Search the California Content Standards

Standard:
Select and operate computing devices that perform a variety of tasks accurately and quickly based on user needs and preferences.

Descriptive Statement:
People use computing devices to perform a variety of tasks accurately and quickly. Computing devices interpret and follow the given instructions literally. Students select and operate an appropriate computing device and corresponding program or app for a given task. For example, students could use computing devices to describe what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. In this case, students could choose to use a keyboard to type explanatory sentences onto graphics. They could also choose to use a touchscreen device with a stylus to annotate an image for a slideshow, or choose to use a camera enabled device to make a video. Student choices may reflect their own needs or the needs of others. (CA NGSS: K-LS1-1; 2-LS4-1) Alternatively, students could choose to use a computing device with audio recording capabilities to recount stories or poems. Students could clarify thoughts, ideas, or feelings via their preference of either using a device with digital drawing tools, or by creating paper and pencil drawing based on their needs and preferences. (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy SL.K.5, SL.1.5, SL.2.5)

Standard:
Compare how people lived and worked before and after the adoption of new computing technologies.

Descriptive Statement:
Computing technologies have changed the way people live and work. Students describe the positive and negative impacts of these changes. For example, as a class, students could create a timeline that includes advancements in computing technologies. Each student could then choose an advancement from the timeline and make a graphic organizer noting how people's lives were different before and after its introduction into society. Student responses could include: In the past, if students wanted to read about a topic, they needed access to a library to find a book about it. Today, students can view and read information on the Internet about a topic or they can download e-books about it directly to a device. Such information may be available in more than one language and could be read to a student, allowing for great accessibility. (HSS.K.6.3) Alternatively, students could retell or dramatize stories, myths, and fairy tales from two distinct time periods before and after a particular computing technology had been introduced. For example, the setting of one story could take place before smartphones had been invented, while a second setting could take place with smartphones in use by characters in the story. Students could note the positive and negative aspects of smartphones on the daily lives of the characters in the story. (VAPA Theatre Arts K.3.1, K.3.2, 1.2.2, 2.3.2) (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy RL.K.2, RL.K.9, RL.1., RL.1.9, RL.2.2, RL.2.9)

Standard:
Explain why people use passwords.

Descriptive Statement:
Passwords protect information from unwanted use by others. When creating passwords, people often use patterns of familiar numbers and text to more easily remember their passwords. However, this may make the passwords weaker. Knowledge about the importance of passwords is an essential first step in learning about cybersecurity. Students explain that strong passwords are needed to protect devices and information from unwanted use. For example, students could play a game of guessing a three-character code. In one version of the game, the characters are only numbers. In the second version, characters are numbers or letters. Students describe why it would take longer to guess the correct code in the second case. Alternatively, students could engage in a collaborative discussion regarding passwords and their importance. Students may follow-up the discussion by exploring strong password components (combination of letters, numbers, and characters), creating their own passwords, and writing opinion pieces indicating reasons their passwords are strong. (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy SL.K.1, SL.1.1, SL 2.1, W.1.1, W.2.1)

Standard:
Create patterns to communicate a message.

Descriptive Statement:
Connecting devices to a network or the Internet provides great benefit, but care must be taken to protect devices and information from unauthorized access. Messages can be protected by using secret languages or codes. Patterns help to ensure that the intended recipient can decode the message. Students create a pattern that can be decoded and translated into a message. For example, students could use a table to associate each text character with a number. Then, they could select a combination of text characters and use mathematical functions (e.g., simple arithmetic operations) to transform the numbers associated with the characters into a secret message. Using inverse functions, a peer could translate the secret message back into its original form. (CA CCSS for Mathematics 2.OA.A.1, 2.OA.B.2) Alternatively, students could use icons or invented symbols to represent patterns of beat, rhythm, or pitch to decode a musical phrase. (VAPA Music K.1.1, 1.1.1, 2.1.1, 2.2.2)

Standard:
Describe how computing devices connect to other components to form a system.

Descriptive Statement:
Computing devices often depend on other devices or components. Students describe physical and wireless connections to other components, including both input devices (e.g., keyboards, sensors, remote controls, microphones) and output devices (e.g., 3D printers, monitors, speakers). For example, students could describe the relationship among the heart, lungs, muscles, blood, and oxygen during physical activity and then compare this to how a mouse, keyboard, printer, and desktop computer connect and interact to allow for input, processing, and output. (P.E.3.4.7) Alternatively, when describing how light reflected from objects enters the eye and is then transferred to the brain to construct a visual image, students could compare this to a computing system that uses programming to construct a visual image when data is transferred and constructed/reconstructed through a keyboard, camera, or other components. (CA NGSS: 4-PS4-2)

Standard:
Discuss computing technologies that have changed the world, and express how those technologies influence, and are influenced by, cultural practices.

Descriptive Statement:
New computing technologies are created and existing technologies are modified for many reasons, including to increase their benefits, decrease their risks, and meet societal needs. Students, with guidance from their teacher, discuss topics that relate to the history of computing technologies and changes in the world due to these technologies. Topics could be based on current news content, such as robotics, wireless Internet, mobile computing devices, GPS systems, wearable computing, and how social media has influenced social and political changes. For example, students could conduct research in computing technologies that impact daily life such as self-driving cars. They engage in a collaborative discussion describing impacts of these advancements (e.g., self-driving cars could reduce crashes and decrease traffic, but there is a cost barrier to purchasing them). (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy W.3.7, W.4.7, W.5.7, SL.3.1, SL.4.1, SL.5.1) Alternatively, students could discuss how technological advancements affected the entertainment industry and then compare and contrast the impacts on audiences. For instance, people with access to high-speed Internet may be able to choose to utilize streaming media (which may cost less than traditional media options), but those in rural areas may not have the same access and be able to reap those benefits. (VAPA Theatre Arts 4.3.2, 4.4.2)

Standard:
Propose ways to improve the accessibility and usability of technology products for the diverse needs and wants of users.

Descriptive Statement:
The development and modification of computing technology is driven by people’s needs and wants and can affect groups differently. Students anticipate the needs and wants of diverse end users and propose ways to improve access and usability of technology, with consideration of potential perspectives of users with different backgrounds, ability levels, points of view, and disabilities. For example, students could research a wide variety of disabilities that would limit the use of traditional computational tools for the creation of multimedia artifacts, including digital images, songs, and videos. Students could then brainstorm and propose new software that would allow students that are limited by the disabilities to create similar artifacts in new ways (e.g., graphical display of music for the deaf, the sonification of images for visually impaired students, voice input for those that are unable to use traditional input like the mouse and the keyboard). (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy W.3.7, W.4.7, W.5.7) Alternatively, as they anticipate unique user needs, students may consider using both speech and text to convey information in a game. They may also wish to vary the types of programs they create, knowing that not everyone shares their own tastes. (CA NGSS: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3)

Standard:
Describe physical and digital security measures for protecting personal information.

Descriptive Statement:
Personal information can be protected physically and digitally. Cybersecurity is the protection from unauthorized use of electronic data, or the measures taken to achieve this. Students identify what personal information is and the reasons for protecting it. Students describe physical and digital approaches for protecting personal information such as using strong passwords and biometric scanners. For example, students could engage in a collaborative discussion orally or in writing regarding topics that relate to personal cybersecurity issues. Discussion topics could be based on current events related to cybersecurity or topics that are applicable to students, such as the necessity of backing up data to guard against loss, how to create strong passwords and the importance of not sharing passwords, or why we should keep operating systems updated and use anti-virus software to protect data and systems. Students could also discuss physical measures that can be used to protect data including biometric scanners, locked doors, and physical backups. (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy SL.3.1, SL.4.1, SL.5.1)

Standard:
Create patterns to protect information from unauthorized access.

Descriptive Statement:
Encryption is the process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access. At this level, students use patterns as a code for encryption, to protect information. Patterns should be decodable to the party for whom the message is intended, but difficult or impossible for those with unauthorized access. For example, students could create encrypted messages via flashing a flashlight in Morse code. Other students could decode this established language even if it wasn't meant for them. To model the idea of protecting data, students should create their own variations on or changes to Morse code. This ensures that when a member of that group flashes a message only other members of their group can decode it, even if other students in the room can see it. (CA NGSS: 4-PS4-3) Alternatively, students could engage in a CS Unplugged activity that models public key encryption: One student puts a paper containing a written secret in a box, locks it with a padlock, and hands the box to a second student. Student 2 puts on a second padlock and hands it back. Student 1 removes her lock and hands the box to student 2 again. Student 2 removes his lock, opens the box, and has access to the secret that student 1 sent him. Because the box always contained at least one lock while in transit, an outside party never had the opportunity to see the message and it is protected.

Standard:
Design modifications to computing devices in order to improve the ways users interact with the devices.

Descriptive Statement:
Computing devices can extend the abilities of humans, but design considerations are critical to make these devices useful. Students suggest modifications to the design of computing devices and describe how these modifications would improve usabilty. For example, students could create a design for the screen layout of a smartphone that is more usable by people with vision impairments or hand tremors. They might also design how to use the device as a scanner to convert text to speech. Alternatively, students could design modifications for a student ID card reader to increase usability by planning for scanner height, need of scanner device to be connected physically to the computer, robustness of scanner housing, and choice of use of RFID or line of sight scanners. (CA NGSS: MS-ETS1-1)