Chat Me Out of Here!

Conversational user interfaces, aka chatbots, offer new ways of interaction that can be used not only for task-led applications, but also for learning itself. From drill-and-practice assistants to digital tutors and coaches, Conversational learning offers a variety of new and extensive options to support individuals through the learning process and to push the boundaries of classroom-based learning. However, Conversational Learning applications that go beyond simple question-and-answer dialogs are still rare. “Pit in the Warehouse” takes a new stance to Conversational Learning: by combining an dialogical escape room challenge with an interactive fiction approach and compelling storytelling, it creates an engaging and low-threshold type of game-based learning.

Chatbot Kim: A Digital Tutor on AI. How Advanced Dialog Design Creates Better Conversational Learning Experiences

Conversational user interfaces, aka chatbots, offer new ways of interaction that can be used not only for task-led applications, but also for learning itself. Still, most conversational learning applications offer a predominantly one-directional dialog – either bot-led, with the user only confirming, or user-led, with the bot answering questions, but not going beyond. In contrast to these common approaches, learnbot Kim by time4you [1] not only conveys information, but wraps it in an equally entertaining and instructive chat, combining pre-defined dialog turns with a flexible dialog management. This article explains the design decisions made during the dialog development process and the underlying reasons. After having read this text, you will have a better idea of how dialog in conversational learning can be modeled to allow for a more natural conversational experience.

Análisis de datos cualitativos a través del sistema de tablas y matrices en investigación educativa

Este artículo tiene como objetivo aportar sistemas de análisis cualitativo de los datos generados a partir de la información obtenida en entrevistas de grupos focales y grupos de discusión como método de aprendizaje compartido y con carácter conversacional. Se han llevado a cabo entrevistas con dos grupos de expertos en educación, por una parte grupos focales formados por 4/5 profesores-asesores de centros de profesorado; por otro lado grupos de discusión formados por 4/6 profesores-mentores. Se ha utilizado un grupo de cada estrategia grupal para el análisis cualitativo de los datos, siendo los tópicos utilizados en los grupos focales “Ventajas e inconvenientes de la participación de centros educativos en redes escolares” y en los grupos de discusión “Identificación de obstáculos y barreras en el proceso de asesoramiento a docentes principiantes”. En ambos casos se ha profundizado en la conversación sobre sus propias experiencias profesionales siendo analizadas con sistemas de tablas y matrices de las cuales proponemos dos modelos. Se concluye la necesidad de utilizar modelos rigurosos de análisis sistemático de la información obtenida con el objetivo de construir teorías sólidas por parte de los entrevistados sobre los tópicos a tratar en experiencias compartidas para la construcción del conocimiento. This article aims to provide qualitative analysis systems of the data generated from the information obtained in interviews of focus groups and discussion groups as a method of shared and conversational learning. Interviews have been carried out with two groups of experts in education, on the one hand focus groups formed by 4/5 teachers-consultants of teaching centers; on the other hand discussion groups formed by 4/6 teacher-mentors. A group of each group strategy has been used for the qualitative analysis of the data, the topics being used in the focus groups “Advantages and disadvantages of the participation of schools in school networks” and in the discussion groups “Identification of obstacles and barriers in the process of advising beginner teachers”. In both cases, the conversation about their own professional experiences has been deepened, being analyzed with systems of tables and matrices of which we propose two models. It concludes the need to use rigorous models of systematic analysis of the information obtained with the objective of building solid theories by the interviewees on the topics to be treated in shared experiences for the construction of knowledge.

Meandering as Method for Conversational Learning and Collaborative Inquiry

Collaborative inquiry and conversational learning are approaches to management education and learning in which participants construct knowledge together through dialogue. Both approaches advocate letting go of control to allow insight to emerge through free-flowing conversation, but little has been written about how to accomplish this. Furthermore, these approaches contradict expectations about learning among both teachers and students and raise fears of discussion degenerating into pointlessness. This article presents the idea of “meandering”—wandering casually without urgent destination—as a way of framing a conversation process that can help management educators loosen control without being out of control. It is based on a case of group learning generated by the six authors at the 2019 Research in Management Learning and Education Unconference. Our conversational learning process, which we described as meandering, was not only pleasant and rewarding but also led to a concrete action plan and research agenda. In this article, we demonstrate and discuss the highly relational, embodied, and contextual nature of meandering and propose a research agenda for generating more knowledge about this method and how to put it into practice in management learning and education.

The Use of Virtual Worlds for Developing Intercultural Competences

In this research, the authors present a framework for developing Intercultural Competence (IC) and use Tridimensional Digital Virtual Worlds (3DVW) as environments for developing Intercultural Competence. They developed an artifact, via Design Research, constituted by an educational method using the 3DVW Second Life® as the place for a virtual exchange program between 92 Brazilian and Portuguese master students. The results of the authors' study indicate that the 3DVW can be used for the development of IC because it allows rich experiential and relational/conversational learning opportunities, especially due to the affordances of immersion/sense of presence, social interaction, content production and knowledge sharing.

Virtual Worlds for Developing Intercultural Competence

The authors present a framework for developing intercultural competence (IC) and use tridimensional digital virtual worlds (3DVW) as environments for developing IC. They developed an artifact, via design research, constituted by an educational method using the 3DVW Second Life® as the place for a virtual exchange program between 92 Brazilian and Portuguese master students. The results of the study indicate that the 3DVW can be used for the development of IC because it allows rich experiential and relational/conversational learning opportunities, especially due to the affordances of immersion/sense of presence, social interaction, content production, and knowledge sharing. The students involved in the virtual exchange inside Second Life® had to practice a set of attitudes and skills such as communication skills; culture-specific knowledge; understanding others' worldviews; skills to analyze, evaluate, and relate; skills to listen, observe, and interpret; respect, openness; tolerance for ambiguity, among other, that are all attributes of IC.

New Learning Scenarios with Chatbots – Conversational Learning with Jix: from Digital Tutors to Serious Interactive Fiction Games

Conversational user interfaces, aka chatbots, offer new ways of interaction that can be used not only for task-led applications, but also for learning itself. Conversational learning offers a variety of new and extensive options to support individuals through the learning process and to push the boundaries of classroom based learning. This document shows three application scenarios that have been realized with time4you’s conversational learning software Jix. After having read this text, you will have a better idea of what conversational learning is, how it can be used in learning and development, and what is critical for its success.

Prayer and the Teaching of Christian Ethics: Socratic Dialogue with God?

In his Confessions Augustine recasts the Greco-Roman dialogue as a conversation with God. This repositioning of the premier pedagogical form of the ancient world Augustine takes as an implication of the Christian confession of God as a speaking God. Introducing Jewish forms of prayer into the Greco-Roman dialogue form transforms it in a manner that has implications for the teaching of Christian ethics today, in offering a theologically elaborated model of the formative and investigative power of conversation. Conversational learning is a practice in which finite creatures lovingly explore a creation that cannot be comprehended completely. Christians understand this formative and explorative conversation as a conversation with God, mediated by Scripture, which prepares its participants to model trust-building conversation in public.