Virtual Substitute Teacher: Introducing the Concept of a Classroom Proxy

We describe the concept and a first prototype of a digital replacement for teacher in class. While earlier work on intelligent pedagogical agents has focused on the development of a generic idealized teacher agent, our focus lies on modeling the identity of a specific teacher, called a “classroom proxy.” We evaluate the concept of a classroom proxy in an exploratory case study and discuss the broader implications of digital replacements for educational purposes and other applications. We conclude with a description of future research directions.