Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Introduction to assistive devices

20 minutes

Find Out: Introducing Free 3D Hands

25 minutes

Take Action: Meeting end users

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

investigate how assistive devices meet needs.

Success criteria

Students can:

identify how assistive devices benefit people
analyse opportunities for design.

Tune In: Introduction to assistive devices

Preparation

For this activity, please note you will need to acquire all/or some of the following items:

device (such as a laptop or tablet) with speech-to-text functionality
glasses
shoe horn
pencil grip
left-handed scissors

Learning support: If you are unable to locate a variety of assistive devices, a selection of images could be shown to the class.

Step 1

On the whiteboard, write the term ‘assistive devices’. Allow students 2 minutes to predict what this term means and reflect on whether they’ve heard it before. Invite volunteers to share their responses with the class.

Next, clearly outline that an assistive device is a tool or piece of equipment that helps a person do something they might find difficult on their own. It can help people with physical, sensory, or learning challenges to move around, communicate, see, hear, or complete everyday tasks more easily (for example, wheelchairs, hearing aids, screen readers, walking sticks, pencil grips, and devices with speech-to-text functionality).

Step 2

Explain to students that we all use different forms of assistive devices, and that these devices benefit and support people in various ways. Outline that some assistive devices may be obvious, but there are also many things that we use in our day-to-day lives that people may not realise are considered assistive devices. Some examples include noise-cancelling headphones, stools, automatic doors, and ramps.

During this unit, students will examine assistive devices and other products, assessing them through the lens of functionality, accessibility, aesthetics, and sustainability. They will undertake a deep dive into the design process of creating an assistive device or tool. Students will step inside the mind of a product designer to ideate, design, construct and assess their own device.

Step 3

Invite students to the front of the classroom as you place a variety of assistive devices on a desk (see preparation note). Allow students to touch and use these items for a few minutes. Once completed, initiate a class discussion on the following prompt: ‘Do all assistive devices rank in the same way for different people?’

Students may note that they do not rank the same way because everyone has different needs, and what helps one person may not work for someone else. Students may also point out that everyone has a different idea of what makes an assistive device ‘good’, since different features matter to different users. In addition, people value different aspects of an assistive device. For example, some may prioritise comfort or appearance, while others care more about durability, function, or independence.

Step 4

Explain to students that their task is to assess the functionality, accessibility, aesthetics, and sustainability of these items. Begin by dividing the students into 4 groups, assigning 1 assistive device to each group, and providing them with the Student Worksheet. Their task is to assess the assistive device allocated to their group and share their findings.

Find Out: Introducing Free 3D Hands

Step 1

Introduce ‘Free 3D Hands’ to your class, explaining that Free 3D Hands is a not-for-profit charity organisation based in Newhaven, Victoria. Free 3D Hands provides high-quality, low-cost 3D-printed assistive devices to people with upper limb differences worldwide, free of charge. They create kinetic arms, hands, fingers, and other tools that help people with limited mobility or fine-motor control. Free 3D Hands places significant emphasis on sustainability, as the main components of its devices are made from bioplastics derived from cornstarch, which break down in industrial composting.

Did you know that over 1 billion people worldwide use assistive devices, and that this number is predicted to double by 2030? For 90% of those people, access to assistive technology remains limited.

Step 2

Your students’ task is to use a digital device to explore what the term ‘upper limb difference’ means. Allow students 5 minutes to explore, then ask for volunteers to share their findings verbally.

Reiterate to students that there are many different reasons why someone might have an upper-limb difference. Some people have a congenital limb difference (they are born with it), and others have an acquired limb difference. Limb differences can result from injury, illness, or variations in the way the body develops.

Ask students, ‘What types of upper-limb differences could there be?’

Answers might include people with:

full arms but no movement in either or both arms
an arm without a hand
a differently-shaped hand with more or fewer than 5 fingers
an arm that ends just below the elbow and has an elbow joint
an arm that ends above the elbow with no joint.

Step 3

Next, watch the following video showcasing some of the impactful work Free 3D Hands does.

Recipient Short Montage (https://youtu.be/lY3KJ5_t1Hc)

After viewing, invite students to identify 3 things they saw people doing in the video, 2 questions they have, and 1 thing they’d like to learn more about. For example, people can be seen:

catching a ball
riding a horse
playing tennis
picking up toys
doing hair
shaking hands

Step 4

Explain to students that people with upper-limb differences may complete everyday tasks in ways that differ from others. Everyone develops strategies that work best for them, and assistive devices can help people complete tasks comfortably and independently.

Invite students to explore how different bodies approach tasks by trying to complete everyday actions using 1 hand only, such as:

opening their water bottle
getting a pencil from their pencil case
writing on a piece of paper
tying their shoelaces
taking their jumper off

Allow students sufficient time to attempt several tasks from the list above. After that, invite students to share which tasks they found the most difficult and to discuss whether they used any devices or adapted methods to assist them.

Take Action: Meeting end users

Step 1

Provide students with a set of profiles. Each profile includes information specific to the person and their individual upper limb difference. As a class, review each profile individually and invite students to respond to the following questions:

Are there any activities or tasks this person may have challenges with? If yes, what?
What requirements would this person have for an assistive device?
What kind of conditions would this person’s assistive device be subject to? Does this impact the materials that their device needs to be made from?

Learning support: Use the teacher guide at the end of the activity sheet to support students.

Learning opportunity: If students finish early, ask them to pick 1 person from the profiles and sketch an assistive device that would suit that person’s needs.

Reflection

Ask students to pick 1 person from the profiles provided and ask the following questions:

If you were to spend a day with this person, where would you take them and what would you do together?
Are there any considerations you would need to take into account for this person?
Are there any activities or things you would not be able to do together?

Ask students to share their thoughts verbally with the class.

Everyone Needs a Hand

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson