Benefits of Chatbots for Higher Education

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). Considering Microsoft’s extensive integration efforts of ChatGPT into its products (Rudolph et al., 2023; Warren, 2023), it is likely that ChatGPT will become widespread soon.

This is where chatbots for education come in handy, assisting parents and teachers with all their concerns, from fee structures to scholarship queries and completion dates. Having an educational chatbot also increases conversion rates for your organization since students receive on-time guidance on any course-related queries, clearing their doubts and making it easier to enroll. Despite its potential as an interactive, dynamic learning tool, researchers caution against over-reliance on AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT. Tlili et al. (2023, p. 8) underscore the risk of learners exploiting these chatbots for quick answers, which could stunt the development of their own innovative capacities and critical thinking skills. “Conversely, a few of the participants held an opposing view that the abuse of ChatGPT by learners can also diminish their innovative capacities and critical thinking. For instance, when learners are not motivated, the probability of seeking an easy-to-get solution is high as can be deducted from a statement from one participant.” (Tlili et al., 2023, p. 8).

Such a shift in the employee competence landscape required profound re-learning initiatives. Daily collaboration with intelligent systems in the workplace prompts many to introduce new methods to workplace training. However, there are also a number of educational threats posed by chatbots and AI in K-12 education.

In this section, we present the results of the reviewed articles, focusing on our research questions, particularly with regard to ChatGPT. ChatGPT, as one of the latest AI-powered chatbots, has gained significant attention for its potential applications in education. Within just eight months of its launch in 2022, it has already amassed over 100 million users, setting new records for user and traffic growth. ChatGPT stands out among AI-powered chatbots used in education due to its advanced natural language processing capabilities and sophisticated language generation, enabling more natural and human-like conversations. It excels at capturing and retaining contextual information throughout interactions, leading to more coherent and contextually relevant conversations.

Registration assistants

This can also be a type of temperature check for any common misunderstandings or concerns among learners. This is a chatbot template that provides information on facilities, accolades, and the admission process of an educational institution. For both types, there are two important tasks that the chatbot performs on the backend. This process seems simple but in practice is complex and works the same whether the chatbot is voice- or text-based.

It can also be helpful for staff who may be working on projects outside of regular office hours. With chatbots available around the clock, students and staff can feel more supported and connected to their institution, which can lead to greater satisfaction and success. This can help create a more efficient and productive administrative system, ensuring that important tasks are completed more quickly and effectively. As a result, staff and faculty can provide a better service to students, which can lead to greater satisfaction and success. Education chatbots are like a breath of fresh air in the education sector, offering incredible potential to reshape the way we learn. They have become powerful allies, capable of revolutionizing the entire education landscape.

Chatbots can now evaluate subjective questions and automatically fill in student scorecards as per the results generated. At the same time, students can leverage chatbots to access relevant course materials for assessments during the period of their course. Students are never in the mood to study during holidays, nor do they have access to teachers. Chatbots help with communicating information on homework details, dates and schedules to the students and answer all related queries for them. By constantly being available, during and after lectures to answer queries and allowing students and teachers to virtually exchange information about lectures, assignments, deadlines, presentations and other events and activities.

Furthermore, it is important to mention that every instructor reacts differently when it comes to provide timely feedback and creating strong group dynamics with their students, even if they share the same workload with their peers. AI chatbots offer a multitude of applications in education, transforming the learning experience. They can act as virtual tutors, providing personalized learning paths and assisting students with queries on academic subjects. Additionally, chatbots streamline administrative tasks, such as admissions and enrollment processes, automating repetitive tasks and reducing response times for improved efficiency.

These online resources are carefully designed to meet the individual requirements of both teachers and students. AI implementation promotes higher engagement by supplying interactive learning experiences, making the process more enjoyable. The study shows that 90.7% of participants expressed satisfaction with the experiential learning chatbot workshop, while 81.4% felt engaged.

Chatbots in education are equipped to unburden them by automating and covering repetitive tasks. This way teachers can focus on providing quality education and tracking their student’s progress. These tutoring systems can also cater to the needs of neurodivergent students who may have learning disabilities and help all students understand difficult topics and subjects by customising their learning plans. A lecture can also be turned into a series of messages to make it look like a standardised chat conversation to help students feel comfortable asking questions and improve the overall concentration level by increasing engagement. This is because chatbots not only ease the education processes but also ensure qualitative learning. Chatbots can also connect students with their advisors or provide information when they don’t want to speak to their advisor in person.

They can be used in various domains, such as customer service, entertainment, marketing, and education. In this article, we will explore how chatbots can enhance learning outcomes, support teachers, benefits of chatbots in education and provide personalized feedback to students. Overburdened institutional staff can deploy chatbots to help deliver a superior learning experience to their students in a “hands-off” way.

With artificial intelligence, the complete process of enrollment and admissions can be smoother and more streamlined. Administrators can take up other complex, time-consuming tasks that need human attention. The chatbot can provide you with tips and strategies for managing your workload and help you to develop good study habits. One of the key benefits of ChatGPT is that it is available 24/7 to provide support and guidance to students. Whether you need help with a difficult assignment or just want to ask a quick question, ChatGPT is always there to help.

Delving into our first use case, ‘Personalized Virtual Tutoring with bots,’ we highlight how bots are transforming the student-tutor relationship and the overall tutoring process, making it more personalized, accessible, and engaging. Moreover, the AI chatbot maintains a sequential learning track, ensuring students have successfully mastered the previous content before moving on to the next. This blog post focuses on the transformative influence of AI chatbots in the educational landscape.

2. Integration with models and theories

Through generative AI, these AI chatbots power human-like, valuable interactions while maintaining quality, ensuring that students face no delays while searching for help or resources. This capability is a catch in today’s education settings, where personalized access often becomes a far-fetched thought due to large class sizes. Going for a ‘chatbot for education’ is a win-win situation as it benefits both students and educators. Since every student has a different learning pace, educational institutes had to spare a lot of time working accordingly, yet it was not easy for them to navigate their expectations.

We also showed that the students communicated more effectively by using English to communicate in the form of Socratic IM with the Chatbot (Belda-Medina and Calvo-Ferrer, 2022). In conclusion, education chatbots have emerged as game-changers in the field of education. With their advanced capabilities and innovative features, they have the potential to revolutionize the way we learn, teach, and interact within educational institutions.

ChatGPT can help you to manage your time more effectively by providing you with tips and strategies for managing your workload. The chatbot can also help you to set and achieve goals, and track your progress over time. Whether you’re looking for information on a specific topic or need help understanding a difficult concept, ChatGPT can provide you with the answers you need. Zoomers grow up on smartphones and tablets, so technology is integral to all aspects of learning, from creating and delivering course materials to how these materials are absorbed and memorized. It’s important to remember that a substantial portion of students might not have access to the apps in which chatbots are implemented (e.g., not everyone uses WeChat, Facebook, or Viber).

Later in 2001 ActiveBuddy, Inc. developed the chatbot SmarterChild that operated on instant messaging platforms such as AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger (Hoffer et al., 2001). SmarterChild was a chatbot that could carry on conversations with users about a variety of topics. It was also able to learn from its interactions with users, which made it more and more sophisticated over time. In 2011 Apple introduced Siri as a voice-activated personal assistant for its iPhone (Aron, 2011). Although not strictly a chatbot, Siri showcased the potential of conversational AI by understanding and responding to voice commands, performing tasks, and providing information. In the same year, IBM’s Watson gained fame by defeating human champions in the quiz show Jeopardy (Lally & Fodor, 2011).

Mark contributions as unhelpful if you find them irrelevant or not valuable to the article. A renowned quote by Ken Blanchard, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” can never go wrong. Collecting feedback on a daily basis is extremely important, no matter which industry you belong to. Even the most motivated pupils can fall asleep while reading and memorizing, regardless of the subject matter.

In recent years, the education industry, much like other sectors, has undergone a transformative journey through the disruption of AI. This shift has led to more satisfied and informed students, who are benefiting from the array of advantages that AI brings to the table. Chatbots are ready to transform education into a fundamental human right, from self-improving algorithms that monitor student comprehension and attention to the democratization of quality instruction through online platforms. Innovative pedagogy and cutting-edge technology are dynamically converged in the creation and development of educational chatbots.

The focus group discourse was done in a single sitting, with physical presence and one week after the experiment and every student in the experimental group partook. To give more opportunities for interaction to all students, three focus groups were conducted. The focus groups aimed at interpreting the students’ positive and negative encounters with the chatbot (KNUSTbot) for course interaction and their predisposition to interact with the KNUSTbot in future academic endeavors. At the same time, educational institutions give feedback to students through online and paper formats. Educators and educational institutions have provided pupils with a customized learning environment because of artificial intelligence.

Think of them as your friendly digital salespeople, always ready to help, guide, and even give that gentle nudge toward making a purchase. The first chatbot to pass Turing’s Test (a test where users cannot distinguish whether they talk to a human or a machine) was A.L.I.C.E. or Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity, developed in 1995 by Richard Wallace. Teachers should encourage students to question the information they find and to think critically about the sources of that information.

This is probably because it is a very popular and intuitive app widely used in Ghanaian higher education (Boateng & Tindi, 2022). There was a significant difference between daily Whatsapp use and post-test scores of the experimental cohort. We employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design in combination with a qualitative research method (focus groups), to collected more in-depth information on the students’ experience with the chatbot.

If your educational institution is considering adopting an AI chatbot, why not schedule a demo or get in touch with our experts at Freshchat? 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. Suppose machine learning algorithms are appropriately implemented in chatbots for schools. In that case, they may one day be able to grade open-ended activities (such as essays). Chatbots, powered by AI, are increasingly being used in mobile educational apps to make studying more exciting and interactive for students. These apps assist educators by lightening the load of routine duties like grading homework and student work.

Education bots are AI-powered tools integrated into educational platforms, where they act as virtual guides and round-the-clock facilitators in all your learning processes. These bots are designed to make learning fun (and engaging) for students while taking some load off the admin departments. Chatbots have the ability to emulate human-like conversations that resemble casual chats with coworkers.

Teachers and educators find in chatbots trusted allies, offering them valuable insights into student performance, providing teaching recommendations, and lightening their administrative load. Parents can stay informed and engaged through chatbots, receive updates on their child’s progress, and important events, and have a direct line of communication with the school. They are available 24/7, providing students with access to support whenever they need it. This can be particularly helpful for students who may not feel comfortable speaking with a human counselor or who need immediate assistance outside of traditional office hours.

Understanding Chatbots in Education

Fryer and Carpenter did an experiment where 211 students were asked to chat with ALICE and Jabberwocky chatbots. In fact, 85% of them admitted to having felt more comfortable and relaxed conversing with the bots over a student partner or teacher as in classical teaching. He has been an outstanding student, leading in the competition created by The School of AI in Bangalore. Apart from this, Ammar hosts hackathons and coding challenges within the developer community at Ellucian.

Create a Chatbot for WhatsApp, Website, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WordPress & Shopify with BotPenguin – 100% FREE! Our chatbot creator helps with lead generation, appointment booking, customer support, marketing automation, WhatsApp & Facebook Automation for businesses. Student progress can be tracked and evaluated with the help of chatbots by analyzing their written work. Course modules, lessons, daily duties, assignments, and due dates are all topics that chatbots can address. Think about the professor who created a chatbot to help his pupils before, during, and after class.

Admission and Alumni Interaction

AI and machine learning have seen a surge in usage across various sectors, with a notable impact on education. While AI models offer numerous benefits, these limitations highlight the importance of continuous improvements. Addressing the main restrictions can lead to more robust and efficient chatbot implementations. Understanding student sentiments during and after the sessions is very important for teachers. If students end up being confused and unclear about the topic, all the efforts made by the teachers go in vain.

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. In addition, the students surveyed by Mohd Rahim et al. (2022) indicated that if chatbots increased the PEU of other tasks, they would be more inclined to adopt the technology. Prior to the release of ChatGPT, chatbots in education have been studied extensively. Several systematic literature reviews have been conducted outlining the benefits of chatbot use in education.

ChatGPT is widely considered to be the highest quality chatbot currently available and is only accurate approximately 60% of the time when tested with OpenAI’s internal testing and TruthfulQA’s external benchmarking (OpenAI, 2023a). The release of Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) (OpenAI, 2023a) in November 2022 sparked the rise of the rapid development of chatbots utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). Chatbots are software applications with the ability to respond to human prompting (Cunningham-Nelson et al., 2019). At the time of its release, ChatGPT was the first widely available chatbot capable of generating text indistinguishable, in some cases, from human-generated text (Gao et al., 2022). Due to this novel ability, ChatGPT garnered more than 120 million users within the first two months of release, becoming the fastest-growing software application of all time (Milmo, 2023).

For teachers, the 24/7 availability of a chatbot for education means on-time assistance with admin-related tasks, lesson planning, and troubleshooting technical issues. Chatbots have become a staple in education, helping both students and teachers in a bunch of ways. When it comes to students, an AI-based bot can offer on-the-go feedback and create personalized learning plans.

In addition, the chatbot’s longitudinal influence on student engagement and motivation should be investigated. Another identified area of future research is the influence of chatbot use on postgraduate supervision activities. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly popular tool in the education world, providing teachers and students with new ways to learn and interact with technology. One such application of AI is the use of chatbots, such as ChatGPT, to provide personalized support and assistance to students and teachers. While there are certainly benefits to using this technology, there are also potential drawbacks that educators should be aware of. Chatbots can help educational institutions in data collection and analysis in various ways.

In one study, students used chatbots to provide continuous feedback on their argumentative essays to assist with writing (Guo et al., 2022). Typically, this feedback is received after peer review or first draft submissions rather than concurrently within the writing process. 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. In May 2023, Google (2023) and Microsoft (Panay, 2023) announced that their products would integrate AI.

• They are not just tools; they are partners in the educational journey, bringing a host of benefits from personalized student engagement to cost-effective communication.
• Take a look here, this Botsify chatbot is helping prospective students enroll in a university through a consultancy.
• These chatbots enable you to gather feedback from students in a convenient and user-friendly manner.
• Existing literature review studies attempted to provide an overview of different aspects of implementing chatbots in education.
• Plus, they engage students through thought-provoking questions and gamification elements, along with tailored learning recommendations.

Student feedback can be invaluable for improving course materials, facilities, and students’ learning experience as a whole. Educational institutions rely on having reputations of excellence, which incorporates a combination of both impressive results and good student satisfaction. Chatbots can collect student feedback and other helpful data, which can be analyzed and used to inform plans for improvement. The education sector isn’t necessarily the first that springs to mind when you think of businesses that readily engage with technology.

• As with every tool, chatbots have certain limitations, and their applicability depends on the use case.
• How do you inform and incentivise barmen to promote your brand above your competitors, or other sales agents operating in indirect channels?
• Personalized learning is a key contributor to the rise of e-learning platforms since they let individuals study at their own pace.
• Similarly, an AI-powered chatbot can be a friendly teaching assistant, helping instructors keep tabs on student progress through automated tests, quizzes, and learning materials.

Okonkwo and Ade-Ibijola (2020) reported that most chatbots employed in higher education are teacher-oriented chatbots. Mendoza et al. (2020) highlighted positive impressions from a sample of students when they were engaged with a chatbot. Studies have also reported that students employ chatbots to ask questions, receive responses, and receive individualized support (Hiremath et al., 2018; Mikic-Fonte et al., 2018; Pham et al., 2018; Sinha et al., 2020). In a classroom filled with diverse students, each possessing unique skills, interests, and abilities, the concept of a personalized education experience often seems like a distant dream.

Such programs gather comments on various subjects like study material, teaching approaches, assignments, and more. 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. The availability of distance learning and online courses means that people can learn alongside working and don’t have to commute long distances or take a break from family life to learn new skills.