Freudbot: An Investigation of Chatbot Technology in Distance Education
A
chatbot named Freudbot was constructed using the open source architecture of AIML to determine if a famous person application of chatbot technology could improve student-content interaction in distance education. Fifty-three students in psychology completed a study in which they chatted with Freudbot over the web for 10 minutes under one of two instructional sets. They then completed a questionnaire to provide information about their experience and demographic variables. The results from the questionnaire indicated a neutral evaluation of the chat experience although participants positively endorsed the expansion of chatbot technology and provided clear direction for future development and improvement. A basic analysis of the chatlogs indicated a high proportion of on-task behaviour. There was no effect of instructional set. Altogether, the findings indicate that famous person applications of chatbot technology may be promising as a teaching and learning tool in distance and online education.
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