Interactive Web-Based Learning Materials Vs. Tutorial Chatbot: Differences in User Experience.

Today’s learning platforms make content available and enable social interaction between humans. Tomorrow, such platforms could also host computational tutors that support learning through dialogues. In this work, we explore how user experience differs between learning via web-based interactive content and learning within a dialogue led by a computational tutorial agent. To this purpose, we conducted a study with 31 master students of inclusive education. One group interacted with web-based textual learning materials (DIGIVIDget condition, n = 14 ). The other group interacted with a tutorial agent (DIGIBOT condition, n = 17 ). Both groups received the same text-based content on formulating search queries for the Internet. Using the standard System Usability Scale, the DIGIBOT’s usability was rated as slightly higher than the DIGIVIDget’s, but not significantly (Mann-Whitney-U-Test, U = 166.5 , p = . 06 ). Subsequently, two focus group discussions were carried out with participants who had also tested the respective other technology ( n = 12 ). Focus group participants highlighted positively the interactive nature of DIGIBOT, the motivational effect of receiving immediate feedback, and that DIGIBOT requires and facilitates more concentration than DIGIVIDget. Freely navigable web-based content may be more suitable to give an overview over a large area of knowledge and allow punctual access to it. The dialogic interaction is therefore particularly interesting when prior knowledge about the learning domain is small or for users with special needs, who especially benefit from good structure, interactivity to focus, and dialogic interaction as a further motivational factor.