What We've Learned from Designing AI Chatbots for Education

Running a startup is known to be a long and arduous journey, but the Noodle Factory team has kept at it because we know that chatbots can help to change the world. As we’ve grown in knowledge, skills, and clientele, we’ve learned a lot to help us create better AI chatbots for our customers.

From trends to festive seasons to the usual FAQs, there are countless things to consider before building an AI chatbot for education. Through trial and error, conversations with industry experts, and experience with educational bodies, we’ve come to realise that there are a few key questions that need answering before you can embark on the chatbot designing process.

Keep reading to find out what they are!

1. What are your learning objectives?

First things first, you have to define the learning objectives you want to achieve with your chatbot. With any project, the most important thing to do is to clearly identify its purpose. In the case of an AI chatbot for education: What do you want your learners to take home?

2. Who is your target audience?

Phone and tablet brands have created numerous versions in order to cater to every possible audience group. There are high-tech options for the tech-savvy, easy interfaces for the older generation, and parental-controlled devices for young children. Similarly, AI chatbots have to be designed with a clear audience group in mind. Only then will you be able to ensure your chatbot speaks their language and lingo while providing the necessary information.

Is your chatbot going to entertain young children in primary school? Help teens in secondary school? Or maybe have informative conversations with tertiary students? Depending on your target audience, your chatbot needs will vary greatly.

For example, corporate learners require microlearning and just-in-time learning that happens outside their work and personal appointments, while higher education students require a transfer of knowledge with global scopes with an emphasis on evaluation and grading of student knowledge.

3. Will the chatbot be the primary form of learning?

You also have to decide on your classroom setting: Will it be a physical or online classroom? Will your chatbot be the only learning tool? Knowing this, you can determine what the chatbot need to achieve, and then you can find the chatbot that fits your need.

4. Do you want students to return to the chatbot?

Most conversational text and speech chatbot replies rely on NLP, so while it may be tempting to look into chatbots engineered with basic flow charts due to their low cost, NLP-engineered chatbots are significantly more human-like.

A chatbot that supports NLP will give the best results in understanding user intent, finding and remembering patterns, and replying with relevant content.

Final takeaway

Most importantly, if you want to create an AI chatbot that is truly stimulating and engaging to people, the chatbot should be able to do the same tasks that you or a human teacher can!