AI Chatbot for Education – What are the Benefits?

Artificial Intelligence is no longer science fiction – it’s a reality. Most of the sectors have started reaping the benefits of adopting AI technology – be it predictive analysis, machine learning, facial recognition, natural language processing and many others.

As anyone in the education field knows, answering queries – whether from prospective students or from your own students, is one aspect of school administration that takes up a lot of time of the staff and teachers. While time-consuming, it is nevertheless an important aspect since not providing timely or satisfactory answers will most certainly put off the person asking the question, leading to a bad impression of the institution. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could have virtual assistants in school who can handle the mundane and routine tasks, freeing up your staff and teachers to direct their efforts to other important activities?

This is where ‘Chatbots’ – AI technology, can help. They function as a virtual assistant! You 

Let’s look at some of the benefits and examples of how AI and chatbots are being used in the education sector to enhance the experience of the students and teachers.

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Let’s look at some of the benefits and examples of how AI and chatbots are being used in the education sector to enhance the experience of the students and teachers.

1. Answer Queries 24/7

Integrating a chatbot into the school or college website will ensure that important information pertaining to admissions, policies, facilities, etc., are easily available to anyone looking for information on your institution.

Not only others, your own students too can benefit from chatbots! Especially new students bursting with questions about life on campus. Having a chatbot answer your questions is a much better experience than hunting through the FAQs section of the website.

An inherent advantage of chatbots is its ability to understand Natural Language which enables students to converse with it as if they are talking to a real person. Moreover, the bot can respond to queries, without being judgemental towards the student for the quantity or content of the inquiry.

2. Teaching Assistance

Teaching is yet another area where we see the benefits of using a virtual assistant. A well-known example of the use of AI in teaching is the technology implemented by Georgia Tech, named ‘Jill Watson’ – the AI teaching assistant based on IBM’s Watson platform. Jill Watson provided answers to a large number of questions posted by students on the forum for an online Artificial Intelligence class.

Another routine activity that takes up a lot of a teacher’s time is grading exams and assignments. Bots can be used to support the grading process and help reduce a teacher’s workload. While grading of multiple-choice questions can be easily automated, essays and written papers are more challenging and require implementing Machine Learning Solutions. Schools in China are testing out a new technology that uses artificial intelligence to mark and grade their pupils’ written work.

3. Personalised Learning

Personalised learning provides a customised learning experience depending on the needs and ability of each individual student. As we see in this article, artificial intelligence can guide students towards unique learning experiences matching their individual needs. This can free up the teachers to be able to provide individual attention to a larger number of students.

Content Technologies uses cutting-edge AI technology in developing solutions for the education field among other domains. Tools such as Palitt, Cram101, JustTheFacts101 and NursingEd101 help to deliver knowledge in a concise way, helping to speed up the learning process.

Owing to the difficulties in learning and teaching mathematics, Carnegie Learning focused on transforming the math classroom, to provide a better learning experience for students. Their approach and tools give the teachers more control over the students’ learning progress with software such as MATHia, MATHiaU and Zulama, which make use of cognitive science to deliver personalised learning experiences that support students who are struggling while challenging those who are ready for more.

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4. Chatbot and AI Examples in Education

Here are some more Examples of how Chatbots and AI are being used by Educators around the World.

Deakin University won the 2018 Digital Edge 50 award for their implementation of the ‘Genie’ –  digital personal assistant tool for students. This AI-based chatbot provides a personalised experience for the students for various aspects of their life on campus, such as finding and joining campus events, being reminded of assignment deadlines and various other activities.

Hubert is a chatbot that makes giving and analysing feedback a very interesting process. Students simply chat and discuss their perception of a course or a teacher. Hubert sends reminders if necessary, interprets all feedback and then puts together a report for the teacher. When the evaluation closes, the results are instantly analysed and a notification is sent to the teacher’s mailbox.

Georgia State University (GSU) used a Chatbot and AI to address the ‘Summer Melt’ which is an issue where high school students who are given admission, fail to turn up for the college course. GSU solved this by an approach involving a new student portal to guide students through the preparatory steps for the first day of classes and an AI-enhanced chatbot, “Pounce,” to answer questions from incoming students 24/7 via text messages. This initiative resulted in the university reducing Summer Melt by 22%!

IBM Watson Education provides educators with AI-based solutions to help students improve learning outcomes and help them succeed. The platform relies on digital trends and Watson AI technology to give teachers the tools they need to be most effective and help learners perform at the top of their abilities. Deakin University was the first university worldwide to implement IBM Watson. Their goal was to create a 24/7/365 online student advisory service to improve the student experience as they can easily ask questions, and receive instant online answers. Watson engages students in a conversation with the goal of ensuring they get the correct information and advice.

While these are a few examples of the advantages of virtual assistants, there are several others. How chatbots are implemented in schools and colleges depends on the ingenuity and creativity of both the developers and the educators.

What problem can you identify that can be addressed by Chatbots and AI in your institution?

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