Prototyping Curricular Prototypes with E-Textiles

As part of my work here with Yasmin Kafai and Orkan Telhan, I've been engaging with e-textiles, or interactive wearables that involve sewable circuits. We've been using the Lilypad Arduino (a microcontroller based on the Arduino, but designed for wearables) and other tools to teach a wide range of youth and adult learners throughout Pennsylvania. Recently, I embarked on an effort to design a prototype for E-Textile-based Interactive Spirithoods. Spirithoods were especially fascinating because of their wide appeal across ages, and their potential ability to allow kids to customize their own designs.