Introduction

A lot of the Year 12 course deals with data collection and processing. We need to understand that early on and in detail.

The following slide deck and question sheet provide that introduction.

Data sampling

Where, how and why you gather data to process is important. this slide deck and worksheet dive into different styles of data collection (primary nad secondary), as well as computer based and manual, and consideres advantages and disadvantages of each. In short, it has you thinking about what data you will colelct and why...

Likes, emoticons and emojis as data collection and feedback tools

Emojis are used regularly in the world to give feedback. Consider where and how emojis are used to give feedback. The slide deck give some information, while the worksheet goes into more depth.

Blockchain

I promise not to try and convince you to buy some dodgy-brothers cryptocurrency, I promise! instead, we are learning about what blockchain is, how it works, how it maintains privacy and security of its users and even some uses for blockchain beyond currency and finaincial transactions. There are a few resources in the workshete, including YouTube links and VoteAustralia.

Implications of Big Data on Privacy

Big data is a real and relevant issue. What it is, what it does and how it works is important to all of us. The slide deck is a guided discussion of the worksheet. The worksheet has most notes to aid students' learning. Use them as a summary, adding your own notes.

To aid your studies and knowledge of big data sets, check out these videos...

First one is about how Quantum Computers will render passwords useless. Even the strongest password will be cracked in a matter of hours with a quantum computer. How is it relevant here? Hackers are storing everything they can now to crack later - a data Warehouse for future processing.

The second video discusses the use of DNA data (through Ancestry.com) to catch a serial killer, again a giant warehouse of data being processed. Consider the privacy and sociological implications of the work.

Exhibit three is an explanation of how predictive AI models work... or to put it in terms of Data Science, how feeding ChatGPT the world's literature (and everything else), trained it be capable of writing articulate prose in almost any style.

The final video is a serious discussion (in spite of its opening) about how Generative AI is changing the world as we live in it. This video follows on from the third video discussing how GPT works.

Data at scale - a case study on Precision Agriculture

Big data sets are used to help us understand the world around us. One of hte most exciting branches of this data sceience comes in the form of Precision Agriculture. The slide deck is simply for timong, the worksheet is the real star of this show.

Data storage when considering large data sets

Big data has an inherent problem - it's big, which is to say it takes a lot of storage space. Do you choose local storage or a cloud solution? It's a tough decision. Each has inherent advantages and disadvantages. Local data will be faster to access and possibly less susceptible to hacking, but you as the network admin are solely responsible for maintaining the data and its backups, while a cloud solution (via a PaaS or IaaS solution) will be slower to access, more susceptible to hacking (probably) but a lot more secure from catestrophic loss. Plus it's available anywhere behind logins and security. It's a conundrum for every admin everywhere!

The worksheet has notes and a couple of exercises, the slide deck provides a visual summary of the concepts, advantages and disadvantages of local vs cloud storage.

Data Quality

The followeing three qorksheets are all similarly structured: Notes at the top (saves you writing lots!) that you need to read and understand, with activities and questions to follow.

It is important to note that, while dry, these topics are important to computing principles as privacy forms a central pillar of our computing knowledge and work.

All of the questions have NESA key terms that you should use to scaffold your answers.

Data manipulation and presentation: Spreadsheets

In this lesson, students will use a data set from CSIRO's education centre. The dataset looks at income inequality in NSW sorted by LGA. Tasks include using formulas to summarise data, if statements to apply logic to data sets and creating Pivot Tables to analyse a large data set into reasonalbe and logical outputs. Included here is the first video in much bigger series of Excel help tutorials.