Learning? Or just Entertainment?

When thinking of Conversational Agents (CA) as tools for the learning process, I approach it with much caution. The two case studies we read took me by much surprise. The CA appeared to be used as more for entertainment purposes rather than learning purposes, so this leads me to wonder: Is there a place in the classroom for these “Conversation Agents?” If so, what role and purpose do they serve?

I am encouraged by the idea that the CA can “increase motivation and stimulate learning.” I think students are curious individuals and like to push the CAs to their limits and abilities, which the studies indicated. The Doering study indicated that “the student-agent interactions were unrelated to the assigned task.” Only 5.1% of the interactions pertained to the Social Studies assignment. Therefore, this really discourages me from using this type of technology with students. If I do use CAs or avatars in the classroom, I need to set it up in a very structured and limited format. Based upon these two articles, I would be very hesitant to utilize these unless they served a direct purpose and I had control over student interaction (ie. I got a copy of student conversation). It didn’t surprise me that middle school students asked a wide-array of questions based on the curiosity of their age. As a teacher, I do not want to tempt students with situation where they will engage in vulgar and sexual comments, as what happened in the study. I was also surprised that the pre-service elementary teachers started asking bizarre questions to the agent just for pure amusement and entertainment. I feel that they were never used for the purpose of learning. The CA almost served as a virtual friend for entertainment reasons to prevent the student from being bored while working on their assignment. While it did provide another resource besides textbooks and the internet, questions that were asked to the CA could have been ‘googled’ or asked of the teacher during in-class time.

Another concern that arises from these studies is the gender and appearance of the CA. How much did the female CA influence the questions and comments given by the middle school students? In the Veletsianos article, students did not view the CPA as an authority figure but rather as a peer—“someone they had the liberty to “play” with, flirt with, swear at, and bully.” I wonder how students would respond to a male CPA who was much older? Maybe a father or grandfather type figure? Or, maybe an athlete character whom the students could feel they could relate with? In what capacity can interactive technology serve in the classroom?

I do believe there is a place for interactive technology and if used correctly, can most definitely enhance students’ motivation for learning. Doering stated that CAs allow students to learn with technology rather than from technology, “If learners are able to share in the development of their own CAs, in essence personalizing the tools they are working with, they may become more motivated to work with the CA to elicit the correct answers and enhance their learning experience.” (268) With proper regulation and teacher control, CAs can add another “adult-figure” and unique level of support to foster student interest in the assignment. Many students in the case studies indicated they enjoyed the presence of a CA as a “friend.” Perhaps with regulation and teacher control, the students could view the CA as a positive resource and study buddy rather than a sexual figure to flirt with. For shy students or hard-to-reach students, the presence of a CA could draw them into the material and allow more questions about the assignment and content to surface.


Using Avatars in the Classroom

I do think that when used properly, I “classroom-version” of Second Life could really engage students and take them to a new dimension in learning. There are some kid-friendly Second Life websites that take kids to historical time periods to place students in the moment of history. Kids could take on different characters and act them out as if they were in the historical time period. For example, Whyville is a web-based virtual world for middle-school students where kids represent animated characters from different time period. http://www.edutopia.org/second-life-virtual-reality-collaboration. A situation and learning environment like this can engage the kids and with teacher presence, hold them accountable to what happens. More students become involved with the material. I could also envision a virtual world of the White House, Congress, or the United Nations where students take on various politicians and act out the roles through an avatar. This would be a new and engaging way to draw students into the material. I think that would be really fun and cool!

Another virtual simulation is called YackPack. www.yackpack.com. Students can create avatars or profiles for themselves and talk to each other in a group via the web. While the computer is not doing the talking, kids are experiencing conversing with each other in a new and different way. It elicits a different atmosphere for discussing assignments.

I have used moodle in my classroom. While this serves as more of a teacher website, students can create unique profiles and interact with other via chat. I bring up moodle because the teacher still has control over chat conversations. With the CA, the teacher had no control over the questions asked. Perhaps with more teacher control like in moodle, the CA could serve a strong role in the classroom and take on a “supportive” virtual buddy to help students.

Finally, I think that teacher-create avatars could be another way to reach students and capture their attention. While teachers are limited with their time, creating an avatar to explain assignments or give reminders would make things fun! Perhaps I could create an avatar to post on my website with weekly homework reminders....just another way to relate with students!