Developing an Inclusive Q&A Chatbot in Massive Open Online Courses

This study aims to examine massive open online course (MOOC) students’ experiences with a natural language processing-based Q&A chatbot. Following the definition of ‘inclusive learning’ in MOOCs from the Universal Design of Learning approach, this study firstly compares students’ behavioral intentions before and after using the chatbot. Next, this study investigates students’ levels of several other learning experience domains after using the chatbot—teaching presence, cognitive presence, social presence, enjoyment, perceived use of ease, etc. After examining students’ possible disparate learning experiences in these domains, this study investigates how age, gender, region, and native language factors influence students’ learning experiences with the chatbot. Lastly, but most importantly, this study explores how demographic factors influence students’ perception of chatbot interactions. If any are found, this study will focus on possible negative demographic factors that affect only certain groups of students to further examine how to improve a Q&A chatbot for inclusive learning in MOOCs.