Information Communication Technology
ICT is a crucial part of Wendouree Primary School's curriculum. We feel that all students should have the opportunity to learn with the latest technology and in doing so we boost student engagement and wellbeing.
Makey Makey he Makey Makey is an experimental piece of technology that has been utilised during computer programming classes.
It is a circuit-board controller which is connected to any computer via a USB connection. Students then link one end of a wired cable to particular parts of the Makey Makey. They can then link the other end of each cable to any object that is conductive (allows an electrical current to run through it). This may include objects such as: spoons, meat, fruit, drawings with a graphite pencil, liquids, etc. With the objects connected, students are now able to control their computer by simply touching each linked object instead of their keyboard! 
Phantom Drone One of Wendouree Primary's most prized pieces of technology is our FPV Drone. It is called a Phantom 3 and we use it to film from the sky. It's amazing what you can see from another perspective!
Attached to the Drone is a GoPro camera, which both records our footage as well as sending a live picture of what the Drone is seeing to our Ground Station Monitor. Flying whilst looking through the 'eyes' of our Drone is called FPV or First Person View. Students in the Senior School can complete an in-house training course to get their Bronze, Silver and Gold Wings to ultimately be able to fly and film without teacher assistance! 
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Ableton Push
The Ableton Push is one of our newest pieces of classroom technology. It is both an instrument and midi-controller and connects to a laptop computer and speakers to make sound.
We use the Ableton Push to emulate a range of real instruments, including: pianos, synthesizers, guitars, basses, brass instruments, percussion instruments, drums and many more. Each of the pads are touch sensitive and light up in many different colours when you play. 
Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi is a very useful educational tool for ICT. The size of a credit card, the Raspberry Pi is a very powerful micro computer which allows students to learn about how each component of a computer works.
Students in the Senior School have had opportunity to learn basic Python computer programming using the Raspberry Pi and in 2013 students redesigned one device into a retro gaming console. Students have also experimented with adding external electronics to it's GPIO expansion board such as LED lights and OLED display panels. 
Minecraft Edu Students in our Senior School have been involved in a large Numeracy based project within the computer game Minecraft.
Minecraft is an innovative game which allows users to build structures within it's world with a variety of different blocks. Another way to think of Minecraft is as a virtual lego set with an infinite number of blocks and space at your disposal. Students involved in this project were required to use the satellite street view of Google Maps as their mapping tool to estimate and measure the three-dimensional size of historic buildings along Lydiard street. Students then teamed up to create a scaled plan of their building, ultimately recreating the entire street as a team within Minecraft. |
