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I think you'd be surprised at how often students don't read webpages and fire off an email to the class TA or instructor. Replying with a link to the relevant p

I think you'd be surprised at how often students don't read webpages and fire off an email to the class TA or instructor. Replying with a link to the relevant part of the webpage is something I'd love to automate. (I teach a largish introductory university class)

qb45 10y ago
You can automate replying with a link to the course webpage ToC. Also, make it absolutely clear that the reply is automatic. Hopefully they'll get the hint. Or heck, just make it a policy that if they haven't received an answer in a week, this means they need to look at the website. I don't know why some people strive to be so accommodating to laziness nowadays.
- lostlogin 10y ago
  Because in many cases, the lazy are paying the bills.
- mulmen 10y ago
  Laziness is a virtue. What you're suggesting is not all that different than creating a webpage that says "read the book" instead of adding value. If a bot can be created to make discovering answers easier why shouldn't it be done?
  - qb45 10y ago
    There are two kinds of laziness: one which makes you visit course website, copy teacher's email and send him some stupid question whose answer is one CTRL+F away on the same website, and another which makes you want to automate responding to such emails. I'm not sure if the former is that virtuous. Those people look like they are growing completely helpless.
- grayclhn 10y ago
  There are lots of things I could do that would be less work but would come across as "being an asshole" to many students. A smart chatbot would be less work, more helpful, and a better experience for the students. Most technology is fundamentally about accommodating laziness. There's nothing "nowadays" about it.
  - qb45 10y ago
    Well, but you don't have this bot and instead (I suppose) you waste your private time responding with links to something they should have read. You don't have to be an asshole, just refuse to be mistreated by assholes. I've seen a friend of mine, who is a university teacher, respond at midnight to stupid question about some deadline the student should have known since two months. If your experience is anything like that, know that there are people finding it insane.

qb45 10y ago

You can automate replying with a link to the course webpage ToC. Also, make it absolutely clear that the reply is automatic. Hopefully they'll get the hint. Or heck, just make it a policy that if they haven't received an answer in a week, this means they need to look at the website. I don't know why some people strive to be so accommodating to laziness nowadays.

lostlogin 10y ago
Because in many cases, the lazy are paying the bills.
mulmen 10y ago
Laziness is a virtue. What you're suggesting is not all that different than creating a webpage that says "read the book" instead of adding value. If a bot can be created to make discovering answers easier why shouldn't it be done?
- qb45 10y ago
  There are two kinds of laziness: one which makes you visit course website, copy teacher's email and send him some stupid question whose answer is one CTRL+F away on the same website, and another which makes you want to automate responding to such emails. I'm not sure if the former is that virtuous. Those people look like they are growing completely helpless.
grayclhn 10y ago
There are lots of things I could do that would be less work but would come across as "being an asshole" to many students. A smart chatbot would be less work, more helpful, and a better experience for the students. Most technology is fundamentally about accommodating laziness. There's nothing "nowadays" about it.
- qb45 10y ago
  Well, but you don't have this bot and instead (I suppose) you waste your private time responding with links to something they should have read. You don't have to be an asshole, just refuse to be mistreated by assholes. I've seen a friend of mine, who is a university teacher, respond at midnight to stupid question about some deadline the student should have known since two months. If your experience is anything like that, know that there are people finding it insane.