Benefits and Barriers of Chatbot Use in Education Technology and the Curriculum: Summer 2023

For example, the authors in (Fryer et al., 2017) used Cleverbot, a chatbot designed to learn from its past conversations with humans. User-driven chatbots fit language learning as students may benefit from an unguided conversation. The authors in (Ruan et al., 2021) used a similar approach where students freely speak a foreign language. The chatbot assesses the quality of the transcribed text and provides constructive feedback. In comparison, the authors in (Tegos et al., 2020) rely on a slightly different approach where the students chat together about a specific programming concept. The chatbot intervenes to evoke curiosity or draw students’ attention to an interesting, related idea.

The teaching team will save time not having to answer similar questions over and over again, and students will receive answers immediately. If you are ready to explore chatbots‘ potential in the education sector, consider trying respond.io, a platform that revolutionizes customer communication. Education businesses like E4CC, Qobolak and CUHK have already seen success with respond.io. Regular testing with real users and incorporating their feedback is critical to the success of your chatbot. Each iteration should aim to improve the user experience and streamline communication further. By analyzing conversation data, educational institutions can gain insights into user preferences, pain points, and popular inquiries, informing decision-making and strategy.

Artificial intelligence can invent recipes based on the molecular compatibility of ingredients or whatever a kitchen has in stock. More advanced concepts are in the works to automate the entire kitchen for fine dining. Businesses can discover diverse investment opportunities across various classes. They can spread the investments across different assets so that the adverse impact on one class does not affect the potential gains from other classes. As AI continues to advance, we must navigate the delicate balance between innovation and responsibility.

Finally, the chatbot discussed by (Verleger & Pembridge, 2018) was built upon a Q&A database related to a programming course. Nevertheless, because the tool did not produce answers to some questions, some students decided to abandon it and instead use standard search engines to find answers. Six (16.66%) articles presented educational chatbots that exclusively operate on a mobile platform (e.g., phone, tablet). Examples include Rexy (Benedetto & Cremonesi, 2019), which helps students enroll in courses, shows exam results, and gives feedback.

A user-driven interaction was mainly utilized for chatbots teaching a foreign language. While the identified limitations are relevant, this study identifies limitations from other perspectives such as the design of the chatbots and the student experience with the educational chatbots. To sum up, Table 2 shows some gaps that this study aims at bridging to reflect on educational chatbots in the literature. User-driven conversations are powered by AI and thus allow for a flexible dialogue as the user chooses the types of questions they ask and thus can deviate from the chatbot’s script. One-way user-driven chatbots use machine learning to understand what the user is saying (Dutta, 2017), and the responses are selected from a set of premade answers. In contrast, two-way user-driven chatbots build accurate answers word by word to users (Winkler & Söllner, 2018).

Through simulations, quizzes, and problem-solving exercises, chatbots make learning active rather than passive. Education bots are influencing how institutions engage with students by enhancing learning and administrative processes. In recent years, chatbots have become a crucial component in the digital strategy of educational institutions. Businesses can leverage data-driven insights and recommendations to improve the quality of their wealth management decisions. This leads to informed and accurate choices, maximizing ROI and minimizing wealth management risks. AI algorithms analyze clients’ data to select the relevant insurance products and coverage levels.

A traditional 24/7 customer support model would involve salaried employees working in shifts, but with AI chatbots, businesses can deliver the same level of service at a fraction of the cost. According to Juniper research, industries like retail, banking, and healthcare can save up to $11 billion annually through chatbot adoption. By integrating solutions like Yellow.ai’s advanced chatbots, businesses aren’t just streamlining operations but are also significantly enhancing their bottom line. As businesses look to make information more easily accessible (both internally and externally), expect to see even further innovation in chatbot technology. Key to that innovation equation is deeper contextual understanding of language. Generate leads and satisfy customers

Chatbots can help with sales lead generation and improve conversion rates.

Cases in which conversational AI supports learners and instructional teams

Instead of an HR representative spending time on these routine queries, chatbots can provide instantaneous, accurate responses, allowing the HR team to dedicate more time to qualitative assessment and candidate engagement. In terms of recruitment, where time is often of the essence, such automation by chatbots, like those powered by Yellow.ai, ensures a more efficient and streamlined hiring process. Chatbots have revolutionized the way businesses benefits of chatbots in education communicate, and just as every department in a company has a distinct role, chatbots come in various forms to serve specific purposes. From Menu/Button-based chatbots that operate like straightforward help desks to Generative AI chatbots that craft new content insights, there’s a spectrum of options available. Each caters to a unique business requirement, ensuring every enterprise can find a chatbot best suited for their digital journey.

They act beyond classroom activities as campus guides, providing valuable information on facilities and helping students. Considering this, the University of Murcia in Spain used an AI chat assistant that successfully addressed more than 38,708 inquiries with an accuracy rate of 91%. The success of chatbot implementation depends on how easily educatee perceive and adapt to their use. If they find tools complex or difficult to navigate, it may hinder their acceptance and application in educational settings. Ensuring a user-friendly interface and straightforward interactions is important for everyone’s convenience.

In the context of the education sector, these chatbots are tailored to meet the specific needs of students, educators, and administrative staff. Additionally, tutoring chatbots provide personalized learning experiences, attracting more applicants to educational institutions. Moreover, they contribute to higher learner retention rates, thereby amplifying the success of establishments. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. AI implementation promotes higher engagement by supplying interactive learning experiences, making the process more enjoyable.

A chatbot can simulate conversation and idea exchange for low-stakes skills practice. Users can practice language-based soft skills like leading a class discussion, guiding a parent-teacher conference, or even diagnosing English proficiency levels. With a chatbot, users can try out new competencies and hone skills while minimizing the downsides of practicing with a person (eg, judgment, time, repetition). Educational services change regularly, and inaccuracies could lead to issues with students or potential learners.

They promise to forever change the learning landscape by offering highly personalized experiences for students through tailored lessons. With a one-time investment, educators can leverage a self-improving algorithm to design online courses and study resources that go beyond the one-size-fits-all approach, dismantling the age-old education structures. Chatbots will be virtual assistants that offer instant help and answer questions whenever students get stuck understanding a concept. 7, most of the articles (88.88%) used the chatbot-driven interaction style where the chatbot controls the conversation.

Administrators can take up other complex, time-consuming tasks that need human attention. In 2023, AI chatbots are transforming the education industry with their versatile applications. Among the numerous use cases of chatbots, there are several industry-specific applications of AI chatbots in education.

The primary objective behind Pounce’s introduction was to streamline the admission process. This implementation will ease data collection for reference and networking purposes. Using such models, institutions can engage with graduates, fostering a sense of community.

Implement the University Template by ChatBot

In fact, education ranks among the top five industries utilizing chatbots, with 58% of educational institutions acknowledging that chatbots significantly improve their service offerings. Reinforcement Learning (RL) mirrors human cognitive processes by enabling AI systems to learn through environmental interaction, receiving feedback as rewards or penalties. This learning mechanism is akin to how humans adapt based on the outcomes of their actions. We can help you understand your eligibility, start a claim, or complete your paperwork. If you’ve already filed a disability claim or requested a decision review, we can help you check the status. If you already receive disability benefits, we can help address any payment issues.

Teaching agents gave students tutorials or asked them to watch videos with follow-up discussions. Peer agents allowed students to ask for help on demand, for instance, by looking terms up, while teachable agents initiated the conversation with a simple topic, then asked the students questions to learn. Motivational agents reacted to the students’ learning with various emotions, including empathy https://chat.openai.com/ and approval. The teaching agents presented in the different studies used various approaches. In some cases, the teaching agent started the conversation by asking the students to watch educational videos (Qin et al., 2020) followed by a discussion about the videos. In other cases, the teaching agent started the conversation by asking students to reflect on past learning (Song et al., 2017).

Admitting hundreds of students with varied fee structures, course details, and specializations can be a task for administrators. Also, with so many variations, there is a scope for human error in the admission process. Chatbots in the education sector can help collect feedback from all the stakeholders after each conversation or completion of every process. This can help schools in extracting useful information and attending to matters with poor results. From teachers to syllabus, admissions to hygiene, schools can collect information on all the aspects and become champions in their sector. This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, the Digital Development Agency (DDA), and the CNRST of Morocco (Al-Khawarizmi program, Project 22).

With software like DialogFlow, no coding or prior experience is necessary for a basic, text-based build. However, it is recommended that someone with close knowledge of the content have primary editing access to the chatbot. Instructors can gather anonymous feedback either on a granular level (eg, regarding a particular class session), or more generally (eg, about the arc of learning over an entire course). More generalized feedback chatbots have the advantage of reuse from session-to-session or year-to-year. For example, they can be very good at handling routine queries and qualifying leads.

Who Is Using Chatbots?

This commitment to excellence means businesses aren’t just answering questions but building lasting trust with every interaction. This approach uses a machine learning engine to train itself to deliver an optimal response to a customer query. A large amount of data is needed to train the system, and machine learning of the chatbot application is done in a black box with no insight into what is learned. For example, an e-commerce company could deploy a chatbot to provide browsing customers with more detailed information about the products they’re viewing. The HR department of an enterprise organization might ask a developer to find a chatbot that can give employees integrated access to all of their self-service benefits. Software engineers might want to integrate an AI chatbot directly into their complex product.

One of the critical areas where chatbots prove invaluable is in streamlining the admission processes. Handling hundreds of applications with diverse requirements can be daunting and prone to errors when done manually. Chatbots, however, can automate much of this process, from gathering initial student data to answering common questions about courses, fees, and application deadlines. Educational institutions can leverage platforms like ChatBot to enhance their services without needing extensive technical skills, thus driving forward a more effective, engaging, and inclusive educational experience. For instance, during enrollment periods, chatbots can manage thousands of inquiries about deadlines, requirements, and procedures, reducing the workload on human staff and speeding up response times.

For example, a customer browsing a website for a product or service might have questions about different features, attributes or plans. A chatbot can provide these answers in situ, helping to progress the customer toward purchase. For more complex purchases with a multistep sales funnel, a chatbot can ask lead qualification questions and even connect the customer directly with a trained sales agent. Reduce costs and boost operational efficiency

Staffing a customer support center day and night is expensive. Likewise, time spent answering repetitive queries (and the training that is required to make those answers uniformly consistent) is also costly.

Ensure your institution stands out by providing every prospective student a responsive and personalized experience. Chatbots can provide students with on-demand learning assistance outside of regular class hours. Whether a student needs help with homework late at night or wants to clarify a doubt over the weekend, chatbots are available 24/7 to assist. The conversational nature of chatbots can also mimic classroom discussions, allowing students to explore different viewpoints and think critically about the material. After all, more engaged students are more likely to better understand and retain information.

The charm of easy checkout is in crafting a user experience that seamlessly marries simplicity with sophistication. User request analysis is the first and most relevant task a chatbot performs. It is the analysis of a user’s request which is used to identify intent and extract relevant entities. A chatbot’s capacity to understand the language and context of a request is critical to its ability to provide an accurate response. Explore chatbot design for streamlined and efficient experiences within messaging apps while overcoming design challenges. Find critical answers and insights from your business data using AI-powered enterprise search technology.

RL facilitates adaptive learning from interactions, enabling AI systems to learn optimal sequences of actions to achieve desired outcomes while LLMs contribute powerful pattern recognition abilities. This combination enables AI systems to exhibit behavioral synchrony and predict human behavior with high accuracy. Continual learning from each user engagement allows chatbots to enhance and refine their responses and strategies, embodying a commitment to an ever-improving customer experience. Thus, every customer input becomes a building block, progressively elevating service quality and precision over time. Adopting AI in admissions and enrollment is crucial for higher education institutions to stay ahead of challenges and opportunities.

Limitations of Educational Chatbots and Why It’s Vital to Address Them

Preliminary findings indicate that employing chatbots can greatly enhance student learning experiences by allowing them to study at their own speed with less stress, saving them time, and keeping them motivated. As technology continues to advance, AI-powered educational chatbots are expected to become more sophisticated, providing accurate information and offering even more individualized and engaging learning experiences. They are anticipated to engage with humans using voice recognition, comprehend human emotions, and navigate social interactions. This includes activities such as establishing educational objectives, developing teaching methods and curricula, and conducting assessments (Latif et al., 2023).

This led to an explosion of chatbots on the platform, enabling tasks like customer support, news delivery, and e-commerce (Holotescu, 2016). Google Duplex, introduced in May 2018, was able to make phone calls and carry out conversations on behalf of users. It showcased the potential of chatbots to handle complex, real-time interactions in a human-like manner (Dinh & Thai, 2018; Kietzmann et al., 2018).

In such a way, institutions commit to academic excellence and foster positive student experiences. Almost all institutions aim to streamline their processes of updating and collecting data. By leveraging AI technology, colleges can efficiently gather and store information. Such optimization will eliminate student involvement in updating their details. As a rule, this advanced data collection system enhances administrative efficiency and enables institutions to use pupils’ information as necessary. Such a streamlined approach will assist learning centers in reducing manual efforts required for materials update, thereby fostering convenient resource utilization.

Moreover, other web-based chatbots such as EnglishBot (Ruan et al., 2021) help students learn a foreign language. As the educational landscape continues to evolve, the rise of AI-powered chatbots emerges as a promising solution to effectively address some of these issues. Some educational institutions are increasingly turning to AI-powered chatbots, recognizing their relevance, while others are more cautious and do not rush to adopt them in modern educational settings. Consequently, a substantial body of academic literature is dedicated to investigating the role of AI chatbots in education, their potential benefits, and threats. Due to AI integration in the workplace, the World Economic Forum (2023) estimates that by 2027, 25% of companies expect job loss, while 50% expect job growth.

• These digital assistants streamline interactions between people and services, enhancing customer experience.
• From streamlining operations to ensuring 24/7 support, they have become the backbone of modern customer service.
• Chatbots can handle real-time actions as routine as a password change, all the way through a complex multi-step workflow spanning multiple applications.
• With a chatbot, users can try out new competencies and hone skills while minimizing the downsides of practicing with a person (eg, judgment, time, repetition).
• Shows the flowchart of the selecting processes, in which the final stage of the selection resulted in 36 papers.

This includes health care, case management, supportive services, and other resources. Whether guiding a purchase on Facebook Messenger or answering product queries on WhatsApp, Yellow.ai positions your brand just where your customers want it. It means that regardless of the platform your customers prefer, they’re greeted with consistent and reliable support, enhancing their overall brand experience. Customers hop from one platform to another, expecting your brand to hop along seamlessly. AI-driven chatbots ensure your brand’s voice resonates across these platforms.

While this evolution has the potential to reshape sectors from health care to customer service, it also introduces new risks, particularly for businesses that must navigate the complexities of AI anthropomorphism. Chatbots can significantly reduce operational costs by taking on tasks traditionally handled by human customer support representatives. Chatbots enhance operational efficiency and cut labor expenses by automating processes and streamlining customer interactions. While chatbots have revolutionized digital interactions, they are not devoid of challenges.

It’s incredible, but chatbots have been used in education since the early 1970s. Chatbots can help educational institutions in data collection and analysis in various ways. Firstly, they can collect and analyze data to offer rich insights into student behavior and performance to help them create more effective learning programs. Secondly, chatbots can gather data on student interactions, feedback, and performance, which can be used to identify areas for improvement and optimize learning outcomes. Thirdly education chatbots can access examination data and student responses in order to perform automated assessments. The bots can then process this information on the instructor’s request to generate student-specific scorecards and provide learning gap insights.

To deal with this risk, we searched manually to identify significant work beyond the articles we found in the search databases. Nevertheless, the manual search did not result in any articles that are not already found in the searched databases. Most articles (13; 36.11%) used an experiment to establish the validity of the used approach, while 10 articles (27.77%) used an evaluation study to validate the usefulness and usability of their approach. The remaining articles used a questionnaire (10; 27.7%) and a focus group (3; 8.22%) as their evaluation methods.

One of the significant advantages of chatbots in education industry is their ability to offer immediate feedback. This quick response mechanism is capable of asking about specific aspects of the session or course. Such programs gather comments on various subjects like study material, teaching approaches, assignments, and more.

It isn’t just about being available; it’s about ensuring every interaction, whether midnight in New York or noon in Tokyo, is met with an instant, accurate response. The world of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) has been revolutionized by the advent of AI, transforming how organizations deliver training and education. This guide explores the fundamentals of AI-based LMS platforms, the benefits they offer, and the future of AI in corporate learning. With current AI tools already making significant strides in transforming admissions and enrollment, the future of AI in education holds even more potential. As AI technologies continue to evolve, their applications will expand, offering more sophisticated tools and capabilities.

By comprehending student sentiments, these chatbots help educators modify and enhance their teaching practices, creating better learning experiences. Promptly addressing students’ doubts and concerns, chatbots enable teachers to provide immediate clarifications, fostering a more conducive and effective learning environment. Through interactive conversations, thought-provoking questions, and the delivery of intriguing information, chatbots in education captivate students’ attention, making learning an exciting and rewarding adventure. By creating a sense of connection and personalized interaction, these AI chatbots forge stronger bonds between students and their studies. Learners feel more immersed and invested in their educational journey, driven by the desire to explore new topics and uncover intriguing insights. Education chatbots are interactive artificial intelligence (AI) applications utilized by EdTech companies, universities, schools, and other educational institutions.

Here chatbots play an important role, as they can track progress, ensuring continuous interaction through personalized content and suggestions. Since pupils seek dynamic learning opportunities, such tools facilitate student engagement by imitating social media and instant messaging channels. By transforming lectures into conversational messages, such tools enhance engagement. This method encourages students to ask questions and actively participate in processes comfortably.

It excels at capturing and retaining contextual information throughout interactions, leading to more coherent and contextually relevant conversations. Unlike some educational chatbots that follow predetermined paths or rely on predefined scripts, ChatGPT is capable of engaging in open-ended dialogue and adapting to various user inputs. AI systems enhance their responses through extensive learning from human interactions, akin to brain synchrony during cooperative tasks. This process creates a form of “computational synchrony,” where AI evolves by accumulating and analyzing human interaction data. Affective Computing, introduced by Rosalind Picard in 1995, exemplifies AI’s adaptive capabilities by detecting and responding to human emotions. These systems interpret facial expressions, voice modulations, and text to gauge emotions, adjusting interactions in real-time to be more empathetic, persuasive, and effective.

The sixth question focuses on the evaluation methods used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed chatbots. Finally, the seventh question discusses the challenges and limitations of the works behind the proposed chatbots and potential solutions to such challenges. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in education has the potential to revolutionize how students learn and interact with information. One significant advantage of AI chatbots in education is their ability to provide personalized and engaging learning experiences. By tailoring their interactions to individual students’ needs and preferences, chatbots offer customized feedback and instructional support, ultimately enhancing student engagement and information retention.

Exploring the long-term effects, optimal integration strategies, and addressing ethical considerations should take the forefront in research initiatives. A multilingual chatbot can cater to an international student body, making educational content accessible to everyone. This helps in learning and administrative tasks, where understanding precise information is crucial. If a non-native English speaker can receive assistance in their native language, they can make complex processes like registration or financial aid applications much clearer and more manageable.

Similarly, the agent’s visual appearance can be human-like or cartoonish, static or animated, two-dimensional or three-dimensional (Dehn & Van Mulken, 2000). Conversational agents have been developed over the last decade to serve a variety of pedagogical roles, such as tutors, coaches, and learning companions (Haake & Gulz, 2009). PU is the belief that a particular technological system will be beneficial if adopted, such that the more useful a technology is perceived, the more likely it will be used (Davis et al., 1989). PU has been identified in the literature as a factor determining whether teachers and students adopt chatbots (Chocarro et al., 2021; Malik et al., 2021; Mohd Rahim et al., 2022). The usefulness of AI in education is unfamiliar to some teachers (Hrastinski et al., 2019), and many have had negative experiences using chatbots (Kim & Kim, 2022). It is recommended that continuing education programs be made available for in-service and pre-service teachers outlining the benefits and practical applications of chatbot use.

Funding for technology support should be taken into consideration by the administration when deciding whether to adopt chatbot technologies in education. Teachers and students should be provided initial training to increase PEU (Chatterjee & Bhattacharjee, 2020) and have continued support if they require assistance when using chatbots. They can simulate natural conversations, allowing students to practice new languages in a stress-free environment. Students can talk to chatbots to improve their language skills, including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. AI support frees up teachers to concentrate on creating more engaging and interactive lessons, thus improving the overall quality of education. It also allows them more time to offer individualized attention to students who may need extra help or guidance, enhancing the learning experience.

By strategically integrating AI tools, institutions can enhance decision making, optimize admissions processes, streamline operations, and provide predictive insights that guide future enrollment strategies. Embracing these technologies positions organizations at the forefront of innovation and adaptability, ensuring a competitive edge in the ever-evolving higher ed landscape and the future of AI in education. Imagine transforming your admissions process with the precision and efficiency made possible by artificial intelligence (AI), from evaluating applications to personalizing student communications. This is not just a far-off dream—it’s a current reality reshaping admissions and enrollment. By strategically integrating AI tools, higher education institutions can streamline operations, enhance decision making, and gain predictive insights that guide future planning.

Likewise, bots can collect inputs from all involved participants after each interaction or event. Subsequently, this method offers valuable insights into improving the learning journey. As Conversational AI and Generative AI continue to advance, chatbots in education will become even more intuitive and interactive. They will play an increasingly vital role in personalized learning, adapting to individual student preferences and learning styles.

To improve the clarity of the discussion section, we employed Large Language Model (LLM) for stylistic suggestions. Automated teaching systems like chatbots can be used to analyze and assess student learning to help teachers identify a student’s level of understanding of a topic (Okonkwo & Ade-Ibijola, 2021). Students that struggle with specific materials can be provided individualized learning materials based on the information collected. In addition, this collected data can provide educators and administration with useful information to profile and predict the likelihood of success a student may have in a course (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019).

When using a chatbot, the gathering of data and feedback from the students happens in a way that is organic and integrated into the learning experience — without the need for separate surveys or tests. The data is captured digitally in a format that can be analyzed manually or by using algorithms that can detect themes, patterns, and connections. In effect the teacher can “interact” with and learn from multiple learners at the same time (in theory an infinite number of them). Concerning the evaluation methods used to establish the validity of the approach, slightly more than a third of the chatbots used experiment with mostly significant results. The remaining chatbots were evaluated with evaluation studies (27.77%), questionnaires (27.77%), and focus groups (8.33%).

Upon transfer, the live support agent can get the full chatbot conversation history. To summarize, the journey through educational chatbots has uncovered a field of possibilities. These AI tools amplify engagement, offer personalized content, and ensure uninterrupted support. Yet, the limitations of these bots, such as lack of emotional intelligence, demand further attention. But the success stories of the University of Galway and Georgia State University, reveal the transformative potential of such models.

By digitizing enrollment processes and simplifying communication channels, bots reduce the workload for staff. The streamlined evaluation process offers precise evaluations of student performance. This gives transparent and structured assessment outcomes to educatee, faculty, and stakeholders. According to the survey conducted among 1,000 secondary school attendees, 67% of learners admitted using AI tools. What’s more interesting is that 42% of those surveyed apply this technology in math, while 41% use it for writing essays. Students’ perception of institutional support for chatbot integration influences their acceptance.

This can increase the learner’s sense of agency and their ownership of the learning process. Another interesting study was the one presented in (Law et al., 2020), where the authors explored how fourth Chat GPT and fifth-grade students interacted with a chatbot to teach it about several topics such as science and history. The students appreciated that the robot was attentive, curious, and eager to learn.

This means that teachers can develop systems to identify students at risk of failing and offer appropriate guidance and intervention. Chatbots can provide students with immediate feedback, assisting the metacognitive processes of learning (Chang et al., 2022; Cunningham-Nelson et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2022; Okonkwo & Ade-Ibijola, 2021; Wollny et al., 2021). Similar feedback functions are incorporated on a smaller scale into software applications such as Grammarly, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs. Utilizing chatbots, students can make their statements more clear and concise (Cunningham-Nelson et al., 2019) and receive assistance solving difficult problems (Kaur et al., 2021).

For example, the brain’s oscillatory neural activity facilitates efficient communication between distant areas, utilizing rhythms like theta-gamma to transmit information. This can be likened to advanced data transmission systems, where certain brain waves highlight unexpected stimuli for optimal processing. If you’re a Veteran who’s homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, we can help. We can connect you, or a Veteran you care about, with resources throughout VA or in your community.