College is hard, especially nowadays, when classes are now being forced to be as online as ever due to the coronavirus pandemic. This poses a new challenge to people who have a hard time learning as it is; thankfully, chatbots and virtual assistants are on the rise and will help students learn a bit better.
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Why Chatbots and Virtual Assistants Are Needed Now More Than Ever
As college campuses are nearly shut down physically, administrators are more inclined to use chatbots as well as virtual assistants to aid them in their teaching endeavors. This can help preserve, build, and even nurture relationships with students.
Eric Nichols, vice president for enrollment at the Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore had this to say, "We no longer have the ability for the foreseeable future to interact with students in any way in person,"
For the last two months, gatherings like admitted student days were all canceled. Nichols nostalgically remembered that in the past years, there were over 1,400 students and faculty that gathered in the Reitz Arena right on campus. "The day started with a morning welcome from the president and myself,"
There was a slew of things to do during that time, like going to workshops, using information tables for browsing, and enjoying lunch and tours around the campus. Now, however, this seems all likely to change, and the chatbots and virtual assistants will be the new norm for the time being.
This has driven Loyola to create a new A.I. chatbot using the voice of their greyhound mascot, Iggy. Starting next month, students who are committed to learning, as well as their parents, may opt to hear from Iggy for queries using the chatbot, this can be accessed through text messaging or Facebook Messenger or the official school website.
The chatbot will be able to answer queries that can otherwise be learned during those campus tours, orientation plans as well as choosing the classes they would want to enter.
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They Aren't The Only Campus Doing This
All across the country and even the world, colleges and universities are adopting A.I. chatbots and virtual assistants to let the learning continue despite everything that's been happening, and this is a good step towards us humans overcoming challenges together. Campuses, however, must also reach out to potential and existing students that learning is still very much doable, and the means for learning online is already underway.
The usage of chatbots and virtual assistants can stimulate human conversation typically through the use of text exchanging.
Drew Magliozzie, chief executive and co-found of AdmitHub, has explained that a good chatbot should "model a Montessori teacher or a waiter at a fine restaurant who is essentially there the moment you need help and then vanishes into the background as soon as you don't."
AdmitHub, along with tech companies that create chatbots, are offering campuses a framework and information bank with over a thousand questions and answers to be crafted in a way that resonates with people and gives hope that learning may still continue despite what's happening around us today.
