U Nebraska Team Develops Wearable Tech Curriculum
A 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.