← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

Benefit of a network: sharing printers

One printer on a network that many computers and tablets can use, so a school does not need a printer for every device. Print jobs wait in a queue and print one at a time.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 — Networks and Sharing Data — Module 21

Understanding Benefit of a network: sharing printers in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

What it does: The code shows a print job travelling from a tablet across the network to the shared printer, so the tablet needs no printer of its own. One shared printer for many computers means fewer machines to buy and fewer to fit in the room. A print queue lines up the jobs. The printer finishes one job, then starts the next. A queue is a waiting line. The jobs are printed in order, one after another. Because the printers are shared over the network, a few can serve the whole school.

Common mistakes: A print queue is first come, first served. The job that waited longest prints first, so it should say 'print first job in queue'. The tablet must send the print job to the shared printer, not to another tablet. It should be 'send job to SchoolPrinter'.

Class: _____________________  ·  Name: _____________________  ·  Date: _________

Free printable worksheet with full answer key — or add this module to a class and your students practise it interactively.

🖨 Print worksheet + answer key Add Benefit of a network: sharing printers to a class →

This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 27–43) and word search (Modules 5–43).

Take this worksheet further — free with Cloodit

Each concept is reinforced from every angle — learned, then applied, then tested.

Learning
Duo
Why can a school use one printer for many computers?
Each computer is secretly connected to its own hidden printerThe printer is on a network, so many devices can send print jobs to it
Matches
Every computer needs its own printer, so a school with 30 computers buys 30 printers.
↓
This ignores the network. A network lets many devices share one printer, which saves money and space.
Applying
Meanings
Term
shared printer
Meaning
One printer on a network that many computers and tablets can use, so a school does not need a printer for every device. Print jobs wait in a queue and print one at a time.
Practice
Tablet sends print job to shared printer
Testing
Gaps
connect(printer, )
Check Answer
Spots
3add 'Art poster' to queue
4print last job in queue

Cloodit turns curriculum-aligned coding content into journeys students work through one biome at a time.

The 'Arctic Hare' badge — Speed Indexer, one of Cloodit's 106 collectible badges
Students earn collectable badges

Over 100 of them, across seven natural biomes.

Study Buddy
Students build a real study resource

Turns their work into revision material ready for Flash Cards and Exam study.

Diamond Dash — one of Cloodit's live, competitive Sprint games
Students lock in with Sprints

Live, competitive practice for the start of the lesson or a teacher-led lesson finisher.

A Cloodit certificate of achievement, ready to personalise and print
Custom printable certificates

Honour your top performers, or encourage a student who's trying hard — ready to print in seconds.

Add to class →

Quick Questions

1. Why can a school use one printer for many computers?
A. Each computer is secretly connected to its own hidden printer
B. The printer is on a network, so many devices can send print jobs to it ✓
A shared printer sits on the network. Many computers and tablets can send work to it, so the school does not need one printer for every device.
2. Which is a benefit of sharing one printer on a network?
A. It saves money and space because the school buys fewer printers ✓
B. It means every classroom must buy a new printer
Sharing one printer means fewer printers to buy, fill with ink and find room for.
3. A student wants to print from a tablet in the library. What can they do?
A. Carry the printer over and plug it into the tablet
B. Send the print job over the network to the shared printer ✓
A tablet on the network can send a print job to the shared printer without moving it or using a cable.
4. Three students press Print at the same time on one shared printer. What happens?
A. The print jobs wait in a queue and print one at a time ✓
B. All three pages print on top of each other at once
A print queue lines up the jobs. The printer finishes one job, then starts the next.
5. What is a print queue?
A. A line of print jobs waiting for the printer ✓
B. A cable that joins the printer to the router
A queue is a waiting line. The jobs are printed in order, one after another.

Match the Pairs

shared printer → One printer on a network that many computers and tablets can use
print queue → A waiting list where print jobs line up and print one at a time
A tablet can send a print job over the network to the shared printer in the library → send(printJob, from: tablet, to: sharedPrinter)
A school saves money and space by buying one printer for 30 computers instead of 30 printers → printers = 1 and computers = 30
Every computer needs its own printer, so a school with 30 computers buys 30 printers. → This ignores the network. A network lets many devices share one printer, which saves money and space.
Two students print at once, so the printer prints both jobs at the same moment. → A printer prints one job at a time. The other job waits in the print queue until its turn.

Key Term

shared printer
One printer on a network that many computers and tablets can use, so a school does not need a printer for every device. Print jobs wait in a queue and print one at a time.

Fill in the Blanks

1. connect(printer, network)
Hint: Type the name for the group of linked devices that the printer joins so everyone can use it.
2. send(tablet, printer)
Hint: Type the name of the one shared device on the network that the tablet sends its print job to.
3. nextJob = first(queue)
Hint: Type the name of the list where print jobs wait for their turn.
4. computers = 30 printersNeeded = 1
Hint: Type the number of printers a shared network needs for all the computers.
5. IF printerBusy THEN addToQueue(job)
Hint: Type the keyword that starts the action part of an IF statement.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A queue ← empty list
B add 'Maths sheet' to queue
C add 'Art poster' to queue
D print last job in queue
Line D — A print queue is first come, first served. The job that waited longest prints first, so it should say 'print first job in queue'.
Question 2
A job ← 'Story.doc'
B send job to Tablet2
C job joins the queue
D printer prints job
Line B — The tablet must send the print job to the shared printer, not to another tablet. It should be 'send job to SchoolPrinter'.
Question 3
A computers ← 30
B price ← 200
C cost ← computers * price
D SAY cost
Line C — With a shared printer the school buys only 1 printer, not one for each computer. The line should be 'cost ← 1 * price'.
Question 4
A printer ← SharedPrinter
B buy Laptop1 its own printer
C connect Tablet1 to printer
Line B — Sharing means every device connects to the same printer on the network. The line should be 'connect Laptop1 to printer'.
Question 5
A WHILE queue is not empty
B print first job
C remove it from queue
D END IF
Line D — The loop was started with WHILE, so it must finish with END WHILE. END IF does not match.

Student with a class code? Join your class →