Our Integrated Design and Technology Program

The aim of the Design and Technology program at EIS is to help students develop the four Cs of the 21^st century: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

Mastering these competences would provide students with a robust foundation to conquer an ever-changing world. This is enabled by introducing the student with the MYP design cycle which covers different conceptual concepts by diving into the 4 criterias; Inquiring and analyzing, Developing Ideas, Creating the Solution and Evaluating.

Educational programs world-wide have been integrating computer programming in all levels of school curricula, but only a few schools offer a fully integrated Design and Technology program that not only teaches computer programming skills but also the entirety of the design cycle of a brand and product.

While Information Technology education indeed provides students with essential computer skills, it is also vital in developing what is referred to as “computational thinking”: a problem-solving approach that is rigorously based on problem decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking.
This asset is what makes the Design and Technology education – particularly coding – integral for student development. We strive to help students effectively (and confidently) utilize optimized ways of thinking – be it academically or professionally. But we at EIS believe that students should develop an appreciation to the elegance and power of the design process while appreciating past, present and emerging designs within global contexts. Under the design and technology program, students develop knowledge and the required skilled from different disciplines to design and create real world solutions to problems by using technology effectively.

Because current pedagogical trends of the field are constantly changing, we, at EIS, are also adapting to all new technologies. Students at EIS end up gaining the knowledge and skills and attitudes from the design courses for careers in industrial, multimedia, product design , video and game development, architecture and roles in engineering, manufacturing and advertising.

About the Program

What does the design program
at Eastwood entail?

The Design and Technology program at EIS provides a progression of learning from IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) to IB Diploma Programme (DP). In the PYP, teaching and learning experiences challenge students to be curious, ask questions, explore and interact with the environment physically, socially, and intellectually to construct meaning and refine their understanding. Even when there is no design component in the PYP, the use of structured inquiry is a precursor to the problem-solving and inquiry-based approach of Middle Years Program (MYP) design. MYP design aims to build on what students learn and do in the PYP and other student-centred programmes of primary education.
MYP design courses help specifically to prepare students for the study of computer science, design technology and information technology in a global society (ITGS) in the Diploma Programme (DP).

MYP design courses help specifically to prepare students for the study of computer science, design technology and information technology in a global society (ITGS) in the Diploma Programme (DP).

Off Screen coding with CUBETTO

On screen Programming with SCRATCH Jr

Adobe Photoshop

Arduino Board

Eastwood students immersed in code

A breakdown of our program:

• COMPUTER SCIENCE requires an understanding of the fundamental concepts of computational thinking, as well as knowledge of how computers and other digital devices operate.

• DESIGN TECHNOLOGY aims to develop a high level of design literacy by enabling students to develop critical- thinking and design skills, which they can apply in a practical context.

• ITGS is the study and evaluation of the impacts of information technology (IT) on individuals and society.

Throughout all stages of the program, students are encouraged to think independently, creatively, and innovatively.

• IN THE PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME, students begin their coding adventure with off screen coding with Cubetto, an educational robot for young kids. The way Cubetto works is by having children “program” using a series of colorful “coding blocks” onto the wooden board that uses light signals and sounds to highlight the success of the code. Moving on within PYP, early learners on iPads will be exposed to an educational programming language (e.g. ScratchJr) that offers a visual and interactive enviroment. Students are expected to manipulate "programing blocks" to develop their own games and stories. At EIS, we recognize that early learners are being exposed to technology at a young age, which is why we reinforce every year screen netiquette and the importance of being a good digital citizen. Students will understand what internet security is and how to safely browse the world wide web. Early Years learners will also learn to be young ﬁlm makers, using iStopMotion to create an animation.

• AT ONLY THE AGE OF 7 YEARS OLD, our students will be taught about the world of Virtual Reality as they create their own virtual space that will help them understand the concept of space and navigation. The curriculum will then expose students to 3D printing; students will grasp the concept of product design by taking precise measurements and designing a solution to a real world problem. Learners will also explore solar cells by building their own electric circuit using an Arduino board. To better prepare these young learners for the MYP curriculum, PYP learners are exposed to branding using Adobe Photoshop software. Students will learn about logos and their speciﬁcations to further then develop their own logos. Students will develop their understanding further by learning about and producing their own commercials, using the ﬁlm and editing application iMovie. During the Middle Years Programme, students will be using a more advanced editing program, Adobe Premiere Pro.

• PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: Students then delve into the world of software development with programming languages that have been speciﬁcally tailored for educational purposes (e.g., HTML and Javascript). Such languages are based on what is referred to as “turtle graphics”, where students program the movement of an on-screen turtle by visualizing themselves in motion. Referred to as "body-syntonic reasoning", this process offers a unique interactive environment that enables students to get a feel of coding by “seeing” what they are thinking (Murgante et al., 2014). Moreover, students are also introduced to the structure, logic, design, and syntax of programming. For example, they will learn how to break down a complex problem, recognize good coding practices from bad ones, use coding comments effectively, and understand human-computer interaction throuh inputs and outputs.

• ONCE STUDENTS COVER THE BASICS OF PROGRAMMING WITH EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE, they move on to learn a more advanced language in DP: Python. Used by top-tier organizations such as NASA, Google, and Netflix to name a few, this language is deemed as “the programming language of the future”. As opposed to other programming languages (e.g C++), Python offers a more human-friendly syntax. The language may be used in diverse fields such as data analytics, networking, machine learning, artiﬁcial intelligence, and robotics. At this stage, high school students will use Python to further develop their coding, problem-solving, and analytical skills. The effectiveness and efficiency of the program could be further improved by integrating it with areas of the curriculem (e.g. math and music). This would help students develop a better grasp on both areas of the curriculum.

Finally, it is also important to apply the knowledge gained from software development into real-world experiments. The ﬁnal part of the program makes use of gained skills and oﬀers three diﬀerent specialized tracks for students: software development (incl. games), robotics, and digital arts.

These tracks are tailored for the diverse interests of students – while some would look forward to programming robots, others would prefer to make use of coding skills for artistic purposes. The aim is to provide a space where students use programming knowledge to explore their interests in hands-on applications, all the while strengthening both hard and soft skills. Students are expected to work in teams to deliver a ﬁnal-year project that encapsulates the learning objectives of the program. Students may choose to work on a variety of projects ranging from coding musical instruments to developing program. Students may choose to work on a variety of projects ranging from coding musical instruments to developing virtual assistants.

Moreover, the Design and Technology program at EIS is designed in a way that ensures quality over quantity – that is, the importance of establishing the core basic concepts of programming is far more important than hurriedly covering them and moving to advanced concepts. Foundations are particularly important when it comes to programming, as grasping the basics would help students adapt to ever-changing technologies (Bell, 2016).

The program does not require a specific textbook, as the material would be made available by the team and tailored for class objectives (e.g. presentations, handouts).

The aim of the Design and Technology program at EIS is to help students develop the four Cs of the 21st century: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.