Social agents for learning in virtual environments

Several serious games have been proposed to practice communication strategies in formal contexts. Intelligent virtual agents (IVA) can be used to show the player the effects of a conversational move. In this paper we discuss the key role of using social context for the virtual agents in these serious games. Social practices are exploited to bundle social interactions into standard packages and as a basis to model the deliberation processes of IVAs. We describe a social practice oriented IVA architecture used in the implementation of a serious game for the practicing of communication in medical interviews

An Observation Tool for Monitoring Skill Implementation in Natural Environments.

Skills related to social-emotional learning (SEL) are essential for college and career readiness. Failure to use appropriate skills for SEL in school is often linked to several negative academic outcomes, including rejection by school community members, academic deficits, and higher rates of problematic behavior. Social skills interventions are commonly used to address deficits in SEL. To be most effective, these interventions must be culturally and contextually relevant to the student. The Social Skills Observation Tool (SSOT) was developed to (a) identify the social skills commonly used within natural school environments and (b) determine specific student deficits in the appropriate use of these skills. Implications for practice are discussed