That's pretty unique when you think about it. They thank the bot for giving them advice, and they're often comfortable acknowledging when they're feeling stressed or anxious (which we can then elevate to campus counselors to provide one-on-one support).
They treat Ekhobot almost like a pet or a friend. Students' responses have provided the most powerful proof that an empathetic approach works. Regardless, the communication with students always came from a place that wasn't transactional but rather was rooted in the genuine, face-to-face interactions that we know translate to a sense of belonging and motivate students to persist and work hard. Sometimes it meant sending an emoji or two. Sometimes that meant providing proactive information about the counseling center or other campus resources. Underpinning all this work was a sense of empathy and compassion for the fact that our students were living through an incredibly challenging time. We even built a Spotify playlist based on what students told the chatbot were their favorite songs at the time. That led us to start experimenting with other ideas, such as knock-knock jokes and emoji smiley faces. Suddenly, students began engaging in ways they hadn't before. So, we had the chatbot send all CSU Channel Islands students a silly meme. But then the pandemic hit, and that's when things changed.īy March 2020, we still hadn't figured out the right way to communicate with students through the chatbot, but we knew we had to say something. As a result, Ekhobot had no personality, and students were responding accordingly. We weren't confident enough to be picky about what the chatbot said to students.
We didn't realize that the nature of the communication itself was our roadblock. In January 2020, my team and I found ourselves in a pickle: the transactional relationship between our chatbot and our students wasn't moving the needle on our engagement and retention goals. (Sure, the name of our institution includes the word "islands," but there's no need to talk like a sailor!)
Instead of gratitude and student persistence, students were opting out of connecting with the chatbot-sometimes with a bit of blue language thrown in. I was ready to play my part in supporting the ambitious Graduation Initiative 2025, which aims to increase graduation rates and eliminate opportunity gaps for all students in the CSU system.īut a few months in, we weren't getting the response we had expected.
I hoped that this technology would essentially act as a "cheat code" that could, without a lot of input from me or my team on specific content, help us with the difficult task of helping students navigate and complete their education. After researching AI chatbots and learning that they can significantly reduce summer melt and boost retention, I thought my job would be simple: teach the bot what it needs to know, sit back, and let it rip. My role included building the knowledge base for Ekhobot, our AI chatbot. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I ran the shared services department at California State University (CSU) Channel Islands. But the past two years have reinforced just how crucial empathy and emotional intelligence can be for technology leaders seeking to serve students at their institutions. What one factor plays the most important role in making technology work in higher education?įor those of us who spend our days managing email servers and learning management system (LMS) integrations, "empathy" may not be the first thing that comes to mind. When technology is implemented thoughtfully and empathetically, the impact can be profound.
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