| Week | Unit and Area of Study | Topic / description | Learning activities |
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Area of Study 1: Innovative solutions |
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| 1 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Curiosity, ingenuity, and digital systems - inspiring and driving innovation
- characteristics of creative and innovative solutions
- functions and capabilities of current and emerging technologies
- impact of emerging technologies
Techniques for developing innovative solutions | - Teacher introduces students to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and resulting class discussion explores the purpose and importance of these goals.
- Students are assigned to small groups and each group negotiates one of the 17 goals that they will research in more detail.
- Each group brainstorms potential approaches and ideas to help address (in part) their chosen problem through creating a digital solution
- Teacher leads a summary activity of innovative solutions that demonstrates the role of digital technologies in helping address the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and which could include:
- Olio mobile app which allows people to give away items that would otherwise end up in the tip
- Kiva’s online microloans technology platform helping entrepreneurs in developing countries .
- Project Gutenberg providing free access to books and other educational resources
- mWater, and its solution to helping communities address water-related challenges (e.g. sanitation, safe drinking water).
- Students work in small groups to respond to a ‘scenario card’, to develop their ability to empathise with the card’s end-user(s). As part of this task, students put themselves in the shoes of the end-user(s) and explore multiple perspectives of the problem contained in their card and then generate a divergence of possible design ideas. Examples of a scenario card, which requires a digital solution, could include: an elderly person wanting to automate their home’s lighting, heating and security system; a family planning a holiday but are overwhelmed by the number of options for destinations, accommodations, and activities; or a student wanting to track their expenses, set their budget and manage their finances more effectively.
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| 2 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Problem identification and solution specifications - functional and non-functional requirements, constraints and scope
- collecting data
| - The assessment task is introduced to the class. Discussion of the outcome, timeline and assessment takes place.
- Students form groups, and subsequent collaborative brainstorming generates a divergence of ideas for the problem, need or opportunity that will become the focus of the group’s project.
- Group undertakes a feasibility study to converge on one (achievable) problem, need or opportunity that the team will work on.
- Multiple solutions to the group’s problem, need or opportunity are then identified. These are ranked from most preferred solution to least preferred solution based on student-determined criteria.
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| 3 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Planning tools (e.g. Gantt charts) Design tools and techniques: - students work on their preferred design idea (i.e. preferred solution)
Developing evaluation criteria | - Students construct their project plan using a Gantt chart. Roles within the group are assigned.
- Students create mock-ups, pseudocode, sitemaps and/or storyboards for their preferred solution.
- Students update their project journals to record and track their group’s progress, activities undertaken, and decisions made. Additionally, students manage any changes to documents, files, or code through the version control system they are using (e.g. GitHub).
- Each group meets with the teacher at the end of the week to present their problem, need or opportunity along with their design ideas and project plan for approval. This can take the form of a ‘sales pitch’. At this stage, groups might need to revisit their design ideas.
- Class discussion on the commonly used evaluation criteria in designing and developing digital solutions, is followed by students discussing and negotiating within their group, the evaluation criteria that will be used to determine the degree to which their innovative solution meets the requirements of the identified problem, need or opportunity.
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| 4 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Developing the innovative solution: - students work on their project design
- prototyping is undertaken to check for design flaws and ensure that each part of the solution works as expected
Monitoring project’s progress | - All the resources needed for the project have been identified, and action taken to acquire the resources.
- Students work collaboratively on their project and monitor their progress against project plan.
- Each group briefly meets with the teacher at the start of the week, to discuss the project objectives for the week; potential issues should be flagged.
- At the end of the week a whole class meeting is held to check the progress made.
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| 5 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Developing the innovative solution: - students work on their project design
- design flaws that are identified are fixed
- prototyping is ongoing to check for further design flaws and ensure that each part of the solution works as expected
Monitoring project’s progress | - Students work collaboratively on their project and monitor progress against their project plan.
- Each group briefly meets with the teacher at the start of the week, to discuss the project objectives for the week; potential issues should be flagged.
- At the end of the week a whole-class meeting is held to check the progress made.
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| 6 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Developing the innovative solution: - students work on their project
- testing of individual parts of the project are ongoing
Monitoring project’s progress | - Students work collaboratively on their project and monitor progress against their project plan.
- Each group briefly meets with the teacher at the start of the week, to discuss the project objectives for the week; potential issues should be flagged.
- Students update their project journals to record and track their group’s progress, activities undertaken, and decisions made. Additionally, students manage any changes to documents, files, or code through the version control system they are using (e.g. GitHub).
- At the end of the week a whole-class meeting is held to check the progress made.
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| 7 | Unit 2
Area of Study 1 | Developing the innovative solution: - students work on their project
- testing of individual parts of the project are ongoing
Monitoring project’s progress
| - Students work collaboratively on their project and monitor progress against their project plan.
- Each group briefly meets with the teacher at the start of the week, to discuss the project objectives for the week; potential issues should be flagged.
- Students update their project journals to record and track their group’s progress, activities undertaken, and decisions made. Additionally, students manage any changes to documents, files, or code through the version control system they are using (e.g. GitHub).
- At the end of the week a whole-class meeting is held to check the progress made.
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| 8 | Unit 2 Area of Study 1 | Testing and documentation: - testing techniques to ensure that solution works as intended
Emerging technologies and the key legislation and frameworks | - Test: check validity of solution and make final modifications if required.
- Students update their project journals to reflect their test results and modifications that are needed. Additionally, students manage any changes to documents, files, or code through the version control system they are using (e.g. GitHub).
- Class discussion on key legislation and frameworks
(Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth),
Health Records Act 2001,
Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth),
Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, and Australia’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics Principles), and how these might apply to each group’s innovative solution.
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| 9 | Unit 2
Area of Study 1
| Solution exhibition and evaluation: - evaluation criteria and techniques for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of innovative solutions evaluating the success of the solution
Ethical issues arising from the development of emerging technologies, and ethical issues arising from the use of artificial intelligence
| - Class display and presentation of student work (i.e. proof of concept, product, and prototype).
- Student self-reflection: evaluate efficiency and effectiveness of the innovative solution against the evaluation criteria developed earlier; and evaluate their project plan.
- In groups, students work on one ethical issue arising from either the development of emerging technologies, or from the use of artificial intelligence. The issues should cover one of the following: cyber security threats; biometric systems; job displacement; creating content that is biased, discriminatory or otherwise harmful; creating content that could be used for cyber attacks; or generating content from existing copyright materials. Each group presents its findings on the assigned ethical issue.
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Area of Study 2: Cyber security |
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| 10 | Unit 2
Area of Study 2 | Emerging trends in cyber security | - Students work in small groups, to research and report on specific emerging trends or topics in cyber security, such as: ransomware attacks, artificial intelligence in cyber security, quantum computing threats, or the Internet of Things (IoT) security challenges.
- A case study scenario involving a security breach provides the basis for students designing a security strategy incorporating multi-factor authentication and Zero Trust Architecture.
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| 11 | Unit 2
Area of Study 2 | Network hardware and software - routers, switches, firewalls and storage
- network security software
- data backups
- intrusion detection systems and intrusion prevention systems
- cost, storage options, reliability and security
Strengths and limitations of wired, wireless and mobile communications technology | - Class discussion on defining what a network is, and the benefits and risks of computer networks.
- Research and multimedia presentation on network security software such as firewall and antivirus.
- Students explore different backup strategies (e.g. onsite vs offsite backups; full, incremental and differential backups) and the importance of a disaster recovery plan.
- Class discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing for storage.
- Compare and contrast intrusion detection systems and intrusion prevention systems.
- If old parts, including PCs and network cards, are available, students can examine how the components are connected and configured; and in the case of the computer, the configuration settings.
- Class discussion comparing and contrasting the strengths and limitations of wired, wireless and mobile communications technology. As an extension activity, students can be assigned to groups to research 5G networks and/or satellite communications technologies.
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| 12 | Unit 2
Area of Study 2 | Technical underpinnings of intranets, the internet and virtual private networks | - Students create network diagrams to visualise the architecture and connectivity of intranets, the internet and virtual private networks.
- Investigate and analyse case studies of real-world intranet, internet, and VPN deployment in organisations across different industries, to understand the differing business objectives and technical challenges.
- Teacher-arranged tour of the school’s IT infrastructure, focusing on networks. Follow-up activity can involve any one or more of the following:
- students design a project that runs a packet sniffer to capture traffic sent over the intranet (under supervision of the school’s IT department)
- students measure the effects of an antivirus/security software on a computer
- processor performance over a period of time, with data graphed.
- Students measure actual data transfer rates, either on the school’s network or home network.
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| 13 | Unit 2
Area of Study 2 | Applications and capabilities of LANs, WANs and WPANs | - Discuss the applications and capabilities of LANs, WANs and WPANs.
- Class reviews the characteristics of a WPAN, and how this differs compared with other networks.
- Students engage in a hands-on project through designing and building a wireless personal area network (WPAN) – this can be undertaken by either: re-purposing an unused router; constructing an arduino-based network to capture and transmit data using arduino Wi-Fi shield; or via a similar microcontroller hardware/software configuration.
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| 14 | Unit 2
Area of Study 2 | Network security risks, threats and threat mitigation - risks of using networks in a global environment
- technical underpinnings of malware
- security threats to data and information
- practices for reducing risks and mitigating threats to networks
| - Discuss, using case study examples, the risks and benefits of using networks in a global environment (e.g. airlines that suffered worldwide delays after global booking system failed; overseas hackers that took control of social influencer’s media accounts).
- Watch the short video
Malware: Difference between computer viruses, worms and trojans by KasperskyLab.
- Students research examples of malware attacks in the media, and then write a report on the key technical features of the malware, the impact on the organisations that suffered them and prevention strategies that should have been used or were developed as a result of the attacks.
- Analyse as a class the WannaCry ransomware attack, which exploited older versions of the Windows operating system, and affected organisations worldwide, including the UK's National Health Service.
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| 15 | Unit 2 Area of Study 2 | Cryptographic techniques to protect data and networks, and the emergence of artificial intelligence in network security - symmetric and asymmetric encryption
- machine learning algorithms
Emergence of artificial intelligence in providing network security mechanisms | - As a class, discuss the role of cryptography in an historical event (e.g. Bletchley Park’s role in World War 2).
- Students undertake a series of activities, such as basic encryption and decryption techniques using classical ciphers such as Caesar cipher, Vigenère cipher, polyalphabetic cipher.
- Class discussion on modern cryptographic algorithms and techniques (e.g. symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption).
- Students research and report on machine learning algorithms that analyse network traffic patterns.
- Explore, in small groups, the concept of decision trees, and their connection to machine learning algorithms
- Media article analysis: Australia’s controversial encryption bill.
- Class discussion on the key benefits and limitations of using artificial intelligence in network security mechanisms.
- Working in small groups, students are assigned a specific aspect of artificial intelligence (AI) in network security, to research and report on, such as: machine learning algorithms for malware detection; AI-based analysis of patterns and trends in user behaviour; or AI-based threat intelligence and predictive analytics.
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| 16 | Unit 2 Area of Study 2 | Ethical hacking and legislation - key legislation and industry frameworks
Unit 2 revision | - Class debate on the legal and ethical aspects of ethical hacking.
- Class discussion on common hacking techniques and tools used by ethical hackers, such as: network scanning; exploitation of security vulnerabilities; password cracking; and social engineering techniques.
- Key legislation is identified
(Health Records Act 2001, Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth),
Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014), and potential impacts on organisations that do not abide by the laws regarding controlling the security and communicaton of data and information are discussed.
- Class discussion on the Information Security manual (ISM).
- Students (in groups) are assigned one of the Essential Eight strategies to research and create a visual and informative poster (or infographic) to explain the strategy, its importance, and how it can be effectively implemented.
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