Textile Messages focuses on the emerging field of electronic textiles, or e-textiles - computers that can be soft, colorful, approachable, and beautiful. E-textiles are articles of clothing, home furnishings, or architectures that include embedded computational and electronic elements. This book introduces a collection of tools that enable novices - including educators, hobbyists, and youth designers - to create and learn with e-textiles. It then examines how these tools are reshaping technology education - and DIY practices - across the K-16 spectrum, presenting examples of the ways...

Commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, this book explores research indicating that youth are learning new ways to engage in the arts on their own time and according to their own interests. Digital technologies, such as production tools and social media, allow youth to create and share their art. Kylie Peppler urges educators and policy makers to take advantage of -arts learning opportunities- and imagine a school setting where young people are driven by their own interests, using tablets, computers, and other devices to produce visual arts, music composition, dance, and design. This book...