Flow of Activities
Activity My smartphone data
How does smartphone use contribute to a person’s digital footprint?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP036)
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP037)
What's this about?
Data from individuals and connected technologies is used to inform society, businesses, industry and governments.
Data acquired from mobile phone usage can reveal much about a person such as their location, who they communicate with and how, and personal shopping habits including what they search for and buy online. Smartphone usage contributes to a person’s digital footprint and raises privacy issues.
Learning tasks
- Organise students in collaborative groups to share ideas about the ways they use a smartphone and what the data about their actions and behaviours may reveal to companies. Share ideas using a collaborative tool such as Padlet, OneNote or Evernote.
- Students can collaboratively devise an online survey and/or use face-to-face surveys to collect data about smartphone use. The focus of the survey could be to ascertain extent of use, assess users’ understanding of potential privacy issues or assess techniques people use to protect their data. Ensure the privacy of people being surveyed. Consider how the survey data will be stored, organised, validated, analysed and presented. The presentation could focus on the opportunities and risks of smartphone use.
- Refer to the term ‘big data’ and what students know and understand about it. Find out more through viewing a video or other resources.
Supporting Resources
7 in 10 smartphone apps share your data with third-party services
Use this article to provide insights into how your smartphone use can reveal your personal information and behaviours.
Big data
This video explores what big data is and how it works.
What is big data?
This video describes big data in simple terms.
Reinventing society in the wake of big data
This article includes a well presented video about big data, what it means to us and how we are connected to big data.
Beat the news animation
Learn more about big data through this video animation.
Apostle animation
Explore big data challenges that face Australia's national security agencies.
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration
Activity Consumer data
What insights can we gain from data related to consumer behaviour?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP036)
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP037)
- Evaluating (ACTDIP042)
What's this about?
Consumer data collected from mobile phone tracking is used to improve customer experience.
Companies can use technology to track consumer behaviour. A consumer’s actions reveal what they desire, how they shop and why they buy.
While this data may benefit consumers it also raises privacy concerns about personal information.
Learning tasks
- Students explore and present examples of how personal data is used to inform companies. What types of data are used? How are data visualisations used and analysed?
- Students debate the use of data that is collected from their smartphone and used by companies.
- They create a presentation of what shopping in 2020 might be like. What data has driven these innovative practices?
- Connect the use of data to programming a digital solution (eg how to keep retail stock levels maintained, or how to attract a customer to a shop based on their personal data).
Supporting Resources
How stores track your shopping behaviour
This video provides a range of ways retailers can learn about shopper behaviour through data collection and analysis.
Retail innovation
This video explains how retailers can interact with customers via technology on a personal level to tailor the customer experience.
Retail stores are tracking your cell phones?!
This video raises consumer concerns about their data being used by shops.
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration
Activity Critically evaluate
How does data enable innovation?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Evaluating (ACTDIP042)
What's this about?
Problems and challenges faced by individuals, communities, industries, local businesses and governments can provide a useful context to examine existing digital solutions.
Defining a problem (‘problem identification’) is often the first step in the process of coming up with possible solutions.
Learning tasks
- Consider case studies of businesses that have identified a problem, then designed and created a digital solution. These case studies are useful resources when critically evaluating an existing solution and considering its sustainability. Students may use an existing solution as a springboard when designing a solution of their own that aligns with their preferred future.
- Consider innovations in smart farming. How has data driven solutions and how has technology enabled innovation? (There may be more relevant investigations into innovation, depending on where your school is located.)
- Students could explore climate change. They could use data logging equipment and relevant sensors to gather their own data. The PocketLab Air enables students to do their own research on climate change and air pollution with a state-of-the-art sensor that measures CO2, ozone and particulates.
- Another suitable context might be medical and health related sectors.
- Students could come up with an innovative digital solution to a problem and create a video in the format used by kickstarters to gain funding.
Explore AI-related applications that provide innovative solutions to existing challenges. These may include using drones to spot sharks and warn lifeguards who can then better protect swimmers, an agri-bot that recognises weeds from crops and removes them autonomously or facial recognition applications such as those used in airport security and check-in.
Students research an AI application of interest and develop a case study of a specific AI application or system. Integrate the key ideas of Creating preferred futures and tying into Critical and Creative Thinking.
Supporting Resources
Video about Farmware, a farm management app
This video case study describes an innovative app solution that assists with farm resourcing.
Video about smart frost management
This video case study describes an innovative solution to frost management using sensor technology.
Smart farming
This video is about using sensors and software to monitor crops.
Sample project
This animated video explores smart agriculture.
What happens when farming goes high-tech?
This National Geographic video examines high-tech farming, including the use of soil maps and drones.
Precision farming and the role of big data
This video explores how big data can help farmers produce higher yields using fewer chemicals.
The role of big data in medicine
This article explores how technology is revolutionising our understanding and treatment of disease.
Agworld for iPad
Agworld’s full-featured iPad app is the most convenient way to access, capture, manage and share your farm data from anywhere.
PocketLab Air
Do your own research on climate change and air pollution with a state-of-the-art sensor that measures CO2, ozone and particulates.
Lesson Ideas
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Design plan
- Video presentation
Activity Autonomous solutions
What data and technology are involved in autonomous devices and machines?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
In the case of an autonomous car, the vehicle can guide itself without human control. To enable the ‘driverless’ car to do this it must use various technologies for example sensors that build up a 3D map of the car’s surroundings. There are three main types of hardware in the driverless car model: sensors, processors, and actuators. The autonomous car collects, processes and transmits huge amounts of data. The amount and type of data raises concerns about how the data from driverless cars might be used.
Automation is already permeating into the agricultural industry. A large portion of farming related tasks are labor-intensive and often comprised of repetitive tasks. These tasks are ideal to be replaced by robotics and automation. Agricultural robots (AgBots) perform tasks such as planting and watering, harvesting and sorting the produce. Autonomous tractors are becoming more prevalent on ‘smart farms’. Technology on the tractors include cameras and machine vision systems, GPS for navigation. Connectivity enables remote monitoring and operation. The use of radar and LiDAR enables object detection and avoidance.
Learning tasks
- Produce a flow chart that shows the use of data in a relevant example that involves automation.
- Connect the data focus of this inquiry with programming of robotic devices and drones that sense their environment.
The development and ubiquity of Artificial Intelligence raise a number of social and ethical matters that students can explore. Students determine an AI area of interest to research which may include self-driving cars, facial recognition, recommender systems. They complete a case study of a specific AI application or system that includes an analysis of the technology’s impact on individuals and society.
Supporting Resources
Why Google's new self-driving cars could be the safest on the road
This video is about the safety features in Google’s driverless cars.
Realising the benefits of autonomous vehicles in Australia
This report examines the future of autonomous cars in Australia, and provides recommendations.
How data science is driving the driverless car
This article explores data in relation to driverless cars.
The Future of Flying Robots
Find out about autonomous drones and the applications for Precise Farming with some great examples that combine data gathered via autonomous drones.
Lesson Ideas
Assessment
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration