ICT Outreach
ICT = Information and Communications Technology
There's a fun and easy way to introduce your students to some of the key ideas behind ICT, thanks to the new ICT Outreach programme which is being offered by the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.
To assist you with demonstrating some of the fundamentals of ICT, postgraduate students from the Department can come to your school and conduct one of two Outreach sessions as outlined below. These sessions can be tailored to suit a variety of age groups.
It may also be possible to arrange for a Computer Scientist to come to your school to conduct the interactive, highly-popular Computer Science Unplugged programme which is currently funded by Google. These talks and activities are based on the internationally acclaimed Computer Science Unplugged material developed at Canterbury, and available through http://csunplugged.org
ICT Outreach presentation topics
Information: looking at the I in ICT
We talk a lot about Information and Communication Technology, but the "information" can be a variety of things: text, photos, sound, videos, and much more. We can create new trends simply by changing how information is stored. For example, MP3 files made songs small enough to move around on the internet and carry an entire CD collection in your pocket. But how is all this information represented on a computer? And how do we measure the information content of a message?
Suitable for maths or computing classes. Can be adapted for classes ranging from year 7 to year 13.
Covers the binary number system (base 2), logarithms (for older students), and (if time is available) acoustics.
Sorting out sorting
Sorting items into increasing order is a fundamental problem in Computer Science. If you do it the wrong way it could take years just to sort a few items, even on a very fast computer. We will look at some of the methods that people use to sort things into order on computers, and some methods that shouldn't be used but are. The talk includes a team competition that uses an advanced method to sort numbers into order very quickly using very simple rules.
Suitable for maths or computing classes. Can be adapted for classes ranging from year 7 to year 13.
Covers comparing numbers, ordering numbers, algorithmic thinking, permutations (for older students).
How to arrange a visit:
1. Identify some suitable days/times for the talk.
2. Email Lisa.kulczycki@canterbury.ac.nz to request the talks, giving details of age groups and topics you would like covered.
3. Arrange for a projection screen or a blank, light coloured wall to be available in the classroom.
4. Your ICT Outreach presentation will be confirmed and you will be requested to meet the presenter 10 minutes before the presentation at your school's reception.