Isaac Blake

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Roy, Tania

Area of Concentration

Computer Science

Abstract

Coworking spaces can allow students focused on different tasks to work in the same environment, support productivity and self-efficacy, and can promote social interactions and peer support. These spaces, physically, can include coffee shops, libraries, dedicated coworking spaces, and other locations. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these spaces have been shuttered to potential visitors or are simply unsafe. Extended periods of online learning during COVID-19 have led to social isolation and decreased productivity and motivation among students. Some online applications begin to address the void left by the closure of these physical spaces, but all of them suffer from a lack of real- time interaction, a lack of productivity tools or focus, major accessibility issues, or a combination of the aforementioned. Cowork (source code: https://github.com/innkeeper- games/cowork) is a new interactive system that supports online coworking for students in a comfortable, virtual environment, built with accessibility features like keyboard- navigation and screen-reader support.

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