Hardware & Software

Previous Knowledge

This was a topic which I was familiar with from studying ICT in school, but had limited knowledge of it. I was aware of what input and output devices were but had no concept of their properties in depth. I was also unsure what the purpose of the CPU was.

Current Knowledge

My knowledge developed thoroughly due to the various tasks that were given as part of the lesson. A particular task which was of great benefit to me, was where we had dissected a computer. This was something which I had not previously participated in and the opportunity to view the internal components directly was useful. After this task, I could clearly see how they all fitted together and what their purpose was. It was something which I had no knowledge of and at first was slightly cautious as I was not aware of how to handle the computer. However, with the encouragement from my group members I was able to take apart and put back together the computer by myself. through the use of diagrams and basic terminology I also understood the concept and purpose of the CPU in depth.

Strengths

This is an area which I feel very confident in, and could confidently teach to pupils.

Weaknesses

As my knowledge has developed in this area and now I feel confident, I feel I have no weaknesses regarding the structure of a computer.

Lesson Ideas

I think allowing pupils to explore a computer for themselves is a beneficial way to learn the different parts. A game could also be played using the interactive whiteboard where the pupils must link the components to their properties, this would engage them and make the learning process interactive and fun.

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Data Representation

Previous Knowledge

I had no previous knowledge of data represenation.

Current Knowledge

Although I have always been confident in maths, the concept of binary, denary and hexadecimal was not one which I grasped easily. Before beginning the course I was not aware that computers used the binary system to process data, or what the binary system even was. I found this topic quite complex and intense as it consisted of alot of numbers and information. Practicing different examples from binary to denary and then denary to binary helped me to develop my knowledge and understanding in more depth. I am now also familiar with the terms bit, nibble, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte and understand what the difference is between each one. I also have an understanding of how characters are represented using The American Code for Information Interchange ASCII.

Strengths

Maths is one of my strongest subjects and one I enjoy, so I can now confidently convert binary to denary and vice versa, as it quite straight forward.

Weaknesses

Although I understand that hexadecimal is a more human readable version of binary, I find it a little tricky to convert to hexadecimal. This is an area within this topic that I will definately focus on.

Lesson Ideas

In order to introduce binary to a class I would put the class into pairs and and provide them with a set of cards with the numbers, 1,2,4,8,16,32 and 64 written on them and placed in order. I would shout out numbers and ask them to make the total using the cards and turning over the card which wasnt applicable to the additon. I would then explain the turned over cards representated a 0 whereas the card(s) still showing equated to a 1 and then explain in depth.

I would also look at using the Binary Game which was used in class as it encourages independent learning and tests their understanding of binary.

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