At the Thinkabit Lab, students have the option to do a “walk or talk” runway show or a commercial to share their wearable. These presentations provide students with an opportunity to show their work and describe their wearable. In either format, students should include a description of their wearable, how it was built, and how many lines of code were used to complete their project. Students should type up their presentation script and practice it several times to ensure a smooth presentation time. When presenting robotic creations, the instructor typically guides the conversation, asking questions and assisting teams as needed. When presenting their Wearable Tech, the instructor can take a more minimal role and allow students to present on their own. Inviting parents to come and watch these presentations is the culminating project for the Thinkabit summer camps. It is a rewarding experience for parents to see and hear what their students have been working on
Walk or Talk – Runway style
- Lay out a runway using carpet or by aligning tables/chairs to form an aisle.
- Have one student walk up and down the runway wearing their hat while their partner talks about the hat using the script they wrote.
Commercial
- Have students present their robotic hat like they are selling it. Limit to 1-2 minutes.
- Record on video if possible and share with students.
For the runway style, students can choose to either walk or talk or do both. Students often want to do both. If that is the case, partners can choose to switch who is walking and who is talking half way through, but they will need to be very careful given the delicate nature of their hat.
For the commercial, allow students to record their own presentations and others if they have permission. Alternatively, the instructor can record all presentations and post them somewhere accessible to all students.
It is advisable to have an assistant available during presentations to help teams with any technical issues that may arise. It is also good to have groups practice with their hats working so that they can feel the balance of it and determine if they need to make any modifications. Battery packs can significantly change the balance, as can a moving object on a Servo, so be sure to test the hats while everything is moving.
If you plan on presenting the robotic hats to parents or as part of a larger presentation, you may want to consider doing test runs. The more comfortable students feel with their hats and their presentations, the smoother everything will run.
The Wearable Tech project is typically done within a one to two-week camp setting, or at least over multiple sessions. The Wearable Tech project was designed to allow students to have fun with engineering while still getting exposure to basic engineering concepts.
This activity provides an opportunity to share with students that engineering is a medium to create anything they can imagine.