What is BreakThru?

2. What is BreakThru? www.georgiabreakthru.org 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.

3. What is BreakThru? www.georgiabreakthru.org Unique online learning community Connects students and mentors virtually Promotes accessibility achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses

4. www.georgiabreakthru.org

5. What is BreakThru? www.georgiabreakthru.org

6. Tools www.georgiabreakthru.org 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.

7. Changing Focus www.georgiabreakthru.org Further emphasis on virtual mentoring. Increased focus on contact time with mentors over retention in majors. Wider range of communications technologies.

8. What Else is BreakThru? www.georgiabreakthru.org [Pics of text message, IM chat, phone call]

9. Original Goals www.georgiabreakthru.org Increase the number of secondary students with disabilities enrolling in STEM postsecondary classes and majors Increase the retention and graduation of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM majors Increase the successful entry of postsecondary students with disabilities into graduate programs or the workforce enrolling in STEM postsecondary classes and majors

10. BreakThru Foci www.georgiabreakthru.org Access Through Social Networking and Virtual Environments Persistence Incentives Electronic Mentoring (E-mentoring) Universal Design Principles

11. In Brief: Benefits of Virtual Worlds www.georgiabreakthru.org Mediated consequences Individualization Creative Solutions Immersion Collaborative & Constructivist Learning Access to Mentors

12. BreakThru Mentor Islands www.georgiabreakthru.org 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

13. Two Mentor Islands www.georgiabreakthru.org

14. Mentoring Challenges www.georgiabreakthru.org Guidance 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

15. Account and Login Challenges www.georgiabreakthru.org Creation 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.

16. Accessibility Challenges www.georgiabreakthru.org 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/

17. Accessibility Challenges www.georgiabreakthru.org Vision Hearing Mobility Dexterity Learning Disability Autism Spectrum and Asperger Syndrome

18. Learning Disability www.georgiabreakthru.org 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

19. Summary www.georgiabreakthru.org 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

20. Recruitment and Retention www.georgiabreakthru.org Imperative that students and mentors form a lasting mentoring relationship. Retention starts early by choosing the right participants.

21. Recruitment www.georgiabreakthru.org • Targeted recruitment materials for each of our audiences. • Mentors • Secondary SwD • Postsecondary SwD

22. Recruitment www.georgiabreakthru.org • Emphasize what makes us unique • Virtual world • Long-distance mentoring • Attract secondary audiences who encourage participation of primary audience members. • Parents • Teachers • Friends

23. Dealing with Churn www.georgiabreakthru.org Prepare a plan for the inevitable Maintain contact with prior applicants Make material as public as possible

24. So Far, So Good www.georgiabreakthru.org

25. Revised Primary Goal www.georgiabreakthru.org Support high school and undergraduate students with disabilities (SwD) in attaining STEM certificates and degrees.

26. Mentoring Subgoals www.georgiabreakthru.org 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

27. Questions? www.georgiabreakthru.org

28. BreakThru Project Directors www.georgiabreakthru.org University of Georgia Noel Gregg (ngregg@uga.edu) Gerri Wolfe (gwolfe@uga.edu) Georgia Institute of Technology Robert Todd (robert.todd@coa.gatech.edu) Chris Langston (chris.Langston@coa.gatech.edu) Nathan Moon (Nathan.moon@cacp.gatech.edu)

29. BreakThru Contacts www.georgiabreakthru.org Virtual World Builders for BreakThru The Vesuvius Group LLC – www.thevesuviusgroup.com/ The Vesuvius Group, LLC is an international collaborative of creatives specializing in developing online environments for community-building

30. Why Second Life? www.georgiabreakthru.org • Well-documented, active support community • Extremely rapid prototyping • Significant third-party development • TextSL • Radegast, Metabolt, etc. • Extensive user customization • Marketplace