A Study on Wearable Smart Clothing Education in Elementary Practical Arts Education in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution

This study explored the integration of wearable smart clothing content into the elementary Practical Arts curriculum, focusing on developing an appropriate curriculum plan and educational content. The following conclusions were reached. First, clothing education in elementary Practical Arts Education needs to incorporate research on wearable smart clothing, which is closely related and relevant to daily life in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. Second, a convergence wearable smart clothing curriculum (plan) was developed, integrating with the existing elementary Practical Arts and clothing-related content such as hand sewing and knitting. This plan covers the meaning of wearables, understanding wearable devices, and the development of wearable clothing. It presents the circuit diagrams, difficulty levels, and application periods for each task, with a total of 9 tasks for creating daily necessities (devices) using Lilypad Arduino, such as ‘event card envelopes, headbands, necklaces, rainbow LED Christmas trees, rainbow brooches, and winter earmuffs. Third, the curriculum (plan) presented in this study was applied and evaluated with pre-service elementary school teachers. It was deemed appropriate for the elementary school curriculum and effective in promoting an understanding of wearable smart clothing and the creation of everyday necessities. Furthermore, with the growing awareness of wearable smart clothing education, the study expects the development and increased use of more advanced wearable smart clothing and devices in our lives in the future. The study recommends developing diverse programs and conducting further research to promote the integration of wearable smart clothing and devices into elementary Practical Arts education.