What exactly are chatbots?
Chatbots …
- offer open-ended chats (not exercises with a defined goal and completion)
- are part of the exercise landscape and thus part of students' learning path
- have a function freely defined by the teacher
- can be adjusted in their behavior
- can be contextualized, i.e., fed with files.
Application examples
Chatbots work best where the goal is to offer information to students or invite them to independently explore a specific topic or skill.
For example, creating a chatbot is a good fit for the following situations:
- to answer organizational questions about the course
- to help students develop a structure for a writing assignment
- to review relevant formulas in preparation for an assignment
- to develop ideas for a presentation topic
How do I add a chatbot?
In the content overview, click "+ Add exercise", then select "Chatbot".
How do I configure a chatbot?
Chatbots have a name, instructions for students (telling students how to interact with the chatbot), and instructions for the chatbot (explaining to the chatbot how it should behave).
Once these 3 fields are filled in and saved, you can add documents as a knowledge base. These are searched by the chatbot for relevant material with every response.
How do chatbots differ from AI Dialogues and the AI Tutor?
A chatbot is an open-ended chat, while an AI Dialogue is an exercise with completion and feedback.
Unlike the AI Tutor, a chatbot is embedded in a Course Unit rather than assigned to the entire course. A chatbot thus takes on specific tasks within a learning path, but these are not designed as graded exercises.
You can find more on this topic here.
Any more questions? Here's a video introduction:
Note: This video is in German. An automatic English dub is available via YouTube – click the settings icon on the video and select "English" under Language.