Abstract
In the context of education ECAs can take on multiple roles. It is common for the ECA to take on the role of the teacher, facilitating learning through a combination of explicit instruction, feedback and questioning, much like a classroom teacher would (Bosseler and Massaro 2003; McNamara et al. 2004). In this book we provide a variety of examples of ECA-based educational software, spanning both age group and application area, a discussion of issues relating to the design and implementation of both the ECA itself and the system it is embedded in, and a discussion of underlying educational principles. As a case study we also present the Thinking Head Whiteboard, a flexible and customisable ECA-based learning system, and discuss the outcomes of an initial evaluation using this system as a social skills tutor for children with autism. Finally, we look at future directions for ECA-based educational software.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Teaching Skills with Virtual Humans |
| Subtitle of host publication | Lessons from the Development of the Thinking Head Whiteboard |
| Editors | David M. W. Powers |
| Place of Publication | Singapore |
| Publisher | Springer Nature |
| Chapter | 1 |
| Pages | 1-3 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Volume | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-981-16-2312-7 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-981-16-2311-0 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Publication series
| Name | Cognitive Science and Technology |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Springer Nature Singapore |
| Volume | 14 |
| ISSN (Print) | 2195-3988 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2195-3996 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
Keywords
- Embodied Conversational Agents
- ECA
- teacher
- facilitating learning
- peer
- collaborator
- behaviours
- skills
- learner
- knowledge