Digital Maker Badge Leaders notes – Stage 1
For most young people, digital technology is an everyday part of life. But as technology increasingly influences our
world, young people need to be able to shape the digital world, as well as to consume and navigate it.
Nesta is the UK's Innovation Foundation. We are an independent charity with a mission to help people and
organisations bring great ideas to life. Since 2012 we have been supporting organisations across the UK who are
providing opportunities for young people to learn about technology through making. We have worked with The
Scout Association to develop the Digital Maker Staged Activity Badge requirements and stage 1 & 2 supporting
resources.
What is digital making and why is it important?
Digital making is a way for young people to learn about how technology works, by making things with it. The great
thing about digital making is that it's practical, it's hands-on and it's of relevance to many of the passions and
hobbies of young people. It fosters an interest in technology, but also provides new channels for creativity and
self-expression. Increasingly fields like games, music, art and fashion are created using digital skills, for example.
And the skills young people learn through digital making will contribute to a skill set for future employment in
creative roles, as well as technological.
Recently there have been a lot of new activities helping young people to develop digital making skills - including a
new computing school curriculum (in England and Scotland), new after school clubs and workshops, and now the
Scouts! And lots of young people have started to dabble. In early 2015, 83% of the children (aged 8-18) surveyed by
Nesta had made at least one thing with digital technology, and 82% said they were actively interested in it. Parents
are overwhelmingly supportive too - 89% surveyed thought digital making is a worthwhile activity for their children.
This pack is an introduction to the basics of how digital technologies are made and is intended to spark curiosity for
children and young people in understanding the digital world around them. We've designed it for anyone to pick up
and run with - no matter how technologically capable they are. In fact, we think it's really important for adults to
learn alongside their kids. Enjoy!
Note
You can use any hardware and/or operating system available to you provided it is capable of the functionality
needed to complete these requirements.
A glossary of terms and abbreviations has been included at the end of this pack for your reference.
Activity 1 - Computer peripherals
In this activity Scouts will think about what a computer peripheral is, what they do and how they work.
A computer peripheral is a device that is connected to a computer, but not an integral part of it. There are three
different types of peripherals – Inputs, Outputs and Storage.
Computer peripherals play different roles:
o
Some example inputs: used to interact with, or send data to the computer (mouse, keyboards, scanners,
games consoles, webcams, microphones)
o
Some example outputs: which provides output to the user from the computer (monitors, printers, speakers,
headphones, motors)
o
Storage: which stores data processed by the computer (hard drives, USB sticks, memory cards)
Use physical examples if they are accessible, or Scouts could draw pictures to demonstrate the different uses of
peripherals.
Activity 2 - Game design 101
Rather than just playing a game, can you start to think critically about it? Learn to tweak and adjust games rather
than just consuming games.
Materials needed
o Pens
o Paper
o Video camera (optional)
Folk games don’t need much equipment to play, and they mostly have been transmitted by word of mouth, for
instance Lemon Joust, Dodge the Beanbag or Human Knot.
1. Warm up
Ask your Section what are some games they know/play? What games do they like? What are their favourite
playground games, board games, video games? What makes these games good? Why do they like playing
them? Try playing Lemon Joust, Dodge the Beanbag or Human Knot.
2. The games
This activity is to introduce the idea of computational thinking and problem solving. It is designed to
introduce the idea of thinking critically about games in general before learning how to make them.
After playing a folk game ask the group if the game was fun and why, if they know any similar games or
better games.
3. Invent a game and act it out
Divide the group into smaller groups, each group invents a game and acts it out.
4. Make a paper prototype
Using paper, ask the groups to prototype their game by drawing the different concepts and characters on
paper and explaining to another group how it works.
Some things to think about
A game is an activity that requires at least one player, has rules, and has a victory condition. A good game is easy to
explain and has a clear objective. For instance the classic game Battleship's objective is "sink all your opponents’
ships".
Further Reading:

“Beginners Guide to Game Makery”: https://mozteach.makes.org/thimble/a-beginners-guide-to-gamemakery
Activity 3 - Human HTML tag puzzle
In this puzzle activity, participants pair up in "opening" and "closing" pairs and discuss what some of the different
HTML tags mean.
Materials
o Pens
o Post-its
What is HTML?
HTML is a language for describing what a web page will look like. The basic structure of an HTML page includes tags,
which surround content and apply meaning to it.



HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
A markup language is a set of tags
HTML documents are described by HTML tags
Each HTML tag describes different content.
Steps for the Activity
1. Prepare sets of tags on post-it notes. Each post-it should include only one tag, like "<p>" with the related
closing tag (say, "</p>") appearing on a different post-it.
Answers to Tags:
o <html> and </html> - These tags are the container for all the other HTML elements.
o <body> and </body> - The visible part of your website.
o <h1> and </h1> - The most important header on your website
o <p> and </p> - New paragraph
o <a> and </a> - The ‘anchor’ for attaching links to.
o <li> and </li> - An item in a list
nd
o <h2> and </h2> - The 2 most important header on your website
o <video> and </video> - A video
o <div> and </div> - A divider
o <img> and </img> - An image
2. Label each Scout with an HTML tag. Encourage each Scout to pair up in ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ pairs.
3. Discuss what you think each pair will do.
Discussion points
After completing this exercise, participants should be able to name basic HTML tags and know that tags need to be
both opened and closed.
Further reading 
A list of HTML elements and their use: http://docs.webplatform.org/wiki/html/elements

Introduction to html elements: http://www.dontfeartheinternet.com/html/html
Activity 4 - Edit a website
“X-Ray Goggles” is an online tool which enables you to see the building blocks that make up websites on the
internet. Activate the goggles to inspect the code behind any webpage and then remix elements with a single click,
swapping in your own text, images and more. This activity will help people learn basic concepts of HTML (the
language for making websites), look at how websites are made and edit their first website.
Materials
o Computer
o Web Access
o Modern browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer
Preparation
Make sure that your computers are set up with a modern web browser. The X-Ray Goggles are easy to install, but to
save yourself a few minutes during your meeting; you can prep the computers beforehand here:
https://webmaker.org/en-US/goggles/install
If you meet in or near a school, it may be worth asking to access their IT facilities. Your Section may also be familiar
with the school set up and of course have a conversation with the school as to whether the software for X-Ray
Goggles can be used.
Steps for the activity
1. Test X-Ray Goggles
Go to https://webmaker.org/en-US/goggles
You can follow the instructions here or from the website –
 Click “Activate X-Ray Goggles”
 Click the background image
 Change the image’s source from shapes.jpg to blur.jpg
2. Remix any webpage
You can take X-Ray Goggles with you anywhere on the web:
 Make sure your web browser's bookmarks bar is enabled.
 Go to this page: https://webmaker.org/en-US/goggles/install
 Drag the yellow "Activate X-Ray Goggles" button into your bookmarks bar, where it will
automatically be added as a button that you can click to activate the Goggles on any webpage.
Try visiting the Scouts website at http://scouts.org.uk/home/
Activate the X-Ray Goggles by clicking the new button in your bookmarks toolbar and start remixing!
You could also try CBBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/ and start replacing headlines, text and images with
your own.
Discussion
Q: What are websites made of? (A website is a display of coded information. Web designers write the code using
various programming languages, such as HTML, and the computer translates the code into the images and text.)
Activity 5 - Robot game
In this activity Scouts will write an algorithm (a sequence of instructions) so that Sandwich Bot (played by a Scout or
played by you!) will make a jam sandwich.
Materials
o Jam
o Butter
o Pack of bread
o Knife
o Plate
o Pen and paper
It might be useful to write this on a blackboard or similar, or print out on paper for your Section to refer to.
The participants need to write a series of instructions that only use the words provided. Each command must contain
a left or right hand indicator. E.g. "right hand pick up knife handle". You can demonstrate making a sandwich but
don’t use the commands.
As the robot, you should be pedantic and petty and do exactly what young people tell you even if it involves putting
your hand in the butter or jam. When situations like this arise Scouts should be encouraged to refine and debug
(correct defects) their instructions as a normal part of computing.
Discussion points
What sort of instructions work well?
What happens when things go wrong?
What sort of instructions resulted in unintended robot behaviour?
What do you do when things go wrong?
Glossary of terms and abbreviations
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a protocol for wireless communication. Devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital
cameras and video game consoles can connect to each other, and exchange information. This is done using radio
waves. Bluetooth is only used for relatively short distances, like a few metres.
Computer peripherals
A peripheral is a device that is connected to a host computer, but not an integral part of it. It expands the host's
capabilities but does not form part of the core computer architecture.
There are three different types of peripherals:
 Input, used to interact with, or send data to the computer (mouse, keyboards, etc.)
 Output, which provides output to the user from the computer (monitors, printers, etc.)
 Storage, which stores data processed by the computer (hard drives, flash drives, etc.)
Database
A database is a system for storing and taking care of data (any kind of information).
Event condition
When a certain thing happens, a rule is invoked (your game reacts to something that happens)
Game design
Game design refers to the idea/concept/story of gameplay (not just the graphic design)
Hardware
Computer hardware are the parts of a machine that can be seen and touched. Some examples include processor,
memory, motherboard, graphics card, network card, modem, USB flash drive, hard drive.
Home network
A home network is a group of devices – such as computers, game systems, printers, and mobile devices – that
connect to the Internet and each other.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is a markup language for creating webpages. Webpages are usually viewed in a web
browser. They can include writing, links, pictures, and even sound and video. HTML is used to mark and describe
each of these kinds of content so the web browser can show them correctly. HTML is also used to add meta
information to a webpage. Meta information is information about the web page. For example, the name of the
person who made it. Meta information is not usually shown by web browsers.
Hyperlink
A hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the
current document. Hyperlinks are found in nearly all Web pages, allowing users to click their way from page to page.
Text hyperlinks are often blue and underlined, but don't have to be.
Internet
The Internet is a large group of computers that are connected to each other. The Internet is used to send
information quickly between computers around the world. It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business,
and government networks and websites, which together carry many different kinds of information and services. So
in other words, the Internet is a network of networks.
Iteration
Iteration is the repetition of a function or process in a computer program. Iterations of functions are common in
computer programming, since they allow multiple blocks of data to be processed in sequence. This is typically done
using a "while loop" or "for loop" (see the examples below). These loops will repeat a process until a certain number
or case is reached. Recursive functions also use iteration, though instead of repeating a process, the entire function
repeats itself.
LAMP
The acronym LAMP refers to first letters of the four components of an open source stack, very popular for building
dynamic websites.
 L for Linux
 A for Apache
 M for mySQL
 P for php/perl/python
Live DVD
A Live DVD is a special way of creating a computer operating system so that it is able to run without installing
anything on the computer first. This special operating system is used when the computer is booting up, and runs all
its programs off the object it is put on. The name of the operating system usually has something to do with the
object, such as "Live CD" for CDs, "Live DVD" for DVDs, or "Live USB" for USB flash drives.
Mozilla thimble
Thimble is a free, open tool for making, hosting and sharing your own web pages. You can write and edit HTML and
CSS right in the browser.
Open source
Open source means anyone can see how the source code works and can change it if they want to make it work
differently.
Programmable tot / turtle / toy to follow
In the Logo programming language, children were introduced to programming using a turtle that they could give
instructions to, like "forward(10)" to move forward 10 steps. Robot turtles were also made and very popular. The
Lego Mindstorm robot is based on the Logo Turtle.
Programming language
A programming language is a type of written language that tells computers what to do. Programming languages are
used to make all computer programs and computer software. A programming language is like a set of instructions
that the computer follows to do something.
Prototype
A test version of something, making a prototype helps you think about how something should work, without having
to worry about actually making it work. There are different kinds of prototypes; some are more like rough drafts and
some are more like the final version. When you first come up with an idea for a new product, you'll probably sketch
it out so you can show people what you're thinking of. Prototypes are very useful in testing.
Pseudocode
Pseudocode is a form of source code that is written for humans, not machines, to read. It is often written to show
how an algorithm works.
Sensor input
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a 'signal' which can be read by an observer
or by an instrument, or computer. For example, a mercury thermometer converts the measured temperature into
the expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated glass tube. Other types of sensors
include motion sensors, visual sensors and electromagnetic sensors.
Troubleshoot
Troubleshooting is the process of diagnosing the source of a problem. It is used to fix problems with hardware,
software, and many other products. The basic theory of troubleshooting is that you start with the most general (and
often most obvious) possible problems, and then narrow it down to more specific issues.
USB stick
A USB flash drive (USB stands for Universal Serial Bus) is a popular way to store digital information. Flash drives are
an easy way to share data (information). They are used with devices found in homes, workplaces and schools (like
computers, DVD players, video game consoles, music players, digital picture frames etc). They are called "Flash
drive" because they use flash memory to store files.
Robot
A programmable machine. You probably know a few human-like robots from science fictions movies. But most
robots look nothing like humans. A lot of them do work in factories. Some, like the Mars Rover, explore space.
Software
Computer software (often called just software) is made of one or more computer programs. Sometimes it means
one specific program, or it can mean all the software on a computer, including the applications and the operating
system. Applications are programs that do a specific thing, such as a game or a word processor. Software is the
instructions that the computer follows. Before compact discs (CDs) or Internet downloads, software came on "soft
media" like paper punch cards, magnetic discs or magnetic tape.
Variable
A variable is a special type of amount or quantity with an unknown value. They are often used in programming
computers or in mathematical equations. In computer science, a variable does not have to be a number, it may be a
string (text) value, or a date, or an amount of money, or even an object such as a picture.
WAMP
LAMP but for Windows instead of Linux
Web hosting
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service. It allows people and companies to make their website
available on the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies which provide space on a server which is owned or
leased for use by customers. They also allow their customers to connect to the Internet.
Web server
A web server is basically a computer that is always on and always connected to the internet, so that you can host a
website on it for instance.
Wireless
The word wireless is normally used to refer to any type of electrical or electronic operation which is done without a
"hard wired" connection. Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of
wires. The distances involved may be short (when using a television remote control) or very long (thousands or even
millions of kilometres for radio communications).
X-ray Goggles
A free online tool that lets you see the code behind websites and change the text, images etc to whatever you like.