New
New
Year 3

Designing a digital device

I can design a digital device.

New
New
Year 3

Designing a digital device

I can design a digital device.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Digital devices must have an input, process and output.
  2. Digital devices work by having an input, which is the control. It is how the device receives its information.
  3. The process is what the device does with the information.
  4. The output is what the device does after the input and process

Keywords

  • Digital device - an object that uses computer technology to work; it stores or processes information

  • Input - data that is sent to a program to be processed

  • Process - a program, or part of a program, which is running on a computer

  • Output - the result of data processed by a computer

Common misconception

A digital device has to have exactly one input and one output.

Digital devices can have more than one input and more than one output. They use different devices for different tasks at different times. For some tasks, input or output devices might not be required but they might be for different uses.


To help you plan your year 3 computing lesson on: Designing a digital device, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

When designing digital devices it might help to have some physical devices for children to explore for inspiration.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the main role of an input device?
to process data
to store information
Correct answer: to send data to a computer
to display output
Q2.
Which of these is an example of an output device?
keyboard
Correct answer: monitor
mouse
microphone
Q3.
What does a digital device use to work?
Correct answer: computer technology
mechanical parts
manual input only
Q4.
What does the term "process" refer to in a digital device?
entering data
storing data
Correct answer: running a program
displaying information
Q5.
Put these steps in order for how a digital device works:
1 - input is sent to the device
2 - the device processes the input
3 - the device produces an output
4 - the output is displayed to the user
Q6.
Which of these are examples of digital devices?
Correct answer: laptop
Correct answer: smartphone
bicycle
Correct answer: camera
map

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the term for data that is sent to a program to be processed?
Correct Answer: input
Q2.
What is the term for the stage where input is converted into output in a digital device?
Correct Answer: process, processing
Q3.
What is the term for the result of data processed by a computer?
Correct Answer: output
Q4.
Match these terms with their correct type:
Correct Answer:mouse,input

input

Correct Answer:speaker,output

output

Correct Answer:touchscreen,input and output

input and output

Correct Answer:program,process

process

Q5.
A device has one input and three outputs. Is this possible?
Correct answer: yes
no
only with a touchscreen
Q6.
What is the main purpose of designing a digital device?
to replace humans
to create art
to perform manual tasks
Correct answer: to solve specific problems