Social Media, Avatars, and Virtual Worlds: Re-imagine an Inclusive Learning Environment for Adolescents and Adults with Literacy Barriers

This paper introduces an innovative and inclusive learning world that The Georgia STEM Accessibility Alliance (BreakThru) is developing by researchers at the University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology. 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. Universal design (UD) concepts are reflected as core design principles to provide various virtual media options embedded in the project.