EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA UNDER COVID-19 CONDITIONS: CHATBOT- ACADIMIC DIGITAL ASSISTANT OF THE BELGRADE BUSINESS AND ARTS ACADEMY OF APPLIED STUDIES
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA UNDER COVID-19 CONDITIONS: CHATBOT- ACADIMIC DIGITAL ASSISTANT OF THE BELGRADE BUSINESS AND ARTS ACADEMY OF APPLIED STUDIES

Summary/Abstract: In the Republic of Serbia, the COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of educational systems in history so far, having a universal impact on the entire country and all levels of education from pre-school education, through secondary schools, technical and vocational education and training, to colleges, universities and institutions for adult education or a skills development institution. As the health crisis developed, causing widespread socio-economic disruptions, the Serbian government reacted quickly to ensure continuity of education and protect students and educational actors. Due to the closure of schools, the domestic education system is turning to greater application of information and communication technologies in all educational subsectors, and teachers are required to switch to the delivery of educational content online and online interaction with their students. The paper especially analyzes the experiences of the Belgrade Business and Arts Academy of Applied Studies in dealing with new challenges in the implementation of teaching and its overall functioning in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite improvement, modernization and digitalization are the basis of the Academy's business strategy, the new working conditions required a quick adjustment of work in order to provide students with the highest quality educational service. In addition to new versions of the student information service application, E-employee application, new versions of the website, the Belgrade Academy began in 2020 to develop chatbot technology using the Weaver platform of the company Saga to provide its students with improved service during studies. Namely, the function of chatbot is based on understanding the requirements regardless of the language or structure of the sentence that is written or spoken. Based on the processing of the sentence with the help of natural language understanding (NLU), and with the application of the appropriate algorithm, the chatbot comes to an adequate answer which is forwarded to the student. The ADA (Academic Digital Assistant) chatbot project is the first project of its kind in the Balkans in the field of education that provides better communication, time savings, faster and more efficient implementation of educational services.

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