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e-Textiles Course Design

A light-up felt wristband front and back

Description

Digital data is being infused throughout the entire physical world, escaping the computer monitor and spreading to other devices and appliances, including the human body. Electronic textiles, or eTextiles, is one of the next steps toward making everything interactive and this page introduces my efforts to assist students with the first steps of developing their own wearable technology devices.

This coursework is somewhat of an extension of my volunteer work in the eTextiles domain, detailed here, but the materials on this page were developed largely on my own and for different audiences: (1) a 2 hour workshop on simple parallel circuits on textiles for 7th graders and (2) a month-long winter term course for undergraduates.

Documentation

Lesson Plan for 2 Hour eTextiles Workshop for 7th graders. This workshop was held in April 2017 as part of the Stanford SPLASH "Education by Students for Students" weekend. Parts of this lesson plan can be repurposed for the first week of the winter term course on eTextiles.

Draft Syllabus for a One Month Undergraduate Course on eTextiles. This class will be held in January of 2018. This sample syllabus is a work in progress.

A light-up felt wristband front and back

7th Grade Student Evaluations from 2-hour eTextiles Workshop

What are the 2 most exciting things you learned in today's eTextiles lesson?What questions do you still have?How can this lesson be made better?
1. Sewing skills.
2. Current in textiles.
What sort of crazy eTextiles have been made!If students speed things up
I learned about the stainless steel string and about LED lightsN/AMore time between each part
How to sew and how the currents flow in a curcuitnonenothing
* That there is conductive thread.
* How to sew things together
* How to program LEDs.
* How to sew things other than LEDs in a circuit.
Very interesting and cool! Though - doesn't really need to be improved.
* That you can use the thread to make a circuit.
* Also a way to tie the thread.
Do not know yet.Nothing
I learned that you can actually create a circuit by sewing with a streel thread and I also learned that it is extremely simple to add pazzaz to your clothes with lights!What are the limits to this unique fashion?I think the lesson was fantastic, but one thing to change or add is more talk about why this works and how the circuit is made.
I learned that there is a thread that can conduct electricity. How to sew.I have no question.More LED's.
* Sewing.
* Testing out if it works.
Nonemore time for each step.
To stitch and make the thing lighten up.Where can we buy these things?I hope we could bring the lights back with us.
How to create an eTextile. How they work.Nonemore detailed instructions.
1. If the threads touch the circuit will short circuit.
2. that there are threads for making electronic circuits.
Can we program some thing like this
That I'm not good at sewing. And that the sewing includes pain. (sometimes).NoneIt's realy good maby a second person.
The LED lights connecting and decorating.Don't have any.I don't have any suggestions.
How to hand sew :) How to make an electronic wristletNonelet us keep the electronics? :)

Student feedback from a 2-hour eTextiles workshop

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