The Year 8 pupils at Lansdowne School have started a new ICT topic after the half term break looking all about the idea of control. We began this learning by first defining what is meant by control in ICT. The class came up with a shared definition that control is when you are able to make something change.
A class discussion then took place about some of the features in the ICT suite that we can control. Each class member was asked for an example, and then to also explain how the item is controlled.
Suggestions included the printer, which is controlled by the computer; the computer is controlled by the keyboard or the mouse. These items are controlled by the human hand. Year 8 soon began to see how if we want to be able to control something, then we also need a decision and action to carry out this change.
The next level of this learning will see the Year 8 pupils programming a robot buggy to move around the school. Each class member will be asked to think about a sequence of events that we want the robot to carry out. Our challenge will be to programme the robot so that we can control the movements.
