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EDUBOTS cMOOC

Humans of Edubots - Jenni Whitfield

Written by:
Lars Willner
from Leeds

What's your name, how old are you and where do you come from?

Jenni Whitfield, 41 years old. I live in Leeds in the UK.

What do you do for a living?

I am Adult Learners Officer at the Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds. I am a project manager for the Communities & Partnerships team and we provide activities that raise the aspirations of adults in our local community with the aim of them realising that higher education could be a possibility

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I have worked in the same department for 8 years now in various roles and I will never get bored of seeing our students grow in confidence. I have been privileged enough to see many come to our outreach activity with no formal qualifications and then seeing them grow during their course over sometimes 6 years to go on to graduate with a degree. That feeling is priceless.

‍Can you remember the first time you met a chatbot?

I am I sure I must have met one in a computer game of some kind at some point but none are sticking out like ‘Bo’ in Differ. I think ‘Bo’ has been the first one I have met with a personality.

How would you describe your current relationship to chatbots?

I ask them to do a lot for me to help my role and students. I feel like it is quite a one sided relationship where they do a lot for me and I do not do much in return.

How do you believe students will engage with chatbots in the future?

I find it really valuable sharing practice and learning from others to get the best possible outcome for students. As our students are mostly adult learners I think that I can learn a lot from this project to help find methods of eliminating barriers that make our students feel excluded by getting the most out of chatbots.‍

What are you hoping to get out from the Edubots project?

I find it really valuable sharing practice and learning from others to get the best possible outcome for students. As our students are mostly adult learners I think that I can learn a lot from this project to help find methods of eliminating barriers that make our students feel excluded by getting the most out of chatbots.

How do you believe students will engage with chatbots in the future?

I find it really valuable sharing practice and learning from others to get the best possible outcome for students. As our students are mostly adult learners I think that I can learn a lot from this project to help find methods of eliminating barriers that make our students feel excluded by getting the most out of chatbots.