Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Blackboard Launches Chatbot for Student Support

Blackboard has added a live conversation simulation tool to its suite of student support offerings. The Blackboard Chatbot Powered By Ivy.AI is designed to provide personalized information and assistance on demand, and can be integrated across multiple departments within an institution, such as Admissions, Financial Aid and IT Services, according to a news announcement.  

When a user types a question, the chatbot uses natural language to answer simple queries such as "What is my financial aid account balance?" and "When is the deadline to register for classes?" It can also serve as an automated arm of an institution's technical service desk, and seamlessly hand off the conversation to a live adviser when needed. The tool also uses "supervised learning and analytics to improve response time, performance and accuracy," the company said.

"We are excited to offer institutions a hybrid technology- and people-based solution that offers students personalized, real-time resolutions when it comes to seeking information about their education," said Richa Batra, general manager of student services at Blackboard, in a statement. "Blackboard Chatbot Powered By Ivy.AI simplifies and expedites this process by allowing students to secure information according to their own schedule. As a result, students can spend more time on learning and institutions can focus more energy on strategic initiatives and teaching."

For more information, visit the Blackboard site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Abstract neural network 3D illustration

    Intel® AI EmpowerED: The AI-Ready Campus, Delivered

    Artificial intelligence is transforming higher education, prompting institutions to rethink how they manage infrastructure, security, governance, and workforce readiness. Successful adoption requires a strategic, institution-wide approach that aligns AI initiatives with educational goals, faculty enablement, and scalable operational frameworks.

  • Robot typing on fluorescent keyboard

    The Wrong Battle: Why Your Institution's AI Policy Is Probably Solving the Wrong Problem

    The conversation on most campuses has become consumed with detection: How do we catch students using AI when they shouldn't? The impulse to protect academic integrity is legitimate, but the detection-first approach has a fatal flaw.

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    AI Shifts Cybersecurity Focus from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's most difficult challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • humanoid robot with circuit board background

    Meta Expands into Physical AI with Acquisition of Robotics AI Startup

    Meta Platforms has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), a robotics artificial intelligence startup focused on humanoid systems, as the company expands its AI work beyond software and into models that could help robots operate in physical environments.