Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies

Maggi Savin-Baden, Gemma Tombs, Roy Bhakta

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

3 Citations (Scopus)
15 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use, beginning with Turing’s (1950) work; and since then online chatbots have become embedded into the fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised. Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past 5 years suggests an increase in interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning. This paper draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical agents were intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need to be considered in the light of the ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the academy, and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)295-314
JournalE-Learning and Digital Media
Volume12
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Fingerprint

Robotics
educational setting
learning
Education
personalization
academy
new technology
education
Teaching
time
history
interaction
evaluation

Keywords

  • chatbots
  • pedagogical agents
  • pedagogy
  • higher education

Cite this

Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies. / Savin-Baden, Maggi; Tombs, Gemma; Bhakta, Roy.

In: E-Learning and Digital Media, Vol. 12, No. 3-4, 2015, p. 295-314.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Savin-Baden, M, Tombs, G & Bhakta, R 2015, 'Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies' E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 12, no. 3-4, pp. 295-314. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753015571835
Savin-Baden M, Tombs G, Bhakta R. Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies. E-Learning and Digital Media. 2015;12(3-4):295-314. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753015571835
Savin-Baden, Maggi ; Tombs, Gemma ; Bhakta, Roy. / Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies. In: E-Learning and Digital Media. 2015 ; Vol. 12, No. 3-4. pp. 295-314.
@article{0f989999ff9c406387443ec07c94fc6b,
title = "Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies",
abstract = "Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use, beginning with Turing’s (1950) work; and since then online chatbots have become embedded into the fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised. Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past 5 years suggests an increase in interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning. This paper draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical agents were intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need to be considered in the light of the ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the academy, and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means.",
keywords = "chatbots, pedagogical agents, pedagogy, higher education",
author = "Maggi Savin-Baden and Gemma Tombs and Roy Bhakta",
year = "2015",
doi = "10.1177/2042753015571835",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
pages = "295--314",
journal = "E-Learning",
issn = "1741-8887",
publisher = "SAGE Publications",
number = "3-4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Beyond robotic wastelands of time: abandoned pedagogical agents and new pedalled pedagogies

AU - Savin-Baden, Maggi

AU - Tombs, Gemma

AU - Bhakta, Roy

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use, beginning with Turing’s (1950) work; and since then online chatbots have become embedded into the fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised. Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past 5 years suggests an increase in interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning. This paper draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical agents were intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need to be considered in the light of the ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the academy, and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means.

AB - Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use, beginning with Turing’s (1950) work; and since then online chatbots have become embedded into the fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised. Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past 5 years suggests an increase in interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning. This paper draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical agents were intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need to be considered in the light of the ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the academy, and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means.

KW - chatbots

KW - pedagogical agents

KW - pedagogy

KW - higher education

U2 - 10.1177/2042753015571835

DO - 10.1177/2042753015571835

M3 - Article

VL - 12

SP - 295

EP - 314

JO - E-Learning

JF - E-Learning

SN - 1741-8887

IS - 3-4

ER -

Access to Document