Using, understanding and making

It helps to separate three strands. Using covers practical skills such as file management, search and safe communication. Understanding covers how computers store data, how networks move it and how algorithms make decisions. Making covers programming, digital design and building simple devices.

Schools often cover the first strand well and the third in short bursts. The middle strand, understanding, is the one most often skipped, yet it is what lets pupils make sense of new tools as they appear.

Programming as problem solving

Block-based environments such as Scratch let younger pupils focus on logic without fighting with syntax. Physical devices such as the BBC micro:bit add sensors and lights, so a program has a visible result in the room. Older pupils can move to text-based languages such as Python once they are comfortable with sequence, selection and repetition.

Whatever the tool, the aim is the same: break a problem into steps, test each step and fix what does not work. Debugging should be treated as normal work, not as failure.

A sample lesson: an unplugged algorithm

Not every technology lesson needs a screen. This 40-minute activity suits pupils aged 7 to 10 and needs only paper, pencils and a grid chalked or taped on the floor.

• In pairs, one pupil writes instructions (forward, turn left, turn right) to guide a partner from start to finish on the grid.

• The partner follows the instructions exactly as written, without guessing.

• When the route goes wrong, the pair finds the faulty step and rewrites it.

• Finish by comparing routes: which was shortest, and which was easiest to follow?

Judging when technology helps

Pupils also need practice in deciding whether a tool suits the task. A quick class discussion before a project can cover what the tool does well, what it does badly and what data it collects. For generative AI in particular, UNESCO published guidance for education and research in 2023 that schools can use as a starting point for their own policies.

Frameworks such as SAMR can help teachers reflect on whether a device is simply replacing paper or changing what pupils are able to do.

Online safety belongs in the same conversation. Pupils who understand that apps store data, that search results are ranked by a program and that images can be edited are better placed to protect themselves than those who have only been given a list of rules to follow.

Key points

• Cover using, understanding and making, not just using.

• Treat debugging as a normal part of every programming task.

• Use unplugged activities to teach logic without screens.

• Ask pupils to judge whether a tool suits the task.

Photos: Haseeb Modi, Vlad Deep / Unsplash