A Review of Verbal and Non-Verbal Human-Robot Interactive Communication

In this paper, an overview of human-robot interactive communication is presented, covering verbal as well as non-verbal aspects of human-robot interaction. Following a historical introduction, and motivation towards fluid human-robot communication, ten desiderata are proposed, which provide an organizational axis both of recent as well as of future research on human-robot communication. Then, the ten desiderata are examined in detail, culminating to a unifying discussion, and a forward-looking conclusion

The application of chatbot as an L2 writing practice tool

This study investigates the effect of chatbot-based writing practices on second language learners’ writing performance and perceptions of using the chatbot in L2 writing practices. A total of 75 Korean elementary school students were randomly allocated to two groups. While the control group received traditional teacher-led writing instruction, the experimental group used a chatbot for individual writing practices for 15 weeks. The chatbot was developed using Google’s Dialogflow machine-learning AI platform by encoding expressions from an elementary school English textbook. A pretest was carried out prior to the experiment to examine the initial writing performance, and a posttest was carried out 15 weeks later with a different writing topic. The participants in the experimental group also responded to a short survey to report their perceptions and opinions about the chatbot. The results showed that the two groups generally showed a similar writing proficiency in the pretest scores, but the experimental group performed significantly better in the posttest than the control group, suggesting that the chatbot-based writing practice had a facilitating effect on their test performance. The participants of the experimental group also found the chatbot useful in improving their language skills and made them feel comfortable when learning a foreign language

An Investigation of EFL Teachers’ Adoption and Acceptance of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning during Distance Education Program

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi pengadopsian serta penerimaan Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) dengan guru EFL dari salah sekolah menengah pertama di Indonesia sebagai partisipannya. Selain itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi guru EFL dalam memutuskan pengadopsian MALL serta mengetahui bagaimana cara mereka mengakomodasi faktor-faktor tersebut. Data penelitian didapatkan melalui wawancara semi terstruktur, lalu data tersebut dianalisis menggunakan teknik tematik analisis. Dari hasil analisis tersebut, hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa factor sekolah, seperti kolega, siswa, dan pelatihan guru merupakan faktor yang paling berpengaruh dalam pengadopsian MALL. Selain itu, faktor internal seperti effort expectancy juga turut andil dalam pemilihan aplikasi mobile yang digunakan dalam mengajar bahasa Inggris

Bayesian Knowledge Tracing for Navigation through Marzano’s Taxonomy

In this paper we propose a theoretical model of an ITS (Intelligent Tutoring Systems) capable of improving and updating computer-aided navigation based on Bloom’s taxonomy. For this we use the Bayesian Knowledge Tracing algorithm, performing an adaptive control of the navigation among different levels of cognition in online courses. These levels are defined by a taxonomy of educational objectives with a hierarchical order in terms of the control that some processes have over others, called Marzano’s Taxonomy, that takes into account the metacognitive system, responsible for the creation of goals as well as strategies to fulfill them. The main improvements of this proposal are: 1) An adaptive transition between individual assessment questions determined by levels of cognition. 2) A student model based on the initial response of a group of learners which is then adjusted to the ability of each learner. 3) The promotion of metacognitive skills such as goal setting and self-monitoring through the estimation of attempts required to pass the levels. One level of Marzano's taxonomy was left in the hands of the human teacher, clarifying that a differentiation must be made between the tasks in which an ITS can be an important aid and in which it would be more difficult

Internet of robotic things : converging sensing/actuating, hypoconnectivity, artificial intelligence and IoT Platforms

The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is evolving rapidly and influencing newdevelopments in various application domains, such as the Internet of MobileThings (IoMT), Autonomous Internet of Things (A-IoT), Autonomous Systemof Things (ASoT), Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT), Internetof Things Clouds (IoT-C) and the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) etc.that are progressing/advancing by using IoT technology. The IoT influencerepresents new development and deployment challenges in different areassuch as seamless platform integration, context based cognitive network integration,new mobile sensor/actuator network paradigms, things identification(addressing, naming in IoT) and dynamic things discoverability and manyothers. The IoRT represents new convergence challenges and their need to be addressed, in one side the programmability and the communication ofmultiple heterogeneous mobile/autonomous/robotic things for cooperating,their coordination, configuration, exchange of information, security, safetyand protection. Developments in IoT heterogeneous parallel processing/communication and dynamic systems based on parallelism and concurrencyrequire new ideas for integrating the intelligent “devices”, collaborativerobots (COBOTS), into IoT applications. Dynamic maintainability, selfhealing,self-repair of resources, changing resource state, (re-) configurationand context based IoT systems for service implementation and integrationwith IoT network service composition are of paramount importance whennew “cognitive devices” are becoming active participants in IoT applications.This chapter aims to be an overview of the IoRT concept, technologies,architectures and applications and to provide a comprehensive coverage offuture challenges, developments and applications

THE USE OF CHATBOTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING TO PROMOTE MODERN LANGUAGE LEARNING: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Our world continues to become increasingly connected. The use of technology has become a must in this modern era to live accordingly. The requirement to use technology also widens the world of teaching, especially in teaching English. Nowadays, all generations of educators, whether young or old generations are expected to utilize technologies in their respective classrooms in an attempt to facilitate students with the newest atmosphere of the teaching and learning process. Speaking of those, chatbots are one of the technologies that can be engaged in English language teaching and learning. Relying on the huge benefit and easiness of implementation, the use of chatbots could be the leading technology for teachers to promote modern language learning. In this literature review-based research paper, the writers would like to encourage the use of chatbots in English language teaching as a medium for teachers to promote modern language learning

An Argumentation-based Perspective over the Social IoT

The crucial role played by social interactions between smart objects in the Internet of Things is being rapidly recognized by the Social Internet of Things (SIoT) vision. In this paper, we build upon the recently introduced vision of Speaking Objects – “things” interacting through argumentation – to show how different forms of human dialogue naturally fit cooperation and coordination requirements of the SIoT. In particular, we show how speaking objects can exchange arguments in order to seek for information, negotiate over an issue, persuade others, deliberate actions, and so on, namely, striving to reach consensus about the state of affairs and their goals. In this context, we illustrate how argumentation naturally enables such a form of conversational coordination through practical examples and a case study scenario

FeelFit – Design and Evaluation of a Conversational Agent to Enhance Health Awareness

In the course of digitalisation, healthcare systems are undergoing a major transformation. The generation and processing of health-related data are intended to improve health concerns. However, individual health awareness remains inadequate. To counteract this problem, issues in the fields of health awareness, wearable health monitoring systems, conversational agents, and user interface design were identified. Meta-requirements were derived from these issues and then converted into design principles. We developed the FeelFit conversational agent under consideration of those design principles. FeelFit measures vital parameters with various wearable sensors and presents them, enriched with personalised health information, to the user in the form of a conversation via individually configurable input and output devices. The conversational agent was evaluated by two experiments with 90 participants and a workshop. The results confirm a positive usability and task fulfilment of our conversational agent. Compared to known applications, the participants highlighted the more natural interaction and seamless integration of various sensors as strengths of FeelFit

The Impact of Providing Chatbot Content on Developing the English Communication Skills Among Al-Azhar Kindergarten Teachers

This paper focuses on investigating the impact of using Chatbot content on improving the English communication skills of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif kindergarten teachers. The researcher used a quasi-experimental design to explain the differences that occurred in the teachers` performance before and after the intervention of the Chatbot content. This design required the researcher to develop a performance observation checklist, which is the main tool of this research. In addition, the researcher constructed the Chatbot content and the e-training programme. After the research design was completed, thirty-three (33) female Azhari kindergarten teachers participated in this experiment. The performance observation checklist was used for evaluating the teachers` performance before and after the intervention of the Chatbot content and for measuring the teachers` retention of the acquired skills. At the end of the research, a statistical analysis of the results was applied. The results showed a statistically significant difference at the level of 0.05 on the performance observation checklist`s mean scores of the sample teachers' pre-and post-application of the Chatbot content in favour of the postapplication. The second statistical analysis of the performance observation checklist showed that there is no significant difference between the sample teachers` mean scores in the post- and follow-up application of the Chatbot content. These results are proof that validate the research`s main assumption that Chatbot content can improve the English communication skills of kindergarten teachers