Digital Technologies Vocabulary (Australian Curriculum) Flashcards
Augmented reality (AR)
Augmented reality replicates, enhances or overlays extra information about the real-world environment using computer-generated data such as global positioning systems (GPS), sound, videos and images.
Biomimicry
Inspiration of functions found in nature for use and adaptation in the design of a product, service or environment or to solve human problems.
http://biomimicry.net/about/biomimicry/
Branching
Branching involves making a decision between one of two or more actions depending on sets of conditions and the data provided. For example, in testing whether a light works, the following algorithm uses branching:
CAPTCHA™
A graphic image (and audio for vision impaired) recognition test to confirm a human, rather than a computer automated, response to a request. It is an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It is commonly used with online forms over the internet to reduce the chance of hackers using computer programs to automatically fill in multiple bogus online forms.
Collaborative document
A document that is created by more than one person, with the authors working together to create a single document. This is readily achieved using digital technologies by having the document in an online environment so that many authors can access and edit the document at the same time.
(Image Credit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/ict/history_impact_ict/communication_collaboration/revision/4/)
Cloud computing
Distributing computing over a network where storage of files, processing of data and/or access to software occurs automatically on interconnected server computers to which the user’s device is connected. Typically, people use the term to refer to accessing files and software over the internet. For example, photo files may be stored in the ‘cloud’ from a smartphone to be accessed later from a different location; where they are actually stored can be anywhere in the world on a server computer used by the ‘cloud’ service.
What do these file types have in common?
.zip .jpg .mp3
Compression
The process of encoding information using fewer bits, that is 0 or 1, than the original representation to reduce file size – typically using mathematical formulas to remove repeated data, combine related data or simplify data (e.g. a line segment can be represented by the position of the end points instead of every dot on it). Common examples include:
Computational thinking
A problem-solving method that involves various techniques and strategies that can be implemented by digital systems. Techniques and strategies may include organising and using algorithms, patterns and models.data logically, breaking down problems into parts, defining abstract concepts and designing
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) uses geometric design data (coordinates) to control and monitor specially designed automated machines with onboard computers to produce objects. Numerical control (NC) computer software applications create the detailed instructions known as G-code that drive the computer numeric control (CNC) machine tools for manufacturing components and objects.
Computer-aided drawing (CAD)
Computer-aided drawing (also known as computer-assisted design or CAD) is software used by designers, architects and engineers to help them create lines, shapes and planes which can be combined, moved, rotated, adjusted and rendered. Measurements and calculations can be included.
Design brief
A concise statement clarifying the project task and defining the need or opportunity to be resolved after some analysis, investigation and research. It usually identifies the users, criteria for success, constraints, available resources and timeframe for the project and may include possible consequences and impacts.
Digital footprint
The total set of data left behind by a person using a digital system. A person’s digital footprint includes all the information actively provided by the person such as interactions on social networks (e.g. comments, photographs), online purchases, website logons, emails and instant messages. It also includes passive information such as logs of software installed and used on a computer, metadata associated with files, a user’s IP address, the device being used to access a webpage, and the user’s browsing history stored as cookies or by internet service providers.
Rapid prototyping
A range of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer-assisted design (CAD). Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing or additive layer manufacturing technology.
What do these file types have in common?
.BMP .GIF .JPEG
Bitmap
A bitmap is mapping something to bits (binary digits 0 and 1). It is most often used in reference to graphics or images (but can be other forms of media). For a bitmapped graphic, each ‘dot’, or pixel, of the graphic is represented by a number giving the colour of the pixel. BMP, GIF or JPEG files are graphics represented as bitmaps (as opposed to vector graphics). If a graphic were stored or displayed using only 1 bit per pixel it would be purely black and white (1 for black and 0 for white). If it were 2 bits per pixel it could represent four ‘colours’ (typically greyscale colours). Using 24 bits per pixel gives over 16 million (224) different colours.
In coding what is an ‘IF statement’?
A conditional decision statement used to control the flow of a program (see Branching). The structure of an IF statement evaluates an expression (e.g. hour < 12) and performs the specified code block only if the condition is true. An example in Python would look like the following:
if hour < 12:
print(“Good morning!”)
Here, the program would only print the words Good morning! if the hour of the day is less than 12.
What are Vector Graphics?
Images that are represented and stored on computers using geometric elements such as points, lines, curves and shapes. Unlike bitmap images, vector graphics can be easily scaled without loss of clarity due to all points used in the reproduction of the graphic having a clearly defined location and shape in two-dimensional space.
For example, if a line is drawn using vector graphics only the two end points and the fact that it is a straight line need to be stored. To double the length of the line only needs information about one end point changed so that the software can fill in all the dots between. As a bitmap, each pixel would have to be doubled in size, making a more ‘blurry’ image. (The software doesn’t ‘know’ it is a line and stores information about all the pixels that made up the line separately.)
