The role and construction of educational agents in distance learning environments

An educational agent is an intelligent and autonomous part of a learning environment introduced in order to assist a student or a teacher in the completion of their tasks. An agent can also autonomously perform tasks related with the management of learning resources or the achievement of internal educational goals. This paper presents the definition and classification of educational agents together with their tasks and roles in the educational process. In distance learning environment, agents can improve the motivation and concentration of the students and, consequently, they can improve the effectiveness of the educational process. Agent characteristics and architecture required to achieve educational goals are also described. The paper presents also a prototypical implementation of an educational agent (called the WAS agent) that is developed as a part of our research.