ANIMATED PEDAGOGICAL AGENTS AND IMMERSIVE WORLDS: Two Worlds Colliding

Abstract

Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) have a number of potential benefitsthat are especially relevant to distance education, including improvedcommunication and increased student motivation/engagement. Yet, theliterature on these benefits is equivocal due in part to the limitedrange of applications. A review of APA taxonomies reflects the influenceof intelligent tutor systems (ITSs) but also reveals a number ofimportant distinctions. One type of APA is identified, actor agents,that may be particularly useful for distance educators, especially ifthese agents are given conversational abilities and a ``stage{''} onwhich to perform, such as Second Life (SL). Several projects involvingactor agents and SL are described with a conclusion that actor agents inimmersive worlds are an opportunity to be grasped.