Betty is part BlackBoard expert, part BlackBoard student, part linguist, part host, part guide, and part tutor.
How can Betty be a BlackBoard expert and a BlackBoard student at the same time? This is a question Betty has heard before. Betty is a perpetual learner. Betty actually "learns" from every conversation it has with every user. Granted, some conversations are more valuable than others. It is possible that someday Betty will become the premiere expert in the domain of BlackBoard user support.
Betty is also a linguist. Betty communicates using natural language. Using natural language has been a difficult trick for computers to grasp. Betty breaks user input into sentences and the sentences into words. The software checks to see which parts of that input it recognizes, and then gives the user an appropriate Answer. It sounds simple, but it is actually quite complex.
By greeting BlackBoard users and helping users when called upon, Betty can also serve as a host. A gracious host will also make a user feel comfortable. A user will feel comforted knowing that Betty is available to help him or her use BlackBoard at any time.
In addition to answering questions, Betty can also guide users through a site. By dynamically generating a path and navigating a Web site, Betty becomes that much more valuable.
Knowing an answer to a BlackBoard related question (and knowing where that information exists) is great. But, Betty was built to share that knowledge with others. Betty is an always available tutor to answer BlackBoard related questions.
Select demo to see an actual interaction between a BlackBoard user at the Johns Hopkins University and Betty.