Sex, Drugs, and the Honor Roll?

As a digital native, I also have a personal connection with computer-generated teaching agents. I remember well learning along with Garry Kasparov in Gambit, a chess simulation from the early 1990s. Kasparov would chime in with feedback depending on the moves the user would make. A far cry from the CPAs described in the interaction article, the feedback would come in the form of a black and white video clip of a few seconds. Kasparov's comments ranged from admonishment to exultation at the moves of a chess novice. I did react with self-satisfaction when Kasparov gave me real-time postive responses to my improvement. Accordingly, I remember at times yelling at the computer screen or worse if the response was disparaging. Certainly, I expressed myself differently than I would have if a human chess tutor was providing instant reinforcement.

Despite my hunch of how students would react to CPAs, the article on interaction with computer teaching agents was fascinating for the reader. Not surprising was that there was abuse--surprising was its prevalence. That 35% of the interactions were off-task is troubling. What's more, that 40% of those were sexually explicit is shocking! (Veletsianos et al, 297) Certainly, these results tell us much about what may be on the mind of students at any given time over two class periods. Now, it's human nature to look at the world as tests of power and domination, so that students would test the knowledge and shrewdness of the agent is expected. Though the CPA is intended as an aid to the student, many use the interaction as an opportunity to treat "her" as a sex object.

As a teacher in his fifth year, a couple major things bother me about the article. Teaching high school is often about setting appropriate boundaries for students. Physically and emotionally, adolescents are still developing the skill of making wise decisions and separating school from the outside. Instead of humoring students about killing being wrong, respect, or sexual relations (298), why doesn't the program simply ignore the students' absurd input? Each response from the agent begs another inappropriate salvo. Couldn't the instructor be alerted of any of this misbehavior? Secondly, why must anonymity be preserved for a lesson about urban geography? Any student misusing the computer can be redirected immediately. In fact, transcripts of student/expert interactions should be a requirement for any teacher looking to improve instruction for the future.

This, of course, brings us to the implications of both the use of CPAs and these specific results for the educator. If a transcript is made available, the teacher can look for key trends in student questions and adjust instruction/expectations for future lessons. Students may be unwilling or unable to present these questions directly to the classroom teacher. By anticipating where and when students may run aground, both the agent and the instructor can better facilitate student learning. Perhaps there is also a psychological or sociological application for the CPA as well. Besides a lesson on Urban Geography, could students appropriately explore issues and ask questions they may be reluctant to ask an adult face-to-face?