Can Avatars Replace the Trainer? A Case Study Evaluation

E-learning implementations have become an important agenda item for academic and business institutions as an enabler to complement their education and training needs. However, many of the existing e-learning systems, present several limitations such as them being static, passive and consisting of a time-consuming set of services. This has highlighted the need for functionality, which allows more creativity, autonomy, and flexibility on behalf of the learner. The inclusion of avatar technology in e-learning environments has been of growing interest, aiming to encourage the learner to become more engaged and motivated whilst augmenting the use of human trainers. However, the empirical investigations on the effect of animated agents in teaching and learning has revealed diverse results in a continuum from avatars being helpful to them being distracting. This research has evaluated the utility of avatars. Unusually, the research has chosen a qualitative, interpretive approach with supporting case study data as the chosen research methodology. The justification for this research approach will be made and the initial findings will be presented together with a proposed conceptual framework.