Affordances of digital, textile and living media for designing and learning biology in k-12 education

In this symposium we are examining the affordances that particular materials hold for supporting learning biology inside and outside of school along three dimensions: (1) digital materials that encompass screens and software through which students can interact, (2) textile materials that allow students to wear bodysuits that can help them visualize physical movements on interactive displays, and (3) interactive materials that allow students to interact with living microorganisms through games in science museums or through computational models that students design and test against the real data in science classrooms. Panelists will discuss how affordances of tinkerability (messing around), perceptibility (seeing results), expressivity (customizing experiences), and usability (using outcomes) entered into their considerations when designing and studying of environments, games, and design activities for interacting and learning with biology.