Abstract

students’ ability to construct knowledge that is valuable to their community. This emphasis transforms classrooms into Knowledge Building Communities (KBC), where members collaboratively define problems and propose initial “theoriesµ subject to investigation, refinement, and improvement. The formation of such a community is usually facilitated through a Computer-Supported Collaborative Environment called Knowledge Forum (KF). This contribution investigates the potential of an NLP-powered Virtual Agent within the KF environment to support the implementation of Knowledge Building Communities (KBCs). We adopt a multidisciplinary lens, drawing insights from pedagogy and educational psychology to inform our analysis. It explores two research directions: how a Virtual Agent can help students in knowledge creation activities, and how the Virtual Agent can support teachers in designing, monitoring, and evaluating a KB environment