgrounds be?

dark background q bright background q

What colour will words be on screen?

dark q bright q mixed colours q

What size will words be on screen?

small q medium q large q

What sounds will be on screen?

spoken words q sound effects q music q

How will users move from screen to screen?

forward and back arrows q click on a picture q other q

Multimedia screen evaluation

Name of screen

Name of tester

colour of screen background:

good q too bright q too dark q

colour of words:

good q too bright q too dark q

size of words:

good q too big q too small q

sounds:

good q too fast q too slow q not clear q

links:

easy to understand q not clear q

working q not working q

Multimedia software evaluation

Do the users like the software?

What information does it tell them?

What colours are the screen backgrounds?

dark background q bright background q

What colour are the words?

dark q bright q mixed colours q

What size are the words?

small q medium q large q

What sounds are there?

spoken words q sound effects q music q

How does a user move from screen to screen?

forward and back arrows q click on a picture q other q

Acknowledgements

Nuffield Curriculum Project Centre Team

David Barlex, Director Nuffield D&T Senior Lecturer Brunel University

Jane Mitra, Deputy Director and Educational Consultant

Nina Towndrow, Project Administrator

Authors and contributors

Eileen Birkenhead, Educational Consultant

Daniel Davies, Bath University

John Garvey, Brunel University

Rob Johnsey, Warwick University

Teresa Linton, Grasmere C of E Primary School

Lynne Orford, Holtspur School, Beaconsfield

Chris Purdie, Townsville Junior Grammar School, Queensland, Australia

Cy Roden, Educational Consultant

Marion Rutland, Roehampton Institute University of Surrey

Joy Simpson, Whipton Barton Middle School, Exeter

John Twyford, Exeter University

Design

Dave Mackerell, Studio Communications

Evaluation

Patricia Murphy and Marion Davidson of the Open University

Health and Safety guidance

Anna Wojtowicz and Caroline Reynolds from the Health and Safety Executive

Illustration and 2D/3D model making

Nathan Barlex

Proof reading

Joanne Jessop, Sue Byrne

The Project appreciates the efforts of all those teachers who taught trial units of work and provided valuablefeedback. The Project is grateful for all the support it has received from the Advisory Services.