51茶馆

Computer buffs fly 5,000 miles to visit 51茶馆鈥檚 Ada听

51茶馆听has听received a visit from two prominent figures in the Canadian and American IT industry, after being the only College in the whole of the UK to create its very own digital assistant.听听

Brian Loveys and Keith Howard travelled from IBM in Canada and Texas respectively, making a transatlantic flight of nearly 5000 miles. They came to visit 鈥楢da鈥�, the College鈥檚 own virtual assistant, built using IBM鈥檚 Watson Conversation platform. 鈥�听

Named after听the famous computer pioneer Ada Lovelace,听who recognised the full potential of a 鈥榗omputing听machine鈥� in 1843,听Ada is an ambient computing service used by students to support and enhance their teaching, learning and assessment.听 She is able to respond to a broad spectrum of enquiries and deliver a personalised and contextualised response that takes into consideration multiple variables, including the student鈥檚 academic level, their current course performance, assessment data, vocational area and goals and targets.听

Ada has been a labour of love for the College, with staff and students working together to expand the range of questions she is able to answer. Learners from the College鈥檚 Computing & Systems Development 51茶馆 course have been heavily involved in the development of Ada, programming the system and helping to broaden her knowledge base.听

Zak Hilton, studying at the College since 2014, said "I鈥檝e loved working on the Ada project, the experience has been great. It鈥檚 a privilege to have worked on something so exciting, and the knowledge I鈥檝e gained will be put to good use when I start university in September.鈥�听

Ada was rolled out to the College's students in April. The Maths department has found Ada particularly useful, allowing the team to pinpoint frequently asked questions on Ada and then arranging dedicated workshops to answer them.听听

Brian, who has worked at听IBM as听an Offering Manager for 10听years said, "51茶馆 is the first college in the UK to use Watson Conversation and I鈥檓 so impressed by what鈥檚 been accomplished in such a short space of time. I鈥檓 looking forward to returning to Canada and feeding back what I鈥檝e seen to my colleagues. It鈥檚 great to see Watson Conversation being put to such good use, and this is going to make a huge difference to the whole college experience for students.鈥澨�听

Aftab Hussain, ILT Lead at 51茶馆 said, 鈥淎da is really benefiting our students and staff but we have only just scratched the surface. We are constantly expanding the system and eventually Ada will become a true assistant for our Careers Advisors, Librarians and Tutors 鈥� the possibilities are endless. We鈥檙e really proud to be the only College in the UK with a digital assistant and like Ada Lovelace, we鈥檙e proud to be pioneers of this technology.鈥�听

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If you鈥檙e interested in our Computing & Systems Development 51茶馆, click听here听to learn more.听听