Tweeting sewing machine trains prisoners on social media

Made in Carcere’s Tweet from a Prison program teaches female prisoners sewing and social media skills for improved chances of future employability.

Hot sauce, jeans and refurbished bikes are just a few of the products that are produced by prisoners. With donated textiles and sewing lessons, the Made in Carcere team is combining tactile with tech in the Tweet from a Prison program. Besides learning about social media in general (for improved prospects of future employment), prisoners can sew their tweets onto bracelets that are sold in the Made in Carcere online shop.

To help make the two-way communication of social media more real to prisoners, a special sewing machine has been set up that is linked directly to the Made in Carcere Twitter page. As incoming Tweets arrive, the sewing machine stitches the messages onto a piece of fabric that is then passed on to the prisoners. As well as the bracelets of Tweets, a variety of other products made by the prisoners are also sold in the online store.

How else could technology be used to transform prison education systems?