Are HTML + CSS enough for AC:DT?
Web technologies are great for producing user interfaces and are a core part of the user experience of a digital system. Whilst you can explore the user experience in a classroom setting by other means, such as dialogues and windows in a desktop environment, a web UI is presently the standard when it comes to user interfaces in the modern cloud-based web infrastructure.
Teachers often ask us if web development meets the requirements of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies, specifically the content descriptors that are part of Producing and Implementing, i.e. ACTDIP011, ACTDIP20, ACTDIP30, and ACTDIP41. Here, we are dealing with:
- programs/algorithms (ACTDIP011+ACTDIP20+ACTDIP30+ACTDIP41) that involve
- branching/decisions (ACTDIP011+ACTDIP20+ACTDIP30),
- iteration/repetition (ACTDIP20+ACTDIP30),
- functions and user interfaces (ACTDIP30),
- data structures and objects (ACTDIP41).
We get the picture that algorithms, decisions and repetition are a key focus.
Web design consists of three parts: Let’s start with two of them. They are:
- HTML (hypertext markup language)
- CSS (cascading stylesheets).
In this tandem, HTML describes the structure of a document and CSS its style (generally so that a web page looks pleasing to the eye). Together, HTML and CSS can be used to make beautiful user interfaces (ACTDIP30). However, neither HTML nor CSS allow us to write algorithms. This brings us to the third part:
3. A web programming language, such as Python, JavaScript or PHP.
The programming language adds algorithmic life to HTML and CSS and only with programming languages can students implement algorithms, decisions, repetition, functions and data structures. That’s most of the above-listed content descriptors.
So, in summary, web design that involves only HTML and CSS does meet some but not all of the intentions of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. The solution is to add a programming language, such as Python, JavaScript or PHP.
