Computer Skills

About this course

Eighth grade expects your student to produce work, not just read. Every one of the 72 lessons ends with a written Activity, and the programming unit is the clearest example: the first lesson tells your student to install Python from python.org, open IDLE, and write a program using variables and the type function, and the unit builds from there through conditionals, loops, functions, lists and dictionaries and tuples and sets, keyboard input, debugging and reading error messages, and finally a complete program of the student's choosing that must include at least three functions, user input, a loop, a conditional, input validation with try and except, and clear comments. Pseudocode is taught as a planning step before any code is written.

The rest of the year is equally substantial. The hardware and networking units cover the history of computing, components, what an operating system actually manages, file systems, Wi-Fi as a radio technology, packet switching, what the cloud really is, binary representation, and a lesson on technology careers that names specific roles, discusses vocation in the Anabaptist and Reformation sense of ordinary work as a calling, and asks your student to research three careers including one ethical challenge each and what boundaries they would set. The software unit covers advanced word processing, spreadsheet work, presentation design, databases as distinct from spreadsheets, photo editing, productivity and task apps, cloud collaboration, why software updates are primarily security patches, and a video-editing lesson with real technical content on frame rate, resolution, bit rate, and export formats, assigning a finished two-to-three-minute video with titles, music, and transitions. Digital citizenship and internet safety go after phishing, password security, browser privacy tools, what privacy policies actually say, malware, social engineering, safe online shopping, digital addiction, handling online conflict, and building a written family internet safety plan.

Lessons run about 35 minutes of instruction plus whatever the assignment takes, and each ends with a ten-question quiz that grades itself. Plan for the tools: your student will want Python installed, which is free from python.org and includes the IDLE editor; a free video editor such as DaVinci Resolve, iMovie, OpenShot, or Kdenlive, along with some way to record a few clips; a photo editor; and a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program. Everything named in the course is free or already on most computers. This is the grade where the assignments are worth checking, because a student can read the lessons in far less time than the work actually takes.

What the course covers

• Python: variables, data types, conditionals, loops, and functions
• Lists, dictionaries, tuples, and sets
• User input, error messages, debugging, and try/except validation
• Pseudocode, code organization, and building a complete program
• History of computing, hardware, operating systems, and file systems
• Wi-Fi, packets, protocols, and what the cloud actually is
• Databases compared with spreadsheets
• Video editing: frame rate, resolution, bit rate, and export
• Photo editing, productivity apps, and cloud collaboration
• Phishing, malware, social engineering, and privacy policies
• Safe online shopping and a written family internet safety plan
• Technology careers, vocation, and workplace ethics

What your student will be able to do

• Install Python and write, run, and debug a complete program of your own design
• Use lists and dictionaries to store and process real data
• Plan a program in pseudocode before writing code, and comment it clearly
• Edit and export a finished video with titles, music, and transitions
• Recognize phishing and social engineering and shop online safely
• Explain what a technology career involves and what ethical limits you would set

Scope and sequence

All 8 units of Computer Skills for Grade 8, in the order they are taught.

Every lesson, by title

All 72 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 72 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.