Why Anywear Academy?
This material was created through a collaboration between designers and researchers at UCSC, The Game Academy, and ETR with funding through the NSF AISL program to take on an ongoing, pervasive, and persistent societal issue:
women are still drastically underrepresented in computing careers.
This project targets middle school-aged girls because it is a time when many of them lose interest and confidence in pursuing technical education and computing careers
We designed, developed and deployed a one-week experience focused on middle school girls that targets this issue with a novel combination of teaching techniques and technology.
This focuses on wearable computing devices to support girls' social interactions as they learn computing and solve technical challenges together.
The goals of the project are to raise interest, perceived competence, and involvement in the computational ability of girls.
Additionally, the project aims to increase a sense of computational community for girls that makes pursuing computational skills more relevant to their identities and lives, and that helps continued participation in computing.
What We Stand For
Bridging the Identity Gap
Create a space where girls and other underrepresented communities in STEM can visualize themselves taking on STEM roles and participating in STEM Careers
Building Coomputational Confidence
Reduce anxiety and increase familiarity and understanding with STEM subjects, particularly computer programming and ubiquitous computing, or ubicomp design.
Creating Community
Build a community support network in this field for girls so that pursuing computational skills can be relevant to their identities and lives, and that helps continued participation in computing.
Learning by Doing
Socially motivated problem-solving
All Anywear Academy resources are based on current research and understandings about E-textiles, edularping, and how students learn.
Our program has been tested by middle school programs in diverse settings all over the country.
Learn more about how we designed Anywear Academy here: