Learn how data is represented through media; audio, visual and text. Supported by Google.

- Duration3 weeks
- Weekly study2 hours
Representing Data with Images and Sound: Bringing 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.
Syllabus
Week 1
Representing numbers, text and colours
About this course
Learn more about what you'll be learning over the course, and meet our educators and the other participants who will accompany you.
How do computers bring data to life?
Start to explore how computers use ones and zeroes to represent everything, beginning with representing numbers in binary.
From Binary to Language
How do we use 1s and 0s to represent text, including characters from different languages?
From Binary to Colours
Find out how to represent colours using binary and hexadecimal.
End of Week 1
Congratulations — you have successfully completed the first week of the course!
Week 2
Representing and manipulating Images
Images as Data
How are images stored on a computer, either as bitmaps or vector images?
Manipulating Images with Code
Images can be transformed in many ways - try some yourself!
End of Week 2
Review what you've learnt about images by hiding a message inside an image
Week 3
Representing sound & compressing files
Sounds as data
Discover how sound is sampled and represented in binary
Compression
Discover how lossy and lossless compression can be used to reduce the size of files.
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
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)
- Produce your own emoji in bitmap and vector form
- Investigate the physics of sound, and how sampling allows computers to represent sounds
- Compare lossy and lossless compression
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 take part 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.
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
Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn
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Join this course
Free
Join free and you will get:
- Access to this course for 5 weeks
Upgrade
Upgrade this course and you will get:
- Access to this course for as long as it’s on FutureLearn
- A print and digital Certificate of Achievement once you’re eligible
Unlimited
Buy Unlimited and you will get:
- Access to this course, and hundreds of other FutureLearn short courses and tests for a year
- A printable digital Certificate of Achievement on all short courses once you’re eligible
- The freedom to keep access to any course you've achieved a digital Certificate of Achievement on, for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn
- The flexibility to complete your choice of short courses in your own time within the year
Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 19 April 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
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