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by Leonard Williams

An innovative new GED preparation software program brings GED students to life in a virtual classroom. Dwayne Stone, a twenty-something who delivers pizza for a living, makes connections with learners’ real-life experiences and problems.

The GED Academy is part of a new breed of educational software. Through their innovative passGED study program, The GED Academy brings a virtual classroom to life on students’ computer screens—a classroom peopled with fellow students who struggle with real-life problems. “Dwayne Stone is one of our most memorable virtual students,” says Michael Ormsby, the Academy’s president. “He is the class clown—and every classroom needs one. He’s also our go-to guy for pop culture—movies, music, things students enjoy. But underneath his wacky joking, Dwayne has some substance. He wants to make everyone else happy—and struggles with his own low self-esteem.”

Dwayne is a classic underachiever, living with his brother and delivers pizza for his rent money. When asked to come up with a goal for himself, his first instinct is humor: “A solid gold pizza?” he says, brightly. But when Dwayne is pressed, he reveals a way of thinking that many adult learners have developed. “Why come up with a goal at all? I mean, I can’t really do anything good.”

The GED Academy believes that human interest and entertainment are essential to education. “Learning is a process that takes place inside the student’s mind. Engaging students…involving them in the lives and stories of others…creates learning.” Dwayne’s wild imagination also adds an air of surreal humor to the passGED virtual classroom.

“Commas are the boringest thing I can think of,” says Dwayne. “So when we had to be studying commas, I decided that I’d be a Samurai warrior, the Great Comma Warrior, slashing up sentences with the mighty comma. Whack! Slash! Whack! Come on you sentences. Let me slice you up! Oh, err, what was I saying? Oh, yeah, I mean, then commas weren’t so boring anymore.”

With bright green hair and an orange t-shirt, Dwayne certainly stands out in the virtual classroom. Dwayne exhibits a visual learning style and a tendency to jump to conclusions. “I guess I don’t always think things through,” he says, “but sometimes just pick what seems right off the top of my head. I guess I’m learning that you’ve got to slow down and think about things. And sometimes do some work.”

Watching Dwayne struggle with thinking through problems helps passGED users learn how to think about math, reading, writing, and critical thinking. Through adding humor, Dwayne also makes lessons more memorable. “Dwayne adds enjoyment and substance to students’ learning experiences,” Ormsby comments. “We all learn from mistakes…and Dwayne gives us a lot to learn from.”

Dwayne is a big science fiction fan, and he helps out GED students with science in his science blog, Dwayne’s Study Zombies.

For more information about Dwayne, The GED Academy, and the passGED study program, visit: http://www.passged.com