Date
Publisher
arXiv
Artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) are reshaping education, with virtual avatars emerging as digital teachers capable of enhancing engagement, sustaining attention, and addressing instructor shortages. Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for equitable quality education, these technologies hold promise yet lack clear guidelines for effective design and implementation in online learning. To fill this gap, we introduce a framework specifying when, what, and how digital teachers should be integrated. Our study combines (1) a design space analysis of 87 works across AI, educational technology, design, and HCI, (2) a survey of 132 learners' practices and preferences, and (3) three co-design workshops with 18 experts from pedagogy, design, and AI. It provides actionable guidance for educators, designers, and HCI researchers, advancing opportunities to build more engaging, equitable, and effective online learning environments powered by digital teachers.
Study at a glance
- Question: How, when, and what should digital teachers teach to effectively integrate into online learning?
- Setting and data: 132 online learners primarily from urban Chinese contexts, 18 interdisciplinary university experts, and 87 synthesized academic papers.
- Method: Mixed methods survey of learners, iterative co-design workshops with experts using affinity diagramming, and literature design space analysis.
Why it matters
AI-powered digital teachers hold promise for addressing instructor shortages and enhancing engagement, but clear guidelines for their effective design and pedagogical implementation in online learning remain scarce.
Key findings
- Most surveyed learners wanted digital teachers to deliver teaching, assistance, and evaluation in MOOCs, though 77.8% preferred frequent assistance on an as-needed basis.
- Learners strongly favored conceptual (70.5%), inquiry-based (70.4%), and evaluative (69.7%) instructional content, while ranking affective support much lower at 33.4%.
- Learners and experts emphasized expressive modalities such as verbal delivery (65.9%) and body language (57.3%), prioritizing text and video integration over audio-only formats.
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