Virtual agents have been shown to be more effective when incorporating social factors such as trust into task action selection. However, there has been less work on how virtual tutoring agents can incorporate social factors into pedagogical action selection. We propose and evaluate how a socially-conditioned task reasoner for a virtual pedagogical…

Tutoring with Alphie is a computer-assisted programme that aims to improve the literacy skills of struggling readers. The programme combines elements of collaborative (or 'cooperative') learning, computer-assisted instruction and small group support. Participating pupils are grouped in pairs and follow a series of activities that seek to improve…

Evidence collected on the effectiveness of four educational technologies is briefly reviewed. The authors conclude that there is reasonable evidence that computer-assisted instruction can have at least a modest effect on improving learning and probably more when its instructional approaches are properly matched to instructional objectives, that…

Working as a legislative reference librarian at the Connecticut State Library exposes the author to many complex topics. Law, by nature, is a multidisciplinary field involving social issues and legal ramifications. Each year when the legislature is in session (January-June during even years, February-May during odd years), the Legislative Bill…

Programmed instruction (PI) was devised to make the teaching-learning process more humane by making it more effective and customized to individual differences. B.F. Skinner's original prescription was modified by later innovators to incorporate more human interaction, social reinforcers and other forms of feedback, larger and more flexible chunks…

Web-based software was used to deliver and record the effects of programmed instruction that progressively added formal prompts until attempts were successful, programmed instruction with one attempt, and prose tutorials. Error-contingent progressive prompting took significantly longer than programmed instruction and prose. Both forms of…

This paper reports on a study which investigates the implementation of a synchronous e-learning system ("Interwise") for online tutorials on an information technology related course offered by the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). It examines a set of interview data related to students' and tutors' views on the use of the system.…