CONTEXT
The class size in a university often impacts how an educator delivers the class, and how students interact in the class. Smaller class sizes often allow students and educators to have a more positive rapport (Lee, 2009). Class sizes in many universities however, are quite large. This places an additional workload on the lecturer, and makes fostering this interaction more difficult. These large class environments are transitioning to be integrated with online components, and students often expect support responsiveness in line with other online platforms. Learners place importance on items focused on communication needs and being treated as individuals as highly important for academic performance and satisfaction (Dennen, Aubteen Darabi, & Smith, 2007).
PURPOSE
Chatbots applied within an educational context are one method for encouraging and fostering a more individualised learning experience. Two research questions have been identified,
1. How Chatbots are currently being used in the wider community?
2. How could Chatbots be applied to enhance a student’s learning experience?
METHODOLOGY
In this paper, an exploratory literature review of both Chatbots in general use, and Chatbots in education are being deployed. This literature review introduces Chatbots, provides a general overview, and discusses some common architectures which can be used to create a Chatbot. Two potential use cases for Chatbots in education have then been identified.
OUTCOMES
After conducting an initial literature review, this paper presents common architecture for Chatbots with a comparison conducted on these frameworks. Two preliminary Chatbots applications are presented; and FAQ Chatbot for answering commonly asked student questions, and a short response quiz Chatbot designed to facilitate and provide automated feedback based on student responses. Both of these preliminary applications have potential to be used in classroom environments.
CONCLUSIONS
Chatbots provide a promising area for potential application in the future of education. Chatbots have the capability of streamlining and personalising components of education. The two preliminary examples show that FAQ and short response Chatbots could provide a variety of enhancements for student learning, and educator content delivery.