When I was a software trainer, the most common question learners asked was how to remove Clippy/Clippit, Microsoft’s annoyingly interruptive Office Assistant. But he had good qualities. Clippy was a help agent; as such, he was designed to respond to the user’s questions and needs. What if our learning agents also acted as portals for help, in addition to making emotional connections as we’ve discussed this week?

Clippy at his best: responding, not interrupting

Thinking about ways to use an interactive learning agent (searching documentation on the intranet, linking to resources inside the course and on the Internet, providing contact with a trainer and help desk), I realized I’ve implemented these in e-learning before — just not using a persona interface. Tom’s comment this week suggested further uses still — exciting ones that probably involve LMS integration, that inspire me to ask:

Without technological barriers, what would you do?

Stay tuned: Get Your Own Learning Agent

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“Post” script: Many apologies for the feed weirdness this week. I decided to actually go on vacation while I was on vacation, and I forgot to tell my blogging software. Lo siento, je suis désolé, ani mitzta’eret, ich entschuldige mich. (Yes, I’ve decided this paragraph doesn’t count in my word limit.)