Design of IoT Tangibles for Primary Schools: A Case Study

Abstract

Internet of things devices are already part of primary school children's living but their design or fabrication is often not part of their school education. Italian primary schools, in particular, bring their own restraints to the integration of their design. This paper explores how to bring the design of IoT tangibles to primary-school children and their educators. It narrates a workshop experience with a primary school class. This was on purpose conducted in an environment similar to their school, without typical fablab facilities. It was linked to the curriculum of the class: it asked children to create IoT tangibles related to socio-emotional learning. The workshop organised the fabrication in stages. Initially, it used paper-based generative toolkigs, which would make everybody feel on equal footing (children and teachers alike): Tiles-like cards and a conceptualisation framework. Then it progressively moved children into programming their own IoT tangibles for socio-emotional goals. The workshop gathered mixed data, mainly qualitative. The paper ends by reflecting on them and the entire experience.