U Nebraska Team Develops Wearable Tech Curriculum

National Science Foundation grant is giving $1 million to an interdisciplinary team from both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska-Omaha to develop a curriculum that will help students learn about the science behind the "fashion-forward" technology.

About 900 fourth- to sixth-graders in Nebraska are going to investigate wearable technology — things like sensor-enabled shirts, Bluetooth-enabled shoes and camera-equipped glasses — to stir their interest in engineering.

The plan is for the curriculum —spanning both classroom and afterschool activities — to give students access to kits that will have conductive thread, LED lights, sensors and other components used in developing high-tech garments. Students will then work with microcontrollers that include miniscule circuit boards that can be programmed to direct tiny devices attached to them.

The research team said it hopes the activities will help the students learn basic principles of engineering design, including electricity and circuitry that can then be used to create LED-encrusted bracelets and other apparel.

"We're hoping to teach these students to think like engineers and wearable technology is the vehicle that we're using to do it," UN-Lincoln Professor Brad Baker said. "It's hands-on, minds-on, and all of the technology is exposed."

Eventually, the team from the two universities will study whether the curriculum did in fact enhance the students' engineering-related knowledge, skills and attitudes.

"This is an age when students are very impressionable," Baker said. "We think an intervention at this age group could be especially important for keeping them interested."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

Featured

  •  black graduation cap with a glowing blue AI brain circuit symbol on top

    Report: AI Is a Must for Modern Learners

    A new report from VitalSource identifies a growing demand among learners for AI tools, declaring that "AI isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a must."

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • laptop screen with a video play icon, surrounded by parts of notebooks, pens, and a water bottle on a student desk

    New AI Tool Generates Video Explanations Based on Course Materials

    AI-powered studying and learning platform Studyfetch has launched Imagine Explainers, a new video creator that utilizes artificial intelligence to generate 10- to 60-minute explainer videos for any topic.

  • handshake where one hand is human and the other is composed of glowing circuits

    Western Governors University Joins Open edX as a Mission-Aligned Organization

    Western Governors University is the first organization to join the Open edX project as a "mission-aligned organization" (MAO), a new category of institution-level partnership supporting development of the Open edX open source online learning platform.