If I could I would have wished her away. Make her grow wings (a la Tinkerbell) or something to that effect. Instead she stayed put. My fear of her soon transferred to the subject, and there began my drudgery. You see, she turned Maths into a monster and each day was spent in me believing the same. I no longer saw it as number play, but as a classroom reincarnation of Grendel. The fact that I was doing pretty well till she came along, is another story. The point is, teachers bring life to a subject. How they do it is the essential part. They can either turn it into T.Rex or Dino, the choice is theirs.
Well, not anymore. With e-learning, the choice now lies with learners too. Adieu to stern, rigid, autocratic teaching. Adieu to rote. Now you get to choose your teachers. All because of e-learning's "avatars", who make learning sessions interactive, interesting, and fun. Increasingly used by both classroom and corporate learners (be it for soft skills or customer service training), the use of avatars as a learning tool has gained momentum. In fact, companies are relying more on building character simulation programs into their training modules as they believe it hones skills, develops leadership potential, and increases management efficacy. So what and who are these avatars?
Avatars are nothing but customized animated agents linked to an Artificial Intelligence ("AI") that allows them to cue into your responses just like humans. They can resemble anybody you want (minus your physics tutor's buck teeth), be it a peer, an expert, or an authority figure in a particular filed. What makes the system work is the combined use of audio, visuals and text. Say for example, despite several explanations you still can't seem to get your "Tenses" right, you don't immediately reach for that panic button. You let your avatar step in, again. The avatar will not only adapt his lesson plan, repeating the basics till you get the hang of it, but also wait before moving on to more complex concepts. Also, as it "talks back to you" it quits making you feel lonely online, by asking questions, citing examples, encouraging responses, and interpreting your answers. In short, it allows for immersive learning.
To understand an avatar's role in the teaching process, we first need to understand its capabilities. Summed up, they assist in the following way:
1. Motivate: Avatars motivate by offering relevant, accurate, and lucid information. Moreover, clocked as they are to your schedule, you won't feel like giving the class a miss.
2. Create Interest: By making the learning process interactive (they even crack up when necessary), avatars bring lessons to life (think Night at the Museum).
3. Engage and Evolve: Avatars' interesting personalities make learning fun. Also, they constantly update their web databases which allows for updated, comprehensive knowledge at the click of a button. Moreover, its course matter can be modified to suit your or an organization's requirements. Bye-bye library.
4. Reinforce: Avatars allow for repetitions– minus the stick. A learner can go through the module any number of times, whenever required without a raised eyebrow staring him in the face.
5. Economical: Compared to in-person training, avatars prove to be more pocket-friendly - especially for big organizations.
6. Tailor-made Learning: Now Maths will no longer breathe fire. An avatar formulates its content and delivery style to suit your requirements and capabilities, thus eliminating learning pressure by creating a positive learning environment. Also, by fostering sensitivity to the student's learning predicament, the avatar can help him/her overcome frustration, retain interest in the subject, regain confidence, and engage in active learning.
7. Build Trust: Avatars build on a learner's trust, making them feel special. One-to-one interaction allows for personal encouragements, making learners come back for more. It also gives learners control over their learning experiences.
8. Develop Soft Skills: Unlike the exasperated grunt that greets you when you get an answer wrong, avatars offer encouragement, build confidence, and even offer apologies if they went through a lesson too fast. This makes the lessons more effective. And your class teacher (Ahem!) less friendly.
So the end point is "how well" you teach depends on "how" you teach. A person steeped in knowledge does not necessarily make a good teacher. A good teacher is one who knows how to impart that knowledge. The goal of avatars in e-learning is just that. Effective transfer of knowledge, in an environment that is conducive to learning. No longer jamming ears with blah, blah and more blah. Instead, reach out, know your student, make it fun, and learning will follow.
Quite a phenomena, this, isn't it? But I'm not complaining. For what it's worth, all my disgruntled, archaic teachers can go take a long trot uphill.
(Banshori Bhattacharya is Instructional Designer at C2 Workshop)
