Lesson authoring system for creating interactive activities involving virtual humans the thinking head whiteboard

Abstract

Educators continually strive to provide learning materials that are specifically adapted to their students' unique learning preferences and needs. Software use continues to grow in classrooms however typical educational programs cannot be modified to suit individual learners. The Thinking Head Whiteboard is a lesson authoring tool that provides such a capability, allowing educators without a computer programming background to create their own interactive lessons. The Thinking Head Whiteboard also supports the use of virtual human `tutors' and `peers' within these lessons, making it uniquely suited to assist in areas such as social skills education. Further, the software currently being developed incorporates a basic level of automated assessment, allowing it to adapt on the fly to learner needs, providing repetition of content for struggling learners and fast-tracking those who are proficient. Ultimately, it is hoped that the Thinking Head Whiteboard will become an engaging and useful tool for educators and learners alike.