RESUMEN
In this chapter the use of chatbots is advocated as a technological channel to facilitate learning communities to minimize feelings of isolation and falling academic engagement, owing to COVID-19 mitigation strategies. These facets are reported to be common challenges faced by students transitioning from school to university (Hone and El Said, 2016). Chatbots facilitate communication between students via a chat interface powered by artificial intelligence (Desaulniers, 2016), and make use of pattern matching to provide personalised experiences (Gill, 2019). Chatbots offer an innovative approach toward improving establishing learning communities by "tapping-in" to the popularity of mobile phone use (Chaudhuri, 2008). Although there has been a rise in the adoption of chatbots across the Higher Education landscape (Studente, Ellis and Garivaldis, 2020), research in the area is still relatively new (Sandoval, 2018). This chapter reports upon a study conducted at a London University, with a largely international student base. During the physical closure of the university owing to lockdown measures, a chatbot called Differ was used to not only provide a channel of social support for students, but to also facilitate collaborative study support across a number of modules during online delivery of classes. © 2022 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
RESUMEN
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has generated much uncertainty around the HE landscape. Global lockdown measures led to university campuses closing and moving to an online mode for teaching and learning. Scholars have reported that the physical closure of HE institutions has been detrimental to student learning worldwide, whilst others have advocated the possible opportunities that may arise from reshaping HE through technologies. The disruption caused to education by the pandemic has had a significant impact on the learning experience for students;self-directed study time has increased, levels of stress and anxiety experienced by students has increased, and the lack of face-to-face interaction with lecturers and other students has led to feelings of isolation. Educators have reported that due to the immediate urgency of the lockdown there was little time to plan in advance for online delivery and assessment. From a financial perspective, the effects of the pandemic led to a loss for UK universities of £790 million during 2020, which is forecast to increase to a loss of £2.6bn during 2021. Enrolment numbers have declined, and the recruitment of international students, who make up a high number of the market sector, has been severely impacted. It is clear that HE institutions as a whole are facing significant challenges in these uncertain times. This edited collection addresses the need to examine the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon teaching and learning in higher education, examining the challenges and opportunities associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and outlining current perspectives, practices and innovations which will contribute to an understanding of the current situation for higher education institutions. Research and best practices on adapting to online modes of delivery and the implications of this are reported upon. The need for this edited collection is to share best practices with educators during this time of uncertainty. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic began at the end of 2019, and the virus is reported to be highly contagious and transmitted through contact with others (Liu et al, 2020). In response to the pandemic, global lockdown measures were introduced on the 20th March 2020 which affected students in 142 countries worldwide (Karalis & Raikou, 2020). Across the global HE landscape, universities closed and were required to move to an online mode of teaching and learning immediately (Bisht et al, 2020). The disruption caused to higher education by the pandemic has had a significant impact on the learning experience for students (Hill & Fitzgerald, 2020). High student engagement with studies, with their lecturers and with other students is reported to be associated with successful learning (Zepke & Leach, 2010;Docherty et al, 2018). When students are not engaged, this can be detrimental to their learning success and lead to feelings of disconnect (Bryson, 2014). From a student perspective, self-directed study time has increased (Aucejo et al, 2020), levels of stress and anxiety experienced by students has increased (Karalis & Raikou, 2020), and the lack of face-to-face interaction with lecturers and other students has led to feelings of isolation (Muhammad & Kainat, 2020). The adoption of chatbot technology within HE is associated with several benefits including improving student motivation, improving student attention, encouraging collaborative learning, promoting communication with peers, and increasing student's sense of ease (Gulz, 2004). Feelings of "social isolation" are reported to be a key cause of low engagement for international students in particular. These feelings can be exacerbated if students receive little opportunity to engage in learning communities to receive peer support (Cross, 1998). In this chapter, the use of chatbot technology is discussed as a solution to establish learning communities to provide students with a sense of connectedness and belonging. This chapter reports upon two studies conducted at a London University with a largely international student base. Specifically, the studies reported within this chapter focus upon creating learning communities with students, programme leaders, and module leaders. This chapter reports on how the chatbot was implemented pre and during lockdown to help students feel more connected, and how the chatbot was incorporated within teaching and learning activities during online modes of delivery. © 2021 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.