L3 Generic DT Project

Inquiry ➡️ Design ➡️ Development

Learning Complex Skills

L3 Self Awareness & Inquiry

L3 Design

L3 Development

Reflective Analysis External

About

This Level 3 course is built around an authentic Inquiry → Design → Development → Release process, with a strong expectation that you’ll work more independently and produce a more complex, polished digital outcome. You’ll still be supported by a clear pathway, but at Level 3 the focus shifts toward depth, sophistication, and evidence — showing not just what you made, but why you made key decisions and how you know the outcome is effective.

Rather than prescribing one “right” project, the course gives you a professional-style structure: project planning routines, milestone checkpoints, documentation templates, and a bank of exemplars you can draw from as you refine your direction. It works across a wide range of outcomes — games, websites, digital media, CAD and manufacture, electronics, and more — because the course is designed to build transferable capability: how to define a purposeful brief, manage complexity, iterate through feedback, and deliver a release-ready product.

This course suits learners who enjoy independence, can self-manage over a longer timeline, and want to challenge themselves through problem solving, iteration, and purposeful decision-making. You’ll be expected to justify choices using research and testing, consider responsible practice (including accessibility, inclusion, privacy, and attribution), and evaluate your outcome against clear success criteria.

Following this generic pathway is also strong preparation for Technology Scholarship. The inquiry, justification, critical reflection, and evidence of improvement that sit at the heart of Level 3 align closely with Scholarship-style expectations, supporting you to communicate your thinking clearly and work like a confident senior digital technologies creator.

~ OVERVIEW OF COURSE ~

This course can be taught in a couple of ways, and your teacher will let you know which approach you’ll be using. This year builds on the fundamentals from Levels 1 and 2 and moves into a Level 3 digital technologies project where you are expected to work with greater independence and sophistication. You will plan, design, create, integrate, and refine a substantial digital outcome for a clear purpose and audience, with stronger expectations around decision-making, quality, and evidence.

Your outcome could be in a range of contexts, for example: a functional website or web app with applied HTML/CSS and purposeful interactivity, an interactive game with original assets and coded mechanics, a design for manufacture product with a 3D CAD model and correctly exported production files, a multi-page print or digital media outcome (such as a magazine or comic) with original digital assets, a short film/video/animation with original content, editing and effects, or an electronic device with programmed code and purpose-built housing. At Level 3, the focus is not just on “making something bigger”, but on making something well-justified, well-tested, and release-ready.

A key difference at Level 3 is the expectation of depth and rigour. You will either:

- complete a structured inquiry phase, researching your context, users, and comparable outcomes in depth before moving into design and development, or
- do targeted early research and move more quickly into design and development, while continuing to gather and apply research and feedback throughout the project.

Either way, you’ll follow a clear process: design → development (using sprints) → testing/trialling → refinement → release and evaluation, with time set aside later for external assessment preparation. Throughout the project you’ll be expected to document your thinking and choices (what you changed, why you changed it, and how you know it improved the outcome), and to consider responsible practice such as accessibility, inclusion, privacy, and attribution.

If you’re considering Technology Scholarship at Level 3, choosing the inquiry approach (or committing to strong ongoing research and evaluation) is excellent preparation, because it helps you build the depth of understanding, justification, and evidence expected at Scholarship level.

~ TIMELINE ~

~ Process You Will Follow ~

~ COURSE MATERIAL ~

Technology Scholarship

If you’re considering Technology Scholarship, this course is an excellent pathway. Scholarship is about more than a polished outcome - it’s about showing depth of thinking: strong justification, purposeful decision-making, and critical reflection on how (and why) your outcome responds to users, context, and wider implications. If you choose this pathway, you’ll gather stronger evidence as you go (research, testing insights, iteration notes, and evaluation), so you can clearly communicate your process and the quality of your thinking.

AS93601 - New Zealand Scholarship Technology

Learn Complex Skills
(approximately 5 - 8 weeks)

Learn complex skills in an area or areas you are interested in. For students new to Digital Technologies you might need to find some basic skill videos or check out any of our Level 1 courses as they have basic skill pages on each course. Then you could head on to the Level 2 advanced skills pages.

This time is a chance for you to experiment and practice refining your skills before you decide what direction your project will take.

* Make a copy of this document. Use it to document the below process while you work through the website material. *

L3 DT Project

Self Awareness & Inquiry

(approximately 3 weeks or a couple of lessons during skill development)

What type of project are you going to undertake — and why?

At Level 3, taking time to build self-awareness helps you choose a project that fits your strengths and stretches your capability in the right ways. You’ll identify your assumptions, recognise constraints, and plan for how you’ll design for real users - without relying on stereotypes or guesswork.

During your inquiry, you’ll select a clear focus, develop strong inquiry questions, and research widely. You’ll organise and analyse what you find, then use that evidence to propose a digital technologies outcome that responds to genuine needs and expectations. As you go, you’ll consider different perspectives and implications, and you’ll link your research directly to the direction you choose — so your proposal is credible, purposeful, and well-justified.

AS91900 - Conduct a critical inquiry to propose a digital technologies outcome (6 Credits)

Design
(approximately 4 weeks)

Work out what you will make - and how it will meet the brief.

At Level 3, your design work needs to show clear reasoning. You’ll apply what you learned through inquiry, along with relevant conventions, to generate and model a range of ideas. You’ll use feedback to improve and refine those ideas, then select a final design that you can clearly justify.

Your final design should make requirements visible (functional and non-functional), show key decisions about structure, interaction, style, and usability, and demonstrate that you’ve designed intentionally for your users and purpose — not just what looks “cool”.

AS91901 - Apply user experience methodologies to develop a design for a digital technologies outcome (3 Credits)

Development
(approximately 12 weeks)

Build a substantial outcome using advanced techniques and a professional workflow.

Now it’s time to develop your project. At Level 3, you’ll be expected to manage complexity and quality across a longer build. You’ll plan your work, break the project into manageable stages, and develop using iterative sprints - building, testing, and refining as you go.

You’ll trial your outcome with users, gather feedback and evidence, and make purposeful improvements that strengthen functionality, usability, accessibility, and overall polish. Throughout development you’ll use professional routines (file/version discipline, asset management, documentation, and consistent workflow) so you can deliver a reliable, high-quality outcome you’re proud to release.

AS91903 - Use complex techniques to develop a digital media outcome (6 Credits)

AS91907 - Use complex processes to develop a digital technologies outcome (4 Credits)

If for some reason the above assessments are not an option then the following Generic Technology Achievement Standard can be used instead:

AS91611 - Develop a prototype considering fitness for purpose in the broadest sense (6 Credits)

Reflective Analysis External
(approximately 4 weeks)

Your development reflective analysis is where you communicate the story of your project in a clear, evidence-based way. You’ll explain what you created and guide the reader through the key decisions you made during design and development. The goal is to select the best evidence that shows how and why your outcome developed the way it did.

For stronger responses, you’ll discuss how your outcome met requirements, how testing and feedback shaped improvements, and how you addressed relevant implications. You’ll also evaluate the effectiveness of your final outcome and reflect on what you would do next to improve it further — using insights gained through the process.

AS91909 - Present a reflective analysis of developing a digital outcome (External, 3 Credits)

~ Big Ideas in Digital Technologies Projects ~

The discipline of Digital Technologies embodies whanaungatanga. Outcomes are made by people, for people, within cultural, social, and environmental contexts

Digital Technologies is all about people and the connections between them. Digital outcomes are created by people — designers, developers, artists, writers, and problem-solvers — for real users, in real contexts. Every choice you make (your layout, language, features, visuals, interactions, and even file formats) reflects values and perspectives, and can shape how others experience your outcome. When someone uses what you create, they’re engaging with your thinking and your understanding of the world around you.

Digital outcomes are created for a purpose by following established processes

Digital outcomes don’t happen by accident. They’re built through purposeful, repeatable processes. Creators gather insights, define a clear purpose, plan, prototype, build, test, and refine to make sure the outcome works well and meets user needs. Following a structured process helps you make informed decisions, manage complexity, and improve quality over time, whether your outcome aims to inform, support, entertain, persuade, or solve a real problem.

The discipline of Digital Technologies embodies auahatanga. Outcomes solve problems and enhance and expand human possibilities.

Digital technologies are more than just tools. They can help people solve real problems, express ideas, and do things that were difficult (or impossible) before. A well-designed digital outcome can support learning, improve access, save time, tell stories, build connection, and create new experiences. When you design and develop an outcome, you’re using creativity and problem solving together to make something that has value for real people in a real context.

All digital technologies are underpinned by algorithms and computer science principles

Behind every digital outcome are logical steps and computer science ideas that make it work, even if what you’re creating looks visual or creative on the surface. Algorithms and principles like input/process/output, sequencing, selection, repetition, data, and rules help your outcome behave the way you intend. Understanding how these ideas work helps you design more effectively, troubleshoot issues, and make smarter decisions as you build, test, and refine your outcome.

NZ CURRICULUM

Digital Technologies Progress Outcomes

Progress Outcome 6

Within authentic contexts, students independently investigate a specialised digital technologies area and propose possible solutions to issues they identify. They work independently or within collaborative, cross-functional teams to apply an iterative development process to plan, design, develop, test, and create quality, fit-for-purpose digital outcomes that enable their solutions, synthesising relevant social, ethical, and end-user considerations as they develop digital content.

Students integrate, in the outcomes they develop, specialised knowledge of digital applications and systems from a range of areas, including:

network architecture
complex electronics environments and embedded systems
interrelated computing devices, hardware, and applications
digital information systems
user experience design
complex management of digital information
creative digital media.

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