Python is a freely available programming language. This resource contains six sections:

The first section, Getting started, begins with a simple description of how to download and install a Python compiler onto a computer. The screenshots in the resource use a compiler called IDLE. There...

The BBC micro:bit is a great tool for carrying out surveys that involve quickly counting and recording one or two variables. Using the button inputs provides a simple interface to the device allowing, for instance, quick tallying of the numbers of two different types of bee around a plant. Other examples might...

Using a spreadsheet as a grid of 'pixels', this computing activity teachers how 1's and 0's can store image data. The classroom exercises use images with increasing pixel resolution, looking at how this affects the clarity of the image. Moving from black-and-white images, the students then use grids of colour...

Using the AI debate kit,  students explore the benefits and risks that AI poses to individuals and society, now and in the future. What decisions should be made by AI? What data is needed to support these decisions? Does AI pose a threat to our own intelligence or bolster it?

The different ‘rounds’ of the...

Astro Pi is the name of a small computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in collaboration with the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA).

There are two very special Astro Pi’s. Their names are Ed and Izzy, and they have been qualified for spaceflight. They are now onboard the...

Mobile app development is an engaging way for students to learn programming and interface design as many do, indeed, "love their smartphone".

This complete learning package teachers the origins and development of the smartphone, helping them to appreciate the amount of technology packed into their pocket. It...

Designed for students who have advanced through Scratch and are ready for additional challenge, this resource explores Build Your Own Blocks (BYOB) as a tool for learning modular programming using procedures. 

After examining, briefly, the history of the computer and the Turing Test as a measure of their...

This series of five one-hour lessons covers computer networks at secondary-school level. The objectives of the lessons are:

• Describe what a network is, the difference between a LAN and a WAN and identify three network topologies.
• Describe pieces of hardware that are needed in a network.
...

This activity booklet uses the real life context of air traffic control using radar signals to identify the position of an aeroplane that students act out. It provides them with an opportunity to use their knowledge of waves and speed = distance / time to calibrate and calculate the distance a plane is from the...

This resource supports students to research and discuss the field of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). The resource provides a series of student tasks that explore the topic of whether robots are a threat to humanity. This resource would work well as a research topic for students undertaking projects in...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a disruptive technology, meaning that it is significantly changing the way that people, businesses, and industry interact. To put it in context, the invention of the wheel, electricity, TV, and GPS are all disruptive technologies that changed the way in which society worked.

...

To play a simple game called Hexapawn, an ‘artificially intelligent’ computer is created made entirely from sweets. The game is like a mini version of chess; the rules are explained fully, and a playing board drawn. The ‘machine’ then ‘learns’ how to improve its playing of the game by trial and error and by ‘...

This CS4FN activity from the team at Queen Mary University of London highlights some issues encountered during the design of human-computer interfaces (HCI). It acts as an introduction to HCI, introducing the need to translate problems and to understand how people behave.

The activities include a robot...