The impact of a virtual teaching assistant chatbot on students’ learning in Ghanaian higher education Full Text

You can integrate the chatbot with a CRM and send student leads directly into the process. Schools and universities have two important factors other than their three bases, i.e. Ammar has extensive experience in the software development process and is passionate about using technology to make a better world.

• As PEU increases, the intention to use chatbots by teachers and administrators (Pillai et al., 2023) and post-graduate students increases (Mohd Rahim et al., 2022).
• Through machine learning, the bot can analyse each student’s learning needs and recommend learning content to assist them in their progress.
• Considering the diversity of the user base in an educational setting, it becomes even more pertinent to offer a variety of platforms that cater to students’, teachers’, and parents’ different technical abilities.
• 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.
• Likewise, bots can collect inputs from all involved participants after each interaction or event.

Since the world is filled with millions of prospective students enrolling into colleges and universities across the globe, the number of queries each institution or consultancy receives over its website is humongous. These queries are mostly regarding the admission process, courses, scholarships, fee, etc. On the other hand, the teacher can provide feedback on the tests or assignments students submitted (also through the forms).

This digital nudging helps them remember their learning objectives and creates positive links with educational efforts. Less than a nag, reminders sent by chatbots seem to encourage rather than force employees to follow up on the lesson. Another strategy for teaching with AI and chatbots is to be transparent about their use. Teachers should educate students about the potential risks and limitations of AI and chatbots, and help them to understand how they can use these technologies in a responsible and ethical manner. Additionally, teachers should be open about how they are using AI algorithms to analyze student data and make decisions about student learning. The future of chatbots in education is optimistic, driven by current trends such as natural language processing and machine learning capabilities in advanced tools such as ChatBot.

SUPPORT & SUCCESS

It consists entirely of fourth-year students in a single university department, so future studies may observe students’ experience in other years as well as other faculties. This would allow generalize the results on the integration of chatbots in higher education. For example, it is unclear whether students in this study engaged more with the chatbot because they come from a more “technical” discipline and they are already familiar with the use of technology.

Renowned brands such as Duolingo and Mondly are employing these AI bots creatively, enhancing learner engagement and facilitating faster comprehension of concepts. These educational chatbots play a significant role in revolutionizing the learning experience and communication within the education sector. AI chatbots in education can help engage with prospective students by focusing on intent and engagement. This is true right from the point of admission and is accomplished by personalizing their learning and gathering important feedback and other data to improve services further. Intelligent chatbots can continuously interact with students and solve queries rapidly.

Students’ perception of institutional support for chatbot integration influences their acceptance. If someone feels inadequate support or lacks institutional backing for bot usage in their academic journey, it could result in reluctance or skepticism towards engaging with these tools. This article sheds light on such tools, exploring their wide-ranging capabilities, limitations, and significant impact on the learning landscape. Read till the end and witness how companies, including Duolingo, leverage innovative technology to make learning accessible to everyone. Time management is a crucial skill for students and one that can be challenging to master.

Barriers to Chatbot Acceptance in Education

AI relates to systems or machines that mimic human intelligence and self-alter based on accumulated data (Angelov et al., 2021). Chatbots are an example of software applications (Salas-Pico & Yang, 2022; Topal et al., 2021) that understand questions faster and provide efficient answers (Angelov et al., 2021). These chatbots have received significant recognition in the educational ecosystem in diverse learning contexts. FlowXO is a Natural Language Processing platform that can build human-like conversational AI with state-of-the-art virtual agents in multiple languages and platforms (Flow, 2020). Two experienced multimedia programming experts and an instructional designer verified the KNUSTbot. Current studies (Snodgrass Rangel et al., 2017) highlight that student data obtained by teaching staff during teaching and learning process has the potential to improve education, as well as the way educational institutions work.

Use a chatbot or live chat for registration, online consultation, language acquisition, or personal tutoring. The bot aggregates the highlighted points cited by most of the students based on the questions answered and comments provided, then sends it to the professors. As online learning becomes more widespread, some students will find it even more challenging to stay focused. Chatbots can also give students immediate answers to inquiries while they work on a project, rather than waiting for an instructor.

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. With advancements in AI and machine learning, expect to see more intuitive, conversational, and empathetic chatbots, making learning experiences even more enriching. Chatbots in education shine brightest in their ability to offer personalized experiences. From addressing unique learning styles to providing course recommendations, these AI assistants make every student feel heard and supported. The evolution of chatbots is incredible from being basic text-based interfaces to sophisticated AI entities. In education, this evolution translates into bots that not only answer FAQs but also provide personalized learning assistance and administrative support.

Furthermore, studies have shown that students are hesitant to ask questions because they are constantly scared of the teacher’s negative feedback (Oktaria & Soemantri, 2021; Verleger & Pembridge, 2018). In mitigating these issues, some instructors engage students after classroom didactics, with instant messengers (e.g. WhatsApp) and social media platforms (e.g. Facebook messenger) to provide personalized assistance to the students. However, the challenge is the instructor not having enough time to respond to questions and provide timely and individualized feedback to students. The unspontaneous student–instructor interaction leads to shortcomings in student’s knowledge.

Natural Language Processing Abilities

Besides, any course instructor who engages a virtual teaching assistant chatbot with students must ensure that each student is conversant with the instant messaging (WhatsApp, Telegram, or WeChat). The instructor must also ensure that the students have consistent Internet access and examine whether specific students cannot use the instant messaging application. Students may have difficulty adapting to the teaching assistant chatbot when using it for the first time. An initial session should be organized in which the engagement procedure is detailed, and students are informed about its assets to alleviate the affirmed challenges. Current research highlights that chatbots may address the challenge of insufficient student–instructor interaction (Clarizia et al., 2018). This leads to reduced workload for the instructor and more engaging learning experience for the students.

Additionally, chatbots can be programmed to recognize signs of distress in a student’s language and behavior, allowing them to intervene early and provide appropriate support. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Chatbots can be a valuable asset to administrative staff in higher education by reducing their workload and providing quick responses to student and faculty inquiries. With the ability to handle routine tasks like admissions, financial aid applications, and course registration, chatbots can free up staff time for more complex tasks. After the experiment with the use of the chatbot, focus groups were conducted by the lead investigator, who is an experienced scholar in educational research. Another question honed in on whether students felt they have derived similar benefits from their interaction with the chatbot compared to the interaction they were used to have with the instructor.

Much like a dedicated support system, they tirelessly cater to the needs of both students and teachers, providing prompt responses and assistance at any time, day or night. This kind of availability ensures that learners and educators can access essential information and support whenever they need it, fostering a seamless and uninterrupted learning experience. This paper will help to better understand how educational chatbots can be effectively utilized to enhance education and address the specific needs and challenges of students and educators. Chatbots have slowly become essential teaching tools in the ever-changing 21st-century educational world. They can provide immediate homework assistance and individualized learning guidance, serve as language learning partners, provide job advice, support mental health, and help you choose the perfect university. As we move to the future, chatbots in education are positioned to be crucial elements of successful teaching and learning, altering the way students learn new information and abilities.

As the PR increases when using a technology, the intention to use that technology will decrease (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008). Privacy (Chatterjee & Bhattacharjee, 2020) and security of personal information (Merelo et al., 2022) are both concerns raised by educators. Several teachers are concerned that students will misuse chatbots to plagiarize work (Dehouche, 2021; O’Connor, 2023; Stokel-Walker, 2022; Westfall, 2023). In addition, some researchers are concerned about the spread of misinformation from the text produced by chatbots (Hsu & Thompson, 2023, February 8).

In this article, we’ll explore how ChatGPT is revolutionizing education and helping students achieve their goals. The use of chatbots like these has the potential to significantly improve teacher-student interactions and enliven the classroom experience for students as a whole. Students will gain technological literacy, which is an asset in any field and will aid them in the long run. Chatbots can support students in finding course details quickly by connecting them to key information. This can alleviate the burden for instructional staff, as the chatbot can serve as the first line of communication regarding due dates, assignment details, homework resources, etc.

By transforming lectures into conversational messages, such tools enhance engagement. This method encourages students to ask questions and actively participate in processes comfortably. As a result, it significantly increases concentration level and comprehensive understanding.

These forms can be used to take a survey from students such as, how their course could be improved, how did they like the previous lecture or overall quality of their learning experience. Almost every student owns one or more personal smart devices which have led schools to accept BYOD management as a norm. Instant messages, virtual assistants and social media have become their school hallway, where they exchange not only messages but study materials, help each other with assignments and do their researches through these platforms. All in all, key pillars of AI chatbots include natural language processing, interactive platforms, and accessible support channels.

Institutes no longer have to constantly summon students for their details every single time something needs to be updated. Edtech bots can help students with their enrolment processes and further provide them with all the necessary information about their courses, modules, and faculties. Chatbots can answer all student queries related to the course, assignments and deadlines. They can customise content and personalise feedback based on each student’s individual learning progress. Chatbots can also be used to evaluate tests and quizzes in place of professors and provide them with analysis per student, based on these results. PR is the perception that adopting a technology, despite having benefits, may also have negative outcomes.

The experimental cohort was assigned to the WhatsApp group via the platform integrated with the chatbot. They engaged the chatbot at any time after a topic was taught; however, the instructor did not intervene in the experimental cohort’s interactions. No additional communication channels or contact points were available for the two groups.

They can get the help they need without worrying about being in the right place at the right time. HBE, ATM and PKB constructed the study design and materials used during study collection. Focus group discussions (after posttest) were conducted with the experimental cohort to garner data on the perceptions regarding their interaction with the KNUSTbot. Students were asked to appraise the positive and adverse viewpoints of their interaction with the KNUSTbot during this discussion. Chatbots have already made exemplary contributions to the education business, demonstrating that this is one of the foreseeable future trends. Artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots are reshaping the world in more ways than we can fathom.

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. benefits of chatbots in education Conversational AI is revolutionizing how businesses across many sectors communicate with customers, and the use of chatbots across many industries is becoming more prevalent. Whether a parent or student wants to know more about scholarship opportunities or discover further information about a university course, a chatbot can seamlessly handle the query and direct them to the correct information with ease.

We included additional 70 intents (short text expressions, e.g. ‘Hi super programmer’, ‘Good job’, ‘I’m always at your service’) to engage and motivate the students during the interaction. Besides, the bot was trained with internet sources (e.g. Websites and YouTube videos). Many schools and educational institutions worldwide have benefited from chatbots, which have helped them save time and money. It not only saves time for students but also relieves institutions of a load of manually answering queries. To meet up with that, education industry also needs to gear up and provide students with a better communication process with the administration and teachers. AI Chatbots are virtual teaching assistants that reduce the cycle of tasks aligned for the teacher on a day-to-day base.

In such a way, institutions commit to academic excellence and foster positive student experiences. These bots offer individualized support to learners, providing guidance, and aiding in workload management for both teachers and educatee. By streamlining routine activities, chatbots help pedagogues focus on delivering high-quality knowledge and monitoring attendees’ progress. Digital assistants address queries and exchange information regarding lectures, assignments, or events. Furthermore, institutions leveraging chatbots witness higher conversion rates, thereby contributing to overall success. AI systems may lack the emotional understanding and sensitivity required for dealing with complex sentimental concerns.

A very important and significant aspect of the learning process is feedback, whether it comes from a student and directed towards the teachers or the other way around. The chatbot can provide specified topics to students through standard text messaging or multimedia such as images, videos, audios, and document files. The chatbot will repeat the cycle of assessing each student’s level of understanding individually and then provide them with the following parts of the lecture as per their progress. But now more and more administrations and teachers are recognizing this cost-effective yet valuable way to keep their students hooked and streamline processes more efficiently. Real-world cases, virtual tutoring, teacher assistance, and streamlining admissions make education more personalized, engaging, and accessible. Podar Education Network has successfully implemented the AI chatbot Engati to enhance parent-teacher communication and streamline academic and administrative tasks.

The tech advancements in the educational sector, especially after the pandemic, have made online education a significant part of mainstream learning. Student learning experiences and teaching methods now look a lot different than how they used to (say, ten years ago), thanks to Edtech advancements and the integration of AI in higher education. Adept at Natural Language Processing (NLP), an AI chatbot for education, helps comprehend and access student responses, which, in turn, helps it offer personalized guidance and feedback. Plus, unlike some professors, this learning method won’t be too fast or slow for your style but will be tailored according to your learning pace and preferences. To sum up, chatbots are invaluable in employee training, especially in its early stages.

Features and Functionality of Educational Chatbots

After an extensive discussion on the concept, impact, benefits, and features of bots in education, it is now important to bring these theories to life through concrete use cases. Therefore, the readily available support channels ensure that users have a reliable backup in case of any hindrances, thereby ensuring a smooth and consistent user experience. Addressing support channels available for bot users is crucial since, regardless of an AI chatbot’s advanced capabilities, there could be instances where users may encounter issues or difficulties while interacting with the chatbot. One of the most vital features that enable an AI chatbot to communicate effectively with its users is Natural Language Processing (NLP). Their ability to emulate human-like conversation further increases student interaction and engagement.

Tech-savvy students, parents, and teachers are experiencing the privilege of interacting with the chatbots and in turn, institutions are observing satisfied students and happier staff. As education continues to evolve, technology is playing an increasingly important role in helping students to learn and grow. One technology that is rapidly gaining popularity in the education sector is chatbots. Chatbots are AI-powered programs that can converse with humans, providing them with information and assistance on a wide range of topics. There are several ways in which teachers can use chatbots to aid in the classroom, including directing students to relevant online resources for further study. By asking or responding to a set of questions, the students can learn through repetition as well as accompanying explanations.

Whether you want a chatbot for an institute, a consultancy or a college, the educational chatbot has to be different than a regular B2C chatbot. Similarly, teachers also require some time-saving alternatives to their repetitive processes that undergo all throughout the year. Take a look here, this Botsify chatbot is helping prospective students enroll in a university through a consultancy.

Education is the field that demands dynamic changes to keep up with the rapid pace of modern life. They range from self-paced online programs and apps to the opportunity to order essay papers from expert writers. The initiative underscores the Cabinet Office’s commitment to leveraging AI for accessible and equal educational opportunities.

Ammar holds an MTech in information and communication technology from Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. The authors declare that this research paper did not receive any funding from external organizations. The authors have no financial interests or affiliations that could have influenced the design, execution, analysis, or reporting of the research. The comprehensive list of included studies, along with relevant data extracted from these studies, is available from the corresponding author upon request.

• They can answer any questions you have and guide you through the process of deploying the best-in-class educational chatbot and ensuring you use it to its full potential.
• Admission is typically a chaotic and exhaustive process that requires a significant amount of manual labor and time.
• The exponential growth of distance and online courses has made it easier to study alongside work commitments, eliminating the need for long commutes or family interruptions.
• This immediacy not only enhances student satisfaction but also significantly reduces the workload on administrative staff.

Multilingual chatbots act as friendly language ambassadors, breaking down barriers for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. Their ability to communicate in various languages fosters inclusivity, ensuring that all students can learn and engage effectively, irrespective of their native language. Through this multilingual support, chatbots promote a more interconnected and enriching educational experience for a globally diverse student body.

As AI continues to advance and finesse its capabilities, chatbots in education will help usher in a new era of learning — the results of which will be a marvel to witness. Setting clear KPIs and regularly monitoring metrics is vital to assess the effectiveness of chatbots. Metrics like user engagement, resolution time, and satisfaction rates are good indicators of how well the chatbot is performing.

Chatbots enhance the student experience by providing personalized interactions and information, which can help students feel more connected to their institution. By receiving tailored responses to their inquiries, students can feel that the institution is taking a genuine interest in their needs and concerns, which can lead to greater satisfaction and success. After synthesizing the negative feedback received, we can say that the students complained about their interaction with the chatbot because it didn’t carry out in-depth learning and the human element was missing.

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. However, there are potential difficulties in fully replicating the human educator experience with chatbots. While they can provide customized instruction, chatbots may not match human instructors’ emotional support and mentorship. Understanding the importance of human engagement and expertise in education is crucial.