Multi-Agent Systems in a Computational Environment of Education: A Chatterbot Case Study

Abstract

This paper proposes a dialogue based interface for virtual environments of learning with a Multiagent approach. Here, it's shown both aspects involved with the motivation and conception of this interface project, the conceptual and the technological aspect. In the conceptual aspect, the concepts related to distance learning and learning process are presented in the context of interfaces for virtual environment for education. In the technological aspect, it's presented the multi-agent based systems, chatterbots systems and the AIML language applied in the context of the conceptual needs. Finally, based on these concepts and technologies, the paper's contribution is a project for a virtual environment of learning, a middleware architecture based on a multi-agent approach.

TicTad: A Chatterbot for Learning Visual C# Programming based on Expert System

“…. This system was conceptualised as a chatterbot it provides a more engaging way to learn content as opposed to simply reading text [9].…”

What Will Be in Those Lap Tops: Empowering Students and Teachers to Add Content to an Educational Chatbot's Knowledge Base

“…One approach is to start with an empty database to which content is automatically added as it is used while the other approach is to have the chatterbot creator program the database so that it has pre-programmed questions, phrases or words and how it is to respond to each question, phrase or word [26]. Chat-logs created during interaction sessions additionally serve as sources for chatbot response improvement [27,17,25,28]. In AIML, the pattern is the user's expected or assumed question (the matching part) while the template is the chatbot's prepared or programmed answer (the returning part).…”

Role Based Multi-Agent System for E-Learning (MASeL)

“…Odell has noted several applications of multi-agent system [35]. ZEUS, www.ijacsa.thesai.org JADE [6], agenTool, RETSINA, JATLite, FIPA-OS, JAFMAS, Agent Building Shell, OAA, Cougaar, AgentSpace, Cybele and MADkit [24] [25] are tools for multi-agent system development [4]. Multi-agent development kit was developed at LIRMM (France).…”

“…At the same time, the software systems are error prone [4]. And if these systems are distributed and concurrent, errors are enormous due to complexity.…”