February 6, 2020

How Universities are Using Education Chatbots to Enhance the System

Illustration showing how Education Chatbots help universities

Table of content

For decades, technologies such as artificial intelligence have been transforming various sectors around the world. Even the education sector isn’t untouched by the growing popularity of AI-powered learning and communication tools.

A majority of university students in the United States favor the use of digital learning technologies (DLT) as an academic tool. 79% of them believe that DLTs help teachers be more efficient during classes and 81% agreed that they help improve grades too.

That’s why colleges and universities are keen to leverage the benefits of AI to enhance their education systems. Universities are increasingly embracing AI-powered educational chatbots to streamline their interactions with applicants and new and existing students.

Let’s take a look at ways in which universities are using chatbots to improve their education systems and provide better experiences to their students.

Quick Benefits of Using Education Chatbots for Universities

Before we head into the more advanced usage of chatbots at universities, let’s discuss, in brief, the most common benefits of deploying them on campus.

Leveraging chatbots can help universities to:

  • Provide a faster response time: Millennials want quick answers, and deploying a chatbot can help you ensure that their simple questions get answered within minutes.
  • Provide 24/7 support: With a chatbot, you can address the questions and problems of your applicants and students anytime, around the clock. This can help you improve their experiences and keep them engaged.
  • Reduce costs: A chatbot can handle multiple requests without compromising on the quality of interactions. Having a bot interact with your applicants and students 24/7 can help you reduce the cost of hiring a number of help desk professionals.

Related article: Chatbots also participate in education

6 Advanced Ways to Leverage Chatbots for Your University

Want to transform the way you attract and engage students?

Read on to learn how education chatbots can help universities like yours attract, engage, and provide better learning environments to students.

Universities can leverage chatbots to:

1. Help Students Make Better Choices

Students are often concerned about making the right career decisions. They want to be sure that they’re choosing the right courses based on their academic interests, budget, and potential professional opportunities.

Then, if there are a number of universities offering the courses they want to take, students need to make a decision again.

Universities can leverage chatbots to attract and engage students who are likely to be interested in the courses they offer. AI-powered chatbots can redirect students to specific web pages, show explainer videos about courses, and help them make the right decisions.

With well-designed conversation flows, chatbots can guide students towards their interests. This can help universities secure a higher number of course registrations and increase admissions.

2. Simplify the Enrollment Process

Education Chatbots can also make enrollment easier. You can deploy bots to answer the most common questions the new batch of students ask every year. They can provide information about the university campus, facilities, scholarships and benefits, and enrollment process.

Chatbots can also solve issues related to registration and login access to online platforms, and help students with their dilemmas. This will ensure that the new batch of students feels comfortable in the campus.

3. Offer omnichannel Support

Millennials today don’t like waiting for too long. They expect instant answers to their questions and problems. If you want to meet the expectations of these young students, incorporating automated student support services is the key.

You can easily automate their day-to-day interactions using AI-powered chatbots to provide immediate support 24/7.

These bots can serve as an added layer of communication at universities. They can respond to regular student questions and escalate complex situations to your staff. The bot learns as it interacts with users, which allows it to handle more complex inquiries and situations over time.

Siglo 21 University has set an example. They have raised the bar on student support using Aivo’s AgentBot to provide high-quality services to each one of their 52K+ students.

Their bot addresses hundreds of student requests every day which vary from inquiries about administrative and management procedures to academic information.

A team at this university regularly monitors the level of student satisfaction by evaluating their student-chatbot conversations. This helps them ensure that their students can get immediate answers without going to a person.

Example Education Chatbot
Education Chatbot

The best part about deploying an education chatbot at your university is that it can offer multi-channel support to students, helping them across all of their preferred channels.

For example, you can integrate your bot with popular apps like Facebook Messenger, which is one of the most used communication channels for students. This will help them get instant support on the application they already use to connect with individuals.

4. Provide a Better Learning Environment

AI-powered chatbots are changing the way students learn and absorb information. With artificial intelligence and machine learning, universities today can provide a personalized learning environment to their students.

Chatbots can easily enable educators to reach, teach, and counsel their students, address student queries on-the-go, and help them learn faster. They also make it easier for you to share feedback in an interactive and engaging way.

You can create intelligent tutoring systems that can provide better learning experiences by analyzing how students respond. Chatbots can regularly and repeatedly assess the level of understanding each student has and present the next chapters accordingly.

5. Share Relevant, Personalized Content

Education Chatbots can enable you to provide personalized information to students. You can update students about campus events, placements, and other activities and announcements that they may be interested in.

You can also connect your bot to web services to inform students about their payment dues, fees, assignment deadlines, examination data, courses completed/left to do, etc.

Delivering such personalized information can help you engage students in a better way. This will also help improve the overall credibility and reputation of your university.

6. Collect Student Data

Universities can also use their bots to collect student data to learn about their preferences and how they interact with your online platforms and web services. This can help you identify areas that you need to improve to enhance their experiences.

For example, if a large number of students want to get information about a specific topic, you can add a new web page that provides that information. Similarly, if students find it difficult to find a particular section on your website, you can use that insight to improve site navigation.

Related article: AI and Chatbots in the Education Sector: The Future of Learning

Conclusion

Education Chatbots can make a big difference at universities by helping with admissions, student support, and providing immediate access to information. If you want to enhance your education system, you should consider creating and integrating a chatbot.

Universities like Siglo 21 are already leveraging Aivo’s AgentBot to provide a better learning environment to all students. You can also use it to attract a higher number of admissions and boost the overall reputation of your university.

If this interests you, feel free to request a free demo or let a person from our team connect with you.

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