Big Data: A parent’s guide to computing at home
Following on from last week’s workshop, Starlink: Battle for Atlas this week’s workshop in our computing at home teaching series is Big Data, a workshop that will teach your children about how and why companies collect data through social media platforms.
This workshop is perfect for ages 7 -16 years.
Find all the resources and worksheets here!
Part 1 of the workshop will introduce the differences between data and information and why computers are so good at analysing data.
· To begin, learners will create their own survey to find out what their household would like to include when throwing a party
· Following this we will investigate filtering and different algorithms (step by step instructions that can be followed by a computer) for sorting data
· Lastly, we will take a look at some of the ethical issues around companies collecting data on social media and ways that you can protect yourself
Part 2 of the workshop will teach your child how to create a Harry Potter themed Facebook style quiz which will tell them what Hogwarts house they should be in!
· To begin, we will learn how to write print statements and collect input from the user
· Next, we will investigate how we can store lists of items (such as Hogwarts houses!)
· Finally, we will learn how to make sure the user inputs their data correctly using validation (programmed rules about how the data needs to be entered)
I hope your little learners enjoy Big Data please do get in touch with me at estelle@ukie.org.uk if you have any comments or feedback on the workshop and don't forget to check out all our past workshops, here.
