Affective agents in the e-learning process

Depending on the meaning individuals give to a specific learning situation, emotions can be seen as relevant mediation devices between them and the environment, that can activate either approach or avoidance behaviors in critical steps of the ongoing learning process. Along this line, in the e-leaning path, affective agents can play the role of enhancing learners’ emotional coping abilities, by exploiting different degrees of freedom implied in emotion generation and regulation as opportunities for supportive interventions. Affective agents can hence be seen as supportive tutors, able to provide locally grounded reactions, by framing their interventions according to learners’ varying objectives and goals (customization). After outlining the theoretical underpinnings and the empirical evidence so far available on this issue, caveats and implementation guidelines for developing emotionally competent agents are discussed.