Data Representation in Computing: Bring Data to Life
Learn how data is represented through media; audio, visual and text. Supported by Google.
Duration
3 weeksWeekly study
2 hours
Data Representation in Computing: Bring Data to Life
This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. Find out more.
Learn how data is represented through media; audio, visual and text.
This online course from the Raspberry Pi Foundation explores how computers do interesting things with data. You’ll discover how to represent and manipulate text, images and sound and compression and other algorithms.
What topics will you cover?
- Units of information
- Character encoding
- Representing images
- Representing sound
- Data compression
Who is this accredited by?
The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 and is the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the CPD policies of professional and academic bodies.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Describe how computers represent things in binary
- Explain common text encoding (ASCII and UTF-8)
- Investigate the physics of sound, and how sampling allows computers to represent sounds
- Compare lossy and lossless compression
- Evaluate whether to use a bitmap or a vector image
Who is the course for?
This course is designed at GCSE-Level to A-Level educators and learners. This course has a focus on supporting educators looking for an engaging way of teaching GCSE Computer Science concepts.
We recommend that learners have a basic understanding of Python, for example gained from our Programming 101 course for beginners
An understanding of binary is helpful but not necessary (you may be interested in our How Computers Work course)
Due to its section on the representation of images, this course includes several steps and questions based around visual content.
What software or tools do you need?
To complete optional coding challenges in this course you will need to download a Python IDE (Integrated Developer Environment) such as Mu.
Who will you learn with?
Hey, my name is Mac. I am a Learning Manager at The Raspberry Pi Foundation. I love teaching and digital making, especially when I get to do them both at the same time.
Caitlyn creates and develops Raspberry Pi resources. She is a former teacher, and a postgrad student in social innovation. She likes open tech, the outdoors, art, music, games and anything scifi.
Who developed the course?
Raspberry Pi Foundation
The Raspberry Pi Foundation works to put the power of digital making into the hands of people all over the world, so they are capable of understanding and shaping our increasingly digital world.
National Centre for Computing Education
This course is part of our professional development teacher programme for the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). Our nationally-recognised certificates cater for all levels of teaching.
Funded by the Department for Education and supporting partners, we aim to transform the way computing is taught in schools across England, and enable more young people to benefit from studying this important subject.
Endorsers and supporters
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- Access to this course for 5 weeks
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Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 22 November 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps, but you can complete them as quickly or slowly as you like
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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