Hello all,

In my personal pedagogical agent I would like to see the following characteristics:

•  the agent is customisable according to user preferences especially certain features which have to do with lesson delivery such as the agent's voice and appearance.
• Interactive and adaptive: the agent's lesson delivery is interactive, rather than the agent just repeating information to the user, furthermore the agent adapts to user needs and builds a learner profile, such that if the student is having a problem with a specific part of the syllabus the agent notices and adjusts it's teaching behavior.

DoPedAgentsMotivate.pdf

With reference to the paper attached, the agent should be customised according to user preferences, specifically with regards to appearance and behaviour, for example a fan of the Star Wars franchise would probably have more interest in the agent and what it has to say, if it used a stromtrooper model (character from the series) rather than just a randomly configured appearance. Using another scenario, if the learner being taught is a Minecraft enthusiast being taught science, it would be beneficial to use scenarios from the game to explain scientific concepts (one can even build logic gates within it)

I think that an agent designed for teaching should be used primarily for educational purposes, but I don't see any reason why the agent can't be interacted with outside of the context of the classroom, in fact these interactions may actually allow the learner to be more enthusiastic towards future sessions while giving the agent an opportunity to build a deeper learner profile.