OVERVIEW
Kit of Process was developed at e-Textile Summer Camp 2015 as part of the Educational Toolkit focus group. It is an open toolkit for e-Textile educators and educators-to-be who want to deepen their practice by teaching, made by eTextile teachers. The cornerstone of this project is its focus on relevant pedagogical approaches that support the material and interactive dimensions of our practice.

First, we focused on swatches. The eTextile Summercamp Swatchbook Exchange (lovingly developed, wrangled and compiled by Hannah Perner-Wilson and other glorious volunteers) is “a platform for sharing physical work samples in the field of electronic textiles.” Participants craft anywhere between 15-28 of the same swatch to exchange with each other.

In the words of focus group member Becca Rose, “a swatch is a microcosm: a small insight into a much bigger picture. It is the tip of the ice-burg, and it holds a world of potential inside. In creating a new swatch we are simultaneously cataloging knowledge and developing skills, which is the premise on which our education group developed the Kit of Process.”

Next, we explored different methodologies for using the swatches in educational settings. We centered on the idea of “human breadboards” as our guiding concept. From there, we set about designing a system of modular eTextile swatches that would allow educators and learners to (1) swiftly prototype ideas, (2) develop their knowledge by hacking the swatch modules, and (3) refine their skills by creating their own toolset.

Developing contexts for tinkering, however, is as important as tinkering with the tools. In order to create meaningful, real-world contexts for learners, we imagined a set of activity cards These prompts propose scenarios for rapid prototyping exercises in three dimensions: body to body; body to space; and body to environment. We also prototyped different types of “recipe cards” – embodied learning activities and games to teach programming skills.

Our final prototype emerged as a 4×10 foot scroll. As educators progress in a class or workshop, we imagine that they unroll it to reveal the section for a particular lesson. Or they unfurl it and let learners have at it.

 

SWATCHES

 

PROCESS OF THE PROCESS

 

Developed in collaboration with Emilie GilesAnja HertenbergerLara GrantZoe RomanoBecca RoseWendy Van Wynsberghe.