The Video Assistant is a help tool in the form of a talking head on video. However, the V/A is scripted as a student who is doing a teaching assistantship for her Masters program in Sculpture. Therefore, the V/A (or really T/A) is like the student in many ways but a bit more mature and knowledgeable.

     The obvious function of the V/A is to help in technical situations for which the student needs a quick answer about some aspect of the computer software.

    I decided to expand the role of the V/A in response to a note from Dr. Dabbagh on my proposal. I initially planned not to have any scaffolding within the software, mainly due to the fact that I don't like those little pop-up hint boxes. I don't think they are very effective.

    After viewing the Workwise CD-Rom in which the assistant was a real person with a credible role to play enriching the environment, I decided to incorporate some scaffolding capabilities into the Video Assistant. In this case, the V/A would be somebody good to consult when in a conundrum. She could give case scenarios around certain topics, ask pertinent questions, or just encourage the student in ways to think outside the box.