Determining the usability effect of pedagogical interface agents on adult computer literacy training

Abstract

A large part of the population in developing countries is technologically ignorant. Pedagogical interface agents are pieces of educational software with human characteristics that facilitate social learning. The aim of this research was an attempt to evaluate the extent to which a variety of pedagogical educational agents could assist adult learners in acquiring basic computer skills. This was done by conducting a usability test in the context of South African adult computer literacy training. A hundred and three participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or a test group, where after all participants received Microsoft Office Word training (pre-test). Only test group participants were introduced to pedagogical agents (experimental treatment). During the usability test both groups were given tasks to perform. Findings showed that computer illiterate adult users could perform better during literacy training with the assistance of educational agents when compared to only being taught through traditional teaching methods. This could open the doors to more effective ways of reaching and teaching a larger group of previously educationally disadvantaged adults in order to give them a better chance at securing employment in the labour market. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.