Collaborative Maker Activities in the Classroom: Case Studies of High School Student Pairs' Interactions in Designing Electronic Textiles

The majority of electronic textile (e-textile) activities for beginners focus on making and coding individual projects rather than collaborative designs, which often excludes potentially fruitful collaborations. In this paper, we report on findings from an e-textile workshop in which high school youth (16-17 years old) worked in pairs to design interactive display pieces using LilyPad Arduino, LEDs, sensors, conductive thread and fabric. Drawing on artifacts, fieldnotes, and interviews, we report on the range of work approaches that students took toward collaborative e-crafting. Specifically, we examine key aspects of this collaboration: pairs' role negotiations and communication strategies. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of adopting collaborative e-crafting when introducing coding and making activities in classrooms.