Chatbots are found in almost any type of service right now, be it in booking airline tickets or in ordering from favorite fastfood stores. With their capabilities continually being improved with each day, one area believed to benefit from chatbots is education: Chatbots have the power to change campus life for students.
In an article on eCampusNews, business solutions company Unit4 speaks of the possible benefits that chatbots can bring to students from colleges and universities. These benefits include:
- Helping students apply to college;
- Quickly adjust to campus life and get one's self involved in campus activities;
- Sign-up for and monitor progress in chosen courses;
- Get tailor-made advice in choosing the right course;
- Help in efficiently choosing class schedules and locate where the classes will be held; and
- Get personal advice in regards to applications for financial aid.
Students applying to college often face difficulties that are worsened by the different schedules, requirements, and fees of each school. A chatbot could help students here by reminding them about each school's deadlines of submission of requirements, as well as the list of missing requirements that each student has submitted.
Chatbots can also help newly-accepted students by "welcoming" them, giving them specific information such as orientation venues, and help them choose the right course and other interesting campus activities based on their personal data.
Midway through school, chatbots can help students monitor their progress, see if they are lacking in credits, see how far they are from passing or failing a class, and other details.
Chatbots can also help teachers monitor their students. For example, when a student performs poorly by being frequently absent or underperforming, a chatbot can remind his teacher to reach out to him. It can also encourage the student to reach out to his teacher when he performs poorly,too.
Chatbots can also help students apply for financial aid by automatically contacting those eligible for scholarship or other forms of financial aid. They can also inform students of the requirements, remind them of missing documents, and also help out in managing the financial aid. These and many other functions can be experienced with chatbots specially designed for the purpose.
Chatbots are seen as helpful tools for students, teachers, and non-academic campus staff alike. Unit4 believes that such chatbots can be seen helping to promote a better campus life in as early as next semester - and is working on its own chatbot, Wanda, just for that.
Chatbots are already making waves in many spheres in business and everyday life (such as encouraging kids to brush their teeth). It's about time that these chatbots make campus life better.
