what is breakthru?
Post on 05-Feb-2016
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What is BreakThru?
Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research in Disabilities Education Number 1027655. BreakThru is a collaboration between Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
What is BreakThru?
• Unique online learning community• Connects students and mentors virtually• Promotes accessibility achievement in
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses
www.georgiabreakthru.org
www.georgiabreakthru.org
What is BreakThru?
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Tools
• Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring)• virtual training• social networking• video analysis• and personalized virtual learning communities are
integrated as ways to enhance accessibility of adolescents and adults interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Changing Focus
• Further emphasis on virtual mentoring.• Increased focus on contact time with mentors
over retention in majors.• Wider range of communications technologies.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
What Else is BreakThru?
• [Pics of text message, IM chat, phone call]
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Original Goals
1. Increase the number of secondary students with disabilities enrolling in STEM postsecondary classes and majors
2. Increase the retention and graduation of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM majors
3. Increase the successful entry of postsecondary students with disabilities into graduate programs or the workforce enrolling in STEM postsecondary classes and majors
www.georgiabreakthru.org
BreakThru Foci
1. Access Through Social Networking and Virtual Environments
2. Persistence Incentives 3. Electronic Mentoring (E-mentoring) 4. Universal Design Principles
www.georgiabreakthru.org
In Brief: Benefits of Virtual Worlds
• Mediated consequences• Individualization• Creative Solutions• Immersion• Collaborative & Constructivist Learning• Access to Mentors
www.georgiabreakthru.org
BreakThru Mentor Islands
• A primary tool for the project – virtual world of Second Life• Mentors and students meet virtually on BreakThru “islands”
to seek assistance, share knowledge and assist each other to overcome barriers
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Two Mentor Islands
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Mentoring ChallengesGuidance on mentoring process, for both
mentors and students. What does each need to know? How to get started?– Learning modules to help mentors and students
communicate and share meaningfully– Address topics important– Mentors: http://georgiabreakthru.org/mentors– Students: http://georgiabreakthru.org/students
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Account and Login ChallengesCreation of Second Life accounts and initial login
procedures can be confusing to any new user, regardless of disability or lack thereof.
BreakThru created a Registration API that allow us to create and monitor all user accounts.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Accessibility Challenges
Universal Design for Learning - is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.
Crucial principles - http://www.cast.org/udl/
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Accessibility Challenges
• Vision• Hearing• Mobility• Dexterity• Learning Disability• Autism Spectrum and Asperger Syndrome
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Learning Disability
• LD barriers are typically a result of software complexity and difficulty learning virtual world skills.
• The learning curve for Second Life is already significant for users without cognitive disabilities, creating an even larger barrier for those with cognitive disabilities.
• But experience has shown that these users can and do compensate for these issues, and given time they can become proficient.
• In-world tutorials can assist LD users
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Summary
• Mentoring in Second Life and other virtual worlds holds great promise
• Careful development of environment with disability-related tools is essential
• Concentrate on Universal Design of VW spaces• Supplement with additional communication
methods
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Recruitment and Retention
• Imperative that students and mentors form a lasting mentoring relationship.
• Retention starts early by choosing the right participants.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Recruitment
• Targeted recruitment materials for each of our audiences.– Mentors– Secondary SwD– Postsecondary SwD
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Recruitment• Emphasize what makes us unique– Virtual world– Long-distance mentoring
• Attract secondary audiences who encourage participation of primary audience members.– Parents– Teachers– Friends
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Dealing with Churn
• Prepare a plan for the inevitable• Maintain contact with prior applicants• Make material as public as possible
www.georgiabreakthru.org
So Far, So Good
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Revised Primary Goal
Support high school and undergraduate students with disabilities (SwD) in attaining
STEM certificates and degrees.
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Mentoring Subgoals
• Retain participants in BreakThru Virtual Mentoring and STEM Majors at a year-to-year persistence rate of 50% or more.
• Enroll 105 high school SwD, 65 two-year SwD, and 55 four-year SwD
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Questions?
www.georgiabreakthru.org
BreakThru Project Directors
University of GeorgiaNoel Gregg (ngregg@uga.edu)Gerri Wolfe (gwolfe@uga.edu)
Georgia Institute of TechnologyRobert Todd (robert.todd@coa.gatech.edu)
Chris Langston (chris.Langston@coa.gatech.edu)Nathan Moon (Nathan.moon@cacp.gatech.edu)
www.georgiabreakthru.org
BreakThru Contacts
Virtual World Builders for BreakThruThe Vesuvius Group LLC – www.thevesuviusgroup.com/
The Vesuvius Group, LLC is an international collaborative of creatives specializing in developing online environments for community-building
www.georgiabreakthru.org
Why Second Life?
• Well-documented, active support community• Extremely rapid prototyping• Significant third-party development– TextSL– Radegast, Metabolt, etc.
• Extensive user customization• Marketplace
www.georgiabreakthru.org
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