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Exploring the role of digital assistants and chatbots as learning companions in open and distance learning
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Digital assistants, virtual tutors or chatbots are new digital tools that significantly enhanced their support
for teaching activities, especially in the case of distance learning. Technological advancements have
made it possible for these devices to be integrated into various platforms, particularly LMSs or
aggregated into virtual settings. In distance learning, student support is a crucial variable as this type of
teaching is entirely mediated by technology. Based on the ODL literature, students often encounter
difficulties due to a lack of comprehension of tasks, emotional factors and interaction with their teachers
and tutors [1], [2].
This article reports on our experiences integrating digital assistants - Virtual tutors and Chatbots- in
academic, professional development contexts of teacher training (TUTORIA VIRTUAL project - the
virtual tutor as a mediating artefact for Higher education online learning) and scientific support for ODL
students in a graduation course (IDEAS Project - An Innovative Digital Education and Skills Approach).
The digital assistant (the Virtual Tutor) is a representation of a human teacher or tutor. It autonomously
interprets each teaching-learning situation and intervenes with the student according to a specific
tutoring plan. The plan includes instructions from the teacher/human tutor and is tailored to the field of
knowledge and the student's profile. The Virtual Tutor was developed by a Portuguese consortium of
researchers to analyse the pedagogical impact of integrating anthropomorphic interfaces with emotional
characteristics, also known as Encapsulated Virtual Agents (ECA) or 'avatars', in online learning
environments (OL) based on learning management systems (LMS) for online university teaching. The
main idea is to explore how ECAs can be modelled, adapted, and used as virtual tutors in LMS to provide
individual online support and follow-up to each student [3]. This presentation describes the
implementation of this approach in a large ODL class for a degree in education. The course follows the
institution's virtual pedagogical model and a specific scenario was designed for this intervention. Based
on the analysis of student discourse and to improve and monitor the impact of the Virtual Tutor as a
'learning companion' [4], it was found that students perceive a lack of proximity, involvement (voice,
gaze, affection), dialogue, and guidance in the implementation. The feedback points out that the design
of "avatars" could be more intuitive and efficient.
Description
Keywords
Digital assistants Virtual tutoring Student support system Open and distance learning
Citation
Morgado, L, Oliveira, T., Afonso, A., Carvalho, I., Ferret, N. (2024). Exploring the role of Digital Assistants and Chatbots as learning companions in Open and Distance Learning. L. G. Chova, C. G. Martínez , J. Lees (Eds). 16th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies EDULEARN24 Proceedings, pp.10547-10552, Palma, Spain, doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2024.2603
Publisher
IATED Academy