A cyber assistant or "bot" would be a very welcome feature in the Sloodle Box. Consider the many possibilities for cyber assistance related to Sloodle:

ability to bring an assistant in world who will take questions via chat and look up answers from a live database.
realtime assistance for students in need of support while working with Sloodle learning objects
Walking EPSS (performance support) would be comparable to walking FAQs and Knowledgebases, staying synchronized with web content from within Second Life.

As with most performance support and helpdesk functions, data tracking and reports would be essential. Anonymous usage data could be passed to the LMS to indicate how "bots" are being used and what types of questions are being asked. This information can be critical in evaluation and enhancement of existing functionality.

Finally, the higher-level (Henderson, 2006) of in-world cyber assistants would include bots that proactively approach students for the following purposes:

• Provide assistance (support struggling student)
• Survey students upon completion of units
• Quiz students when they have completed prerequisite material

Such functionality would require very tight integration between in-world objects and LMS data to essentially "steer" activity where and when it is required.