Case #2

Note. Screenshot of Landbot Development Platform (Jassova, 2022).

Once the ChatBot is developed, a ChatBot Deployment Platform like a website, Skype, Facebook, etc. needs to be selected. An employee/trainee will need a digital device (mobile phone, computer, etc.) and the deployment platform in order to access the ChatBot.

In addition to these two key pieces of technology, one must also determine the goal/purpose of the ChatBot and the target audience in order to design the conversation. After developing and deploying the ChatBot, it is important to test it and elicit user feedback in order to make improvements.

5. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students?

Employees/trainees will need to know how to use their digital device and the ChatBot deployment platform.

If the instructor is developing the ChatBot, she/he will need to know how to code if designing from scratch or be familiar with the ChatBot development platform. Either of these can require a significant amount of training depending on the instructor’s knowledge, experience, and comfortability with ChatBots.

6. What are students asked to accomplish exactly?

Employees/trainees will be required to accomplish tasks depending on the overall purpose of the ChatBot. The following chart (Figure 4) provides a snapshot of various ChatBots and how employees can use them in their learning and development.

Figure 4

ChatBot Uses in Employee Training Programs

Note. Chart displaying how ChatBots can support employee training (Tham, 2020).

7. What are the procedures of the project?

The employees/trainees should require little to no training on how to use a ChatBot, but they may need encouragement to ensure they engage with the ChatBot during their learning.

As stated in Question 5, the instructor will need training on coding or the ChatBot development platform as well as the ChatBot deployment platform. The instructor/ChatBot designer will also need to know how to train the ChatBot. Key steps in training the ChatBot are:

• Know the meaning of key ChatBot phrases like utterance, intent, and entity

• Define the problem the ChatBot will solve

• Develop specific intents with each linked to only one purpose

• Use a lot of expressions (utterances) to create each intent

• Use a diverse team to train the bot

• Ensure entities (a group of utterances) have a purpose

• Make the bot personable

• Incorporate multimedia and avoid only using text

• Continue improving/training the bot

8. What are the advantages of the project?

The use of ChatBots in employee training programs have the following advantages:

• Improvement in the retention and application of new knowledge and skills

• Many can be integrated into an employer’s learning management system (LMS) to gain a better understanding of employee performance

• Conversations can be geared to a large number of employees but the training content is personal for each individual

• Bots can be used in longer training programs so that learners remain engaged over time

• Employees do not require a new device, software, application, etc.

9. What are the disadvantages of the project?

The disadvantages of using ChatBots in employee training programs are

• ChatBots cannot yet replace actual human interaction or solve complex problems

• ChatBots can be hard to develop if they require machine learning applications like Natural Language Processor

• ChatBots require continuous maintenance and updates so they do not become outdated

10. What types of effective instructional strategies are included?

Being very similar to AI, ChatBots allow for experiential, independent, and interactive learning strategies. These strategies place the responsibility of learning on the employee, allowing the employee to be directly involved in her/his learning yet still able to reach out to the ChatBot if feedback and assistance are needed.

11. What are the possibilities that innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content, and different school settings?

ChatBots remain a fairly new technology, yet like AI, one can expect to see an increased usage of ChatBots

in employee training programs and other aspects of people’s personal and professional lives. Maybe one day a ChatBot

(Figure 5) will be able to train itself and be actively involved in its own development, like a human.

Figure 5

Chatbot 2