DML2014: Ignite Talk - Yasmin Kafai
4Changing the Face of Computing, One Stitch at a Time
National and local competitions, such as Coding Wars, Google Science Competition, FIRST Robotics, Hackfest, Microsoft Imagine Cup—to name just a few of the ever-growing list—have become popular venues to engage and highlight hacking accomplishments. In recent years, online versions—such as the National STEM Video Game Design Challenge, Globaloria Awards, and Make-to-Learn Contest—have joined the portfolio. While these competitions, contests, and challenges are theoretically open to all, it is also clear that they are not broadening participation. Although actively engaging many youth, to date large-scale competitions have often encountered difficulties attracting and sustaining participation for students in groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. To change the face of computing requires new ways of thinking about and doing computing and connecting to issues that are important to young people's lives. We decided to join the nation's largest college hackathon with over 1,200 hackers and propose StitchFest, a different type of hack, around the theme of wear and care. After all, it was fashion that inspired British woman Ada Lovelace to write the first computer program—the code for a mechanical loom that wove the complex patterns for the jacquard textiles that were in vogue at the time. And yet, the historical and intimate relationship between fashion and computing has largely been forgotten and ignored, even as Lovelace's pioneering spirit lives on today in dresses that change colors, jackets that play music, shoes that light up, and necklaces that display Twitter feeds. The old saying goes that one stitch at a time saves nine in the future. Stitching and coding your own wearables is one step (or stitch) into broadening participation in, and ultimately changing the face of computing.