I could see this being a helpful coaching tool for students. You could automate some of the prompts that you routinely give as a teacher. For example the classic "did you put your name on it?" As students hand-in their assignment. It's probably not practical in everyday situations but I think could be useful in large project-based learning like science fair! Here's why:
Project size would justify time spent developing a chatbot.
Science fair is a pretty universal project which means an OER could be shared across jurisdictions.
Anyone that's done the science fair know that students require a lot of coaching and it's hard to give everyone that individualized attention.
Scenario 1
Chatbot (CB): How is your project going?
Student (S): Bad?
CB: Why?
S: I don't have an idea
CB: Hmm... let's see. What's your favorite topic we've studied in science this year?
S: I liked earthquakes
CB: Perfect, start there. Why don’t you check out these websites with science fair examples and think about how you could do something related to earthquakes
Scenario 2
CB: How is your project going?
S: Good!
CB: Are you finished?
S: Yes
CB: Before you hand it in let me ask you a few questions. What's your independent variable
S: The size of snow shoe
CB: What about your dependent variable?
S: I don't know
CB: Hmm.. It sounds like you aren't ready to hand in your assignment yet. Come and talk to me again once you know what your dependent variable is
That's a great idea Ryan. What I learned from building and exploring chatbots was that it had to be a very specific subject. As homework/ project guidance there would be limited responses from the child, either it's going well and they need to double check some things, or they are stuck and need some prompts. This would be a great situation to implement a chatbot into.