Building Participatory Teaching Agents and Teaching Roles for Elementary Students in the Metaverse Context

Abstract

In the virtual learning environment, human-computer interaction interfaces are being imbued with more human-like characteristics, such as virtual teaching agents. These agents can utilize voice, gestures, facial expressions, and other cues to guide student learning. The presence of such agents in the learning process bridges the gap between human-computer interaction and real-life human-human interaction, activating social interaction patterns and facilitating deeper cognitive processing for learning. With advancements in metaverse technology, personalized digital characters and virtual avatars have become valuable educational resources. Realistic agent roles integrate learners and the learning environment, creating rich face-to-face learning interactions.

In this technological context, we developed four teaching agents using a novel and emerging social technology system called Metahuman combined with Unreal Engine 5. These agents, as realistic virtual digital humans, were incorporated into the learning experiences of elementary students, with two different types of teaching roles and appearances, as well as two different personality types. In this study, we involved elementary students in the design and evaluation of the virtual teaching agents' personality and role representations, aiming to develop animated teaching agents that meet both the requirements of educational metaverse and learner expectations. The results indicate that involving elementary students in the co-design process with researchers enhanced their understanding of the personality and role representations of the teaching agents. Using collaborative inquiry as an appropriate method for co-designing with elementary students improved their participation in the design process of the teaching agent roles. This study provides a set of guidelines for the participatory process, which can be applied to future design projects to support project teams in determining the process and tools for involving elementary students.