Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation
Chatbots have arrived in higher education, and professors are trying to make the most of them. Typically, chatbots are used to help students learn academic subjects. In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, students who were not living with their families during the course, especially inte...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023067257 |
| _version_ | 1827803191870226432 |
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| author | Antonio Balderas Roberto Fermín García-Mena Milagros Huerta Nestor Mora Juan Manuel Dodero |
| author_facet | Antonio Balderas Roberto Fermín García-Mena Milagros Huerta Nestor Mora Juan Manuel Dodero |
| author_sort | Antonio Balderas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chatbots have arrived in higher education, and professors are trying to make the most of them. Typically, chatbots are used to help students learn academic subjects. In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, students who were not living with their families during the course, especially international students, were isolated and in critical situations. The student services offices were in constant contact with these students to solve problems, advise them and support them during their stay, within the constraints of confinement and the guidelines dictated by the country at the time. The student services offices were overwhelmed trying to help these students because, although the students' problems were very recurrent, the government guidelines changed from one day to the next. This article proposes the use of a chatbot to provide initial support to students during crisis situations, and facilitate communication between them and the university. The chatbot was tested by more than 160 students and student services staff. The findings support the use of chatbots as a potential tool to facilitate communication with students in emerging emergency situations, and encourage universities to adopt these types of smart tools to be prepared to respond quickly and efficiently to students in times of crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T20:51:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e04edf8c187545fc995cecc68b35718e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T20:51:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-e04edf8c187545fc995cecc68b35718e2023-10-01T05:59:56ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-09-0199e19517Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situationAntonio Balderas0Roberto Fermín García-Mena1Milagros Huerta2Nestor Mora3Juan Manuel Dodero4Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, Spain; Corresponding author.Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, SpainDepartamento Ingeniería Mecánica y Diseño Industrial, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, SpainDepartamento Ingeniería en Automática, Electrónica, Arquitectura y Redes de Computadores, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, SpainDepartamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, SpainChatbots have arrived in higher education, and professors are trying to make the most of them. Typically, chatbots are used to help students learn academic subjects. In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, students who were not living with their families during the course, especially international students, were isolated and in critical situations. The student services offices were in constant contact with these students to solve problems, advise them and support them during their stay, within the constraints of confinement and the guidelines dictated by the country at the time. The student services offices were overwhelmed trying to help these students because, although the students' problems were very recurrent, the government guidelines changed from one day to the next. This article proposes the use of a chatbot to provide initial support to students during crisis situations, and facilitate communication between them and the university. The chatbot was tested by more than 160 students and student services staff. The findings support the use of chatbots as a potential tool to facilitate communication with students in emerging emergency situations, and encourage universities to adopt these types of smart tools to be prepared to respond quickly and efficiently to students in times of crisis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023067257ChatbotStudentsEmergency situationCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Antonio Balderas Roberto Fermín García-Mena Milagros Huerta Nestor Mora Juan Manuel Dodero Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation Heliyon Chatbot Students Emergency situation COVID-19 |
| title | Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| title_full | Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| title_fullStr | Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| title_short | Chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| title_sort | chatbot for communicating with university students in emergency situation |
| topic | Chatbot Students Emergency situation COVID-19 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023067257 |
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