Students' Experiences of Emotional Connection with Pedagogical Agents

Abstract

Online chatbots (also known as pedagogical agents or virtual assistants) are becoming embedded into the fabric of technology, both in educational and commercial settings. Yet understanding of these technologies is inchoate and often untheorised, influenced by individuals' willingness to trust technologies, aesthetic appearance of the chatbot and technical literacy, among other factors. This paper draws upon data from two research studies that evaluated students' experiences of using pedagogical agents in education using responsive evaluation. The findings suggest that emotional connections with pedagogical agents were intrinsic to the user's sense of trust and therefore likely to affect levels of truthfulness and engagement. They also indicate that the topic of the pedagogical agent-student interaction is key to the student's experience. The implications of these studies are that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are all vital components in using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning.

Memorialization Through Metaverse: New Technologies for Heritage Education

“…The "Turn toward Busan" memorialization through the metaverse (Figure 5) and the real commemoration at the UN Cemetery (Figure 3) make a notable contrast in terms of "bodily performances related to heritage" (Ashley, 2016). Given that "co-presence" refers to the users' sense of being present and connected with one another in a virtual environment (Savin-Baden et al, 2015), the co-presence of interacting with others in the metaverse enabled the students to create a collective identity during the rituals of remembrance. Supplementary services were also implemented at the same time, such as educational videos on the UNMCK and the history of the Korean War.…”

“…Based on the author's video participation, students showed great interest in expressing their emotions out loud, answering the OX quiz audibly, discussing their opinions with their peers, exchanging monitors, and making big bodily movements in the classroom. This phenomenon can be defined as an "expression of immersion," considering that "immersion" is strongly linked to participants' 'being' in a virtual world and their engagement with issues of embodiment (Savin-Baden et., 2015). The following assertion supports the author's analysis:…”