Irene (Yu-Chia) Kao

Irene (Yu-Chia) Kao was a K-12 English teacher in Taiwan. She completed her master's degree in educational technology at UF and is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in the same field while serving as a research assistant at the Equitable Learning Technology Lab (ELTL) at College of Education, University of Florida.

Irene is an educational researcher dedicated to supporting underserved populations, with a particular focus on the autistic community. Her research centers on promoting informal STEM education and developing extended reality (XR) content to create pre-visit tools, enhance social skills, and boost reading engagement for autistic individuals and students with special needs.

Her work aims to improve educational experiences and create equitable learning environments in both schools and communities for students with special needs.