Abstract:

Introduction:
The present paper seeks to justify the didactic model of an intellectual assistant in the educational process. The intellectual assistant is seen as a cognitive robot based on a special chatbot software serving to imitate human interaction. In the academic setting, the aim of such an assistant is to represent a human teacher in the network performing all the necessary consulting, assessing, supervisory etc. functions at a time and pace suitable for each individual student.

Materials and methods:
The study utilizes the following methods: theoretical data analysis in the fields of digital pedagogy, dialog systems, and cognitive robot modeling. The authors present a description of the prototype of an intellectual assistant within the course of “Lexical Semantics” for undergraduate students majoring in English Linguistics (University of Tyumen). Testing of the model was carried out in September-November, 2019.

Results:
The model of an intellectual assistant enables effective human-machine interaction based on inferential and interactional principles of communication. Employing the cognitive robot prototype we conducted eight classes in “Lexical Semantics”. The students were actively participating in the communication in the computer-equipped classroom. The authors monitored the process and at the end of each class the robot generated reports on the activity of each student. The students in their turn provided mostly positive feedback.

Discussion and Conclusion:
Digital technologies are gradually introduced in the curricula of University of Tyumen in the format of MOOCs, augmented-reality course-books, etc. Analysis of the existing dialog software in commercial applications proves that their introduction into Russia’s higher education is possible. The self-learning intellectual assistants will soon become another reality in Russia’s higher education. There is no doubt about their functionality. They will possess cognitive, emotional, and other types of intelligence, thus, becoming successful digital representations of human teachers. However, it is important to understand that a cognitive robot is just an intellectual tool for learning enhancement.

Keywords:

Digital pedagogy, educational model, dialog systems, University of Tyumen, intellectual assistant, cognitive robot.