Discusses GTE (Generic Tutoring Environment) and courseware engineering and argues that GTE's theoretical knowledge base focuses on teaching as a good model for any kind of instruction and thus reduces its generic nature. Two examples of weak automation for instructional design are described that have broader knowledge bases. (Author/LRW)

Explores possibilities of animated pedagogical agents to enhance the use of support tools in open learning environments. Constructs a typology to describe and compare different pedagogical agents from an instructional design perspective; analyzes currently available pedagogical agents; and reviews empirical research on pedagogical agents in…