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1. Supporting computing accessibility education using experiential learning labs: conference tutorial

   Khan, Saad; Malachowsky, Samuel; Krutz, Daniel (January 2021, The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges)

   null (Ed.)

   Our Accessibility Learning Labs not only inform participants about how to properly create accessible software, but also demonstrate the need to create accessible software. These experiential browser-based activities enable students, instructors and practitioners to utilize the material using only their browser. This tutorial will benefit a wide-range of participants in the software engineering community, from students to experienced practitioners who want to ensure that they are properly creating inclusive, accessible software. Complete project material is publicly available on the project website: http://all.rit.edu 

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2. ALL: Accessibility Learning Labs for Computing Accessibility Education

   Khan, Saad; Moses, Heather; Malachowsky, Sam; Krutz, Dan (June 2021, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION)

   null (Ed.)

   Our Accessibility Learning Labs not only inform participants about the need for accessible software, but also how to properly create and implement accessible software. These experiential browser-based labs enable participants, instructors and practitioners to engage in our material using only their browser. In the following document, we will provide a brief overview of our labs, how they may be adopted, and some of their preliminary results. Complete project material is publicly available on our project website: http://all.rit. edu 

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3. Presenting and Evaluating the Impact of Experiential Learning in Computing Accessibility Education

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3377814.3381710  

   El-Glaly, Yasmine; Shi, Weishi; Malachowsky, Samuel; Yu, Qi; Krutz, Daniel (January 2020, Proceedings of the International Conference on Software Engineering)

   Studies indicate that much of the software created today is not accessible to all users, indicating that developers don’t see the need to devote sufficient resources to creating accessible software. Compounding this problem, there is a lack of robust, easily adoptable educational accessibility material available to instructors for inclusion in their curricula. To address these issues, we have created five Accessibility Learning Labs (ALL) using an experiential learning structure. The labs are designed to educate and create awareness of accessibility needs in computing. The labs enable easy classroom integration by providing instructors with complete educational materials including lecture slides, activities, and quizzes. The labs are hosted on our servers and require only a browser to be utilized. To demonstrate the benefit of our material and the potential benefits of our experiential lab format with empathy-creating material, we conducted a study involving 276 students in ten sections of an introductory computing course. Our findings include: (I) The demonstrated potential of the proposed experiential learning format and labs are effective in motivating and educating students about the importance of accessibility (II) The labs are effective in informing students about foundational accessibility topics (III) Empathy-creating material is demonstrated to be a beneficial component in computing accessibility education, supporting students in placing a higher value on the importance of creating accessible software. Created labs and project materials are publicly available on the project website: http://all.rit.edu 

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4. TPM: Using Experiential Learning to Support Accessibility in Computing Education

   https://doi.org/10.1109/CSEET49119.2020.9206228  

   Malachowsky, Sam; Krutz, Dan (January 2021, Conference on Software Engineering Education & Training)

   This tutorial will introduce our Accessibility Learning Labs (ALL). The objectives of this collaborative project with The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) are to both inform participants about foundational topics in accessibility and to demonstrate the importance of creating accessible software. The labs enable easy classroom inclusion by providing instructors all necessary materials including lecture and activity slides and videos. Each lab addresses an accessibility issue and contains: I) Relevant background information on the examined issue II) An example web-based application containing the accessibility problem III) A process to emulate this accessibility problem IV) Details about how to repair the problem from a technical perspective V) Incidents from people who encountered this accessibility issue and how it has impacted their life. The labs may be easily integrated into a wide variety of curriculum at high schools (9-12), and in undergraduate and graduate courses. The labs will be easily adoptable due to their selfcontained nature and their inclusion of all necessary instructional material (e.g., slides, quizzes, etc.). No special software is required to use any portion of the labs since they are web-based and are able to run on any computer with a reasonably recent web browser. There are currently four available labs on the topics of: Colorblindness, Hearing, Blindness and Dexterity. Material is available on our website: http://all.rit.edu This tutorial will provide an overview of the created labs and usage instructions and information for adaptors. 

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5. An Experience Report on Using a Cyberlearning Environment for Cybersecurity Courses

   Buckley, Ingrid; Carbunar, Bogdan; Sotomayor, Juan P; Clarke, Peter J (June 2025, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE))

   The increasing cyber threats to online systems have resulted in the need for a more inclusive approach to educating the broader population on preventative measures to reduce the impact of these threats. It is estimated that the cybercrime cost to the world will be $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. No longer can cybersecurity courses be specialized courses in university curricula, but some of these courses need to become core courses for all students. These courses should not only be tailored for university and college students but also be required to thread the curricula, starting in elementary schools. This paper describes our experiences conducting a collaborative cybersecurity project to increase access to undergraduate cybersecurity education. The project was funded by the NSF and Cyber Florida. The project was a collaboration between two Florida public universities. One university is a large urban Hispanic-Serving Institution. We describe how the Software Engineering and Programming Cyberlearning Environment (SEP-CyLE), in conjunction with other cybersecurity systems, was used to develop basic cybersecurity materials, labs, and activities for undergraduate students and instructors. SEP-CyLE motivates students to learn in an interactive environment where they can provide feedback to their peers while employing three learning and engagement strategies (LESs). These LESs include collaborative learning, gamification, and social interaction. We present the objectives of the project, describe how the objectives were met, briefly describe SEP-CyLE, and provide data showing students’ interactions with SEP-CyLE. The data retrieved from SEP-CyLE provides insight into how the learning environment was used, students’ performance on the learning objects, and the impact of the LESs on students’ overall performance in an introductory cybersecurity course. 

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