How Chatbots For Education Are Being Used In 2023

By embracing this innovative technology, institutions can improve outcomes and support the success of their students. Faculty and administrative staff can also benefit from the increased efficiency and support that chatbots provide. Chatbots can assist with administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments or answering frequently asked questions, freeing up time for teachers to focus on their core responsibilities. Only four (11.11%) articles used chatbots that engage in user-driven conversations where the user controls the conversation and the chatbot does not have a premade response.

• An educational institution chatbot can provide just that, offering 24/7 support to both groups.
• AI and chatbots have a huge potential to transform the way students interact with learning.
• Administrators can take up other complex, time-consuming tasks that need human attention.
• As a step forward, it’s time we deep dive into the practical implementations of AI chatbots in real-life situations.
• The Explain My Answer option provides learners with an opportunity to delve deeper into their responses.

Chatbot adoption is especially crucial in online classes that include many students where individual support from educators to students is challenging (Winkler & Söllner, 2018). Chatbot interaction is achieved by applying text, speech, graphics, haptics, gestures, and other modes of communication to assist learners in performing educational tasks. 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.

Interactive learning chatbots

Educational chatbots offer a seamless and time-saving alternative, whether seeking information on course details, enrollment procedures, fee structures, financial aid, institutional news, or guides to campus and events. 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. If you want to encourage students to sign up for a webinar, an art class, or a class trip, this can all be automated through your chatbot. Chatbots can be deployed in this way to help significantly reduce admin time and costs and the need for human-to-human interaction. But lost in some of the clamor over generative AI tools like ChatGPT is the reality that AI has been a helpful ally to colleges and universities for years. AI tutors have been assisting students since at least 2016, and university-branded chatbots have been around just as long.

Eventually, the platform streamlines communication between parents and teachers thus enabling SchoolMessenger to softer a collaborative educational environment. The first major use case of chatbots for educational institutions is course management. Chatbots can facilitate student engagement by offering personalized recommendations for clubs, organizations, and events based on students’ interests and goals. They can also provide information on extracurricular activities, sports teams, and volunteer opportunities. This implementation will ease data collection for reference and networking purposes. Using such models, institutions can engage with graduates, fostering a sense of community.

Shows that ten (27.77%) articles presented general-purpose educational chatbots that were used in various educational contexts such as online courses (Song et al., 2017; Benedetto & Cremonesi, 2019; Tegos et al., 2020). The approach authors use often relies on a general knowledge base not tied to a specific field. Most importantly, chatbots played a critical role in the education field, in which most researchers (12 articles; 33.33%) developed chatbots used to teach computer science topics (Fig. 4). Only four studies (Hwang & Chang, 2021; Wollny et al., 2021; Smutny & Schreiberova, 2020; Winkler & Söllner, 2018) examined the field of application. None of the studies discussed the platforms on which the chatbots run, while only one study (Wollny et al., 2021) analyzed the educational roles the chatbots are playing. The study used “teaching,” “assisting,” and “mentoring” as categories for educational roles.

Technology has also opened the gateway for more collaborative learning and changed the role of the teacher from the person who holds all the knowledge to someone who directs and guides instead. For the best outcomes, it is important to capture these insights and map them to your CRM to get qualitative insights that help you engage with students better and guide them throughout their journey at university. One such example is Beacon, the digital friend to students at Staffordshire University. A higher-education CRM like LeadSquared can integrate with different chatbots, capture that information, and give your counseling teams a one-shot view of the student’s journey so far. The solution is to integrate an education chatbot with a higher-education CRM to help your admissions team create magic.

Other authors, such as (Daud et al., 2020), used a slightly different approach where the chatbot guides the learners to select the topic they would like to learn. Subsequently, the assessment of specific topics is presented where the user is expected to fill out values, and the chatbot responds with feedback. The level of the assessment becomes more challenging as the student makes progress. A slightly different interaction is explained in (Winkler et al., 2020), where the chatbot challenges the students with a question. If they answer incorrectly, they are explained why the answer is incorrect and then get asked a scaffolding question.

Shows the flowchart of the selecting processes, in which the final stage of the selection resulted in 36 papers. 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.

In this approach, the agent acts as a novice and asks students to guide them along a learning route. Rather than directly contributing to the learning process, motivational agents serve as companions to students and encourage positive behavior and learning (Baylor, 2011). Consider conducting surveys or focus groups to gather input on what services or information students and faculty would like to see provided through the chatbot. For instance, if students consistently receive solutions or information effortlessly through AI assistance, they might not engage deeply in understanding the topic. The Explain My Answer option provides learners with an opportunity to delve deeper into their responses.

The results show that the chatbots were proposed in various areas, including mainly computer science, language, general education, and a few other fields such as engineering and mathematics. Most chatbots are accessible via a web platform, and a fewer chatbots were available on mobile and desktop platforms. This choice can be explained by the flexibility the web platform offers as it potentially supports multiple devices, including laptops, mobile phones, etc. The students found the tool helpful and efficient, albeit they wanted more features such as more information about courses and departments.

It can be used to offer tailored advice based on students’ interests and qualifications and provide links to relevant job boards or networking events. Effective student journey mapping with the help of a CRM offers robust analytics and insights. By integrating the chatbot’s data into the CRM, the admissions team can gain valuable insights into student’s behavior, engagement levels, and conversion rates.

By providing personalized assistance and 24/7 support, chatbots can help enhance the learning experience for students and faculty alike. By embracing this innovative technology, educational institutions can unlock new possibilities and take education to the next level. Existing literature review studies attempted to summarize current efforts to apply chatbot technology in education.

In the cases of CSUN and Georgia State, their chatbots began as an extension of their admissions offices. At CSUN, students were first introduced to CSUNny when they submitted their deposits. The chatbot then guided them through the rest of the enrollment process, reminding chatbot for educational institutions them to stay on top of financial aid applications and helping them stay connected until they visited campus for the first time. All in all, key pillars of AI chatbots include natural language processing, interactive platforms, and accessible support channels.

MIT is also heavily invested in AI with its MIT Intelligence Quest (MIT IQ) and MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab initiatives, exploring the potential of AI in various fields. At last, we could have missed articles that report an educational chatbot that could not be found in the selected search databases. To deal with this risk, we searched manually to identify significant work beyond the articles we found in the search databases.

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. In general, the followed approach with these chatbots is asking the students questions to teach students certain content. The chatbot used pattern matching to emulate a psychotherapist conversing with a human patient.

How AI Chatbots are Revolutionizing Education

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. Concerning the design principles behind the chatbots, slightly less than a third of the chatbots used personalized learning, which tailored the educational content based on learning weaknesses, style, and needs. Other chatbots used experiential learning (13.88%), social dialog (11.11%), collaborative learning (11.11%), affective learning (5.55%), learning by teaching (5.55%), and scaffolding (2.77%).

The researchers recorded the facial expressions of the participants using webcams. It turned out that the students were engaged more than half of the time while using BookBuddy. In general, the studies conducting evaluation studies involved asking participants to take a test after being involved in an activity with the chatbot. The results of the evaluation studies (Table 12) point to various findings such as increased motivation, learning, task completeness, and high subjective satisfaction and engagement. In terms of the evaluation methods used to establish the validity of the articles, two related studies (Pérez et al., 2020; Smutny & Schreiberova, 2020) discussed the evaluation methods in some detail. However, this study contributes more comprehensive evaluation details such as the number of participants, statistical values, findings, etc.

“With many institutions offering similar programs, such as the numerous universities in Malaysia presenting executive MBAs (Master of Business Administration), acquiring customers becomes a challenge. Chatbots emerge as crucial tools for efficiently managing inquiries and standing out in the competitive field”, he added. The versatility of chatbots allows for a range of applications in educational services. Adeel Akram, Senior Account Executive for respond.io, highlights the prominent use cases he encountered in the education field. The education sector is undergoing a profound change with the new online education. Leading institutions such as Georgia Tech, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Oxford actively invest in artificial intelligence projects to enhance learning.

The authors identified that several evaluation methods such as surveys, experiments, and evaluation studies measure acceptance, motivation, and usability. In this article, we will discuss a higher education chatbot, how AI chatbots improve student and faculty support, some use cases of higher education chatbots, and the best chatbots for higher education. AI chatbots for education offer backup throughout university life, from the admission process to post-course assistance.

Streamlined Application Process

Most of these journals are ranked Q1 or Q2 according to Scimago Journal and Country Rank Footnote 7. We’re currently living in the era of AI-led digital transformation where AI tools are dominating the world around us. Educational institutions across the globe are now using educational bots to help teachers, students, and staff alike. Georgia State University has an AI chatbot Pounce, which helps students by answering general inquiries and delivering personalized reminders. Besides, the AI chatbot also offers guidance on academic resources and assists students in selecting the right courses.

The students appreciated that the robot was attentive, curious, and eager to learn. According to their relevance to our research questions, we evaluated the found articles using the inclusion and exclusion criteria provided in Table 3. The inclusion and exclusion criteria allowed us to reduce the number of articles unrelated to our research questions. Further, we excluded tutorials, technical reports, posters, and Ph.D. thesis since they are not peer-reviewed. Educational bots leverage the power of generative AI to provide comprehensive responses on a range of topics. You can ask any kind of question, moderate your input, and get detailed answers instantly.

Chatbots can also assist with scheduling tutoring sessions or connecting students with academic advisors. A systematic review follows a rigorous methodology, including predefined search criteria and systematic screening processes, to ensure the inclusion of relevant studies. This comprehensive approach ensures that a wide range of research is considered, minimizing the risk of bias and providing a comprehensive overview of the impact of AI in education. Firstly, we define the research questions and corresponding search strategies and then we filter the search results based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Secondly, we study selected articles and synthesize results and lastly, we report and discuss the findings.

Moreover, the AI chatbot maintains a sequential learning track, ensuring students have successfully mastered the previous content before moving on to the next. 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.

These programs may struggle to offer innovative or creative solutions to complex problems. This limits their ability to stimulate critical thinking or problem-solving skills. This limitation could impact the overall effectiveness of such tools in promoting creative learning approaches. 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.

In our review process, we carefully adhered to the inclusion and exclusion criteria specified in Table 2. Criteria were determined to ensure the studies chosen are relevant to the research question (content, timeline) and maintain a certain level of quality (literature type) and consistency (language, subject area). During holiday periods, when learners might face difficulties reaching teachers, chatbots become valuable tools for assistance. Furthermore, they aid in conducting assessments, even in courses requiring subjective evaluations.

Moreover, the chatbot can help promote open days or university events, allowing candidates to submit their applications directly in the chat window. If the candidates need more information about your educational offers, the chatbot enables them to call your department now or leave a message. This optimizes resource allocation and allows teachers https://chat.openai.com/ to focus on more meaningful aspects of education. The combined effect of cost savings and workload reduction underscores the invaluable role of chatbots in enhancing both the efficiency and well-being of educational institutions. The chatbot platform selected should meet the needs of students, faculty, and other end-users within the institution.

These chatbots contribute to a more efficient and effective assessment process while promoting active student engagement and facilitating personalized learning journeys. There are multiple ways to leverage education chatbots to reduce your staff’s workload, help students get faster responses, and gain insights into the different aspects where human intervention isn’t required. These platforms seek to offer accessibility and ease of interaction with the chatbots, ensuring that a broad spectrum of users can enjoy AI’s educational benefits. Education as an industry has always been heavy on the physical presence and proximity of learners and educators. Although a lot of innovative technology advancements were made, the industry wasn’t as quick to adopt until a few years back.

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, chatbots can dynamically tailor assessment questions to each student’s level of knowledge and progress, ensuring that they are appropriately challenged and engaged. IBM Watson Assistant helps answer student queries, provides course information, assists with research, and offers personalized recommendations for academic resources. As the number of prospective students and inquiries increases, manually managing and responding to each one becomes challenging.

IT Support

Digital assistant integration significantly changes the way learners engage in studying processes, offering an array of benefits. While the benefits of chatbots in education are significant, there are challenges to consider. Regular testing with real users and incorporating their feedback is critical to the success of your chatbot.

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. Intelligent chatbots can continuously interact with students and solve queries rapidly. Chatbots can assist students prior to, during, and after classes to enhance their learning experience and ensure they don’t have to compromise while learning on a virtual platform. Another challenge in implementing chatbots in educational institutions is the ethical considerations related to using AI technology. Chatbots must follow ethical guidelines and principles and avoid bias or discrimination.

This automation of mundane administrative tasks allows teachers to dedicate their attention and effort toward pedagogical improvements. Moreover, the chatbot, being operational 24/7, can readily assist students whenever they require academic help, irrespective of time or place. As a result, the chatbot can deliver personalized content, feedback, and exercises, promoting an adaptive learning environment.

After defining the criteria, our search query was performed in the selected databases to begin the inclusion and exclusion process. The metadata of the studies containing; title, abstract, type of article (conference, journal, short paper), language, and keywords were extracted in a file format (e.g., bib file format). Subsequently, it was imported into the Rayyan tool Footnote 6, which allowed for reviewing, including, excluding, and filtering the articles collaboratively by the authors.

They can simulate a classroom experience, delivering personalized learning content, and adapting to individual student needs. Interactive learning chatbots can offer quizzes, exercises, and educational games, providing an engaging learning environment. Institutional staff, especially teachers, are often overburdened and exhausted, working beyond their office hours just to deliver excellent learning experiences to their students.

Current AI trends, such as the natural language processing and machine learning capabilities of tools like ChatGPT, are likely to make chatbots more sophisticated and versatile. This development will bring many benefits to educational institutions, such as early detection of students who need help and personalized tuition. Chatbots in education serve as valuable administrative companions for both prospective and existing students. Instead of enduring the hassle of visiting the office and waiting in long queues for answers, students can simply text the chatbots to quickly resolve their queries. This user-friendly option provides convenient and efficient access to information, enhancing the overall student experience and streamlining administrative processes. Whether it’s admission-related inquiries or general questions, educational chatbots offer a seamless and time-saving alternative, empowering students with instant and accurate assistance at their fingertips.

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. In this section, we present the results of the reviewed articles, focusing on our research questions, particularly with regard to ChatGPT.

• The chatbot intervenes to evoke curiosity or draw students’ attention to an interesting, related idea.
• Thus, having readily accessible support channels for addressing these issues is essential.
• The authors in (Ruan et al., 2021) used a similar approach where students freely speak a foreign language.
• Examples include Rexy (Benedetto & Cremonesi, 2019), which helps students enroll in courses, shows exam results, and gives feedback.
• 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.
• By customizing educational content and generating prompts for open-ended questions aligned with specific learning objectives, teachers can cater to individual student needs and enhance the learning experience.

As a result of the covid pandemic period, the education industry has undergone a huge transformation. In the next eight years, starting in 2022, Grand View Research expects the global chatbot market size to grow at a CAGR of 25.7%. By 2030, the Global chatbot market is anticipated to reach USD 3,619 million, expanding at a CAGR of 23.9 percent from 2022 to 2030. The comprehensive list of included studies, along with relevant data extracted from these studies, is available from the corresponding author upon request. Learners can reach Cara on the university website or WhatsApp and get an answer instantly without having to wait for a staff member.

Drawing from extensive systematic literature reviews, as summarized in Table 1, AI chatbots possess the potential to profoundly influence diverse aspects of education. However, it is essential to address concerns regarding the irrational use of technology and the challenges that education systems encounter while striving to harness its capacity and make the best use of it. Involving AI assistants in administrative tasks raises the overall efficiency of educational institutions, reducing wait times for students.

The study mentioned in (Mendez et al., 2020) conducted two focus groups to evaluate the efficacy of chatbot used for academic advising. While students were largely satisfied with the answers given by the chatbot, they thought it lacked personalization and the human touch of real academic advisors. 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. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are an exciting educational development. They can handle various tasks, including but not limited to assisting students, offering information about the institution, aiding employees, being available at all hours, documenting client inquiries, etc.

The integration of chatbots in education offers benefits such as immediate assistance, quick access to information, enhanced learning outcomes, and improved educational experiences. However, there have been contradictory findings related to critical thinking, learning engagement, and motivation. Deng and Yu (2023) found that chatbots had a significant and positive influence on numerous learning-related aspects but they do not significantly improve motivation among students. Contrary, Okonkwo and Ade-Ibijola (Okonkwo & Ade-Ibijola, 2021), as well as (Wollny et al., 2021) find that using chatbots increases students’ motivation. Chatbots for learning are AI-powered digital tools designed specifically for the educational sector. These programs use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to engage with pupils, pedagogs, or administrative staff.

For instance, if trainees were absent, the bot could send notes of lectures or essential reminders, to keep them informed while they’re not present. This efficiency contributes to a more enriching learning experience, consequently attracting Chat PG more students. 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.

It can assist in tutoring, evaluate a student’s proficiency in a subject, provide remedial actions, and offer personalized feedback. With a firmly established understanding of AI and chatbots in education, we can now discuss their practical applications in real-life educational settings. As we delve into ‘the impact of AI on educational institutions’, one cannot overlook the drastic transformation of the educational sector since the advent of AI and machine learning technologies. 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. Institutions seeking support in any of these areas can implement chatbots and anticipate remarkable outcomes.

In this part, we will explore how AI-powered tools give a hand in learning processes, assist with homework or simplify data collection. We use advanced encryption and follow strict data protection rules, creating a secure space to engage with the bot, assuring users of their data privacy. Moreover, our projects are tailored to each client’s needs, resolving customer pain points.