Week 3 – Literature Review

In week 3, I started looking into articles to help me write the literature review for my graduation project. Since I’m building a website that combines a virtual tour of CCI with a chatbot for course and campus info, I focused on how these tools are used in education.

Virtual Tours

I found two useful articles that explain how universities use virtual tours:

1. Virtual tours boom, but will they have the same impact? – Inside Higher Ed (2020)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities switched from in-person tours to virtual ones. These tours became very popular, especially for international students and anyone who couldn’t travel. Even now, many schools still use them to help students explore the campus online.

This article also helped me understand how virtual tours can support remote students, which is important for my user research.

2. How a virtual tour can improve your enrollment metrics – EAB (2023)

EAB says that virtual tours don’t just look good, they can actually boost applications and enrollment. They help students learn more, engage with the university, and explore programs from home. These tours also give schools data on what students are interested in.

Chatbots in Education

I also looked at how chatbots are used in schools and universities.

1. Chatbot for Higher Education: 6 Benefits for Educational Institutions – Social Intents (2023)

Chatbots help students get quick answers about courses, deadlines, or schedules at any time of day. They also reduce admin work and improve communication, especially for international students in different time zones.

2. Are Your AI Chatbots Giving Away More Information Than They Should? – EdTech Magazine (2024)

This article talks about privacy risks when chatbots give out too much information. That’s why I made sure my chatbot only responds with approved UAL/CCI info to keep it safe and accurate.

After reading everything, here are the main benefits:

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This research gave me lots of ideas to improve both parts of my project and helped me think about what students really need.

References

Here is the (updated) list of references I read for the literature review and research:

Abidin, R., Suryani, N. and Sariyatun, . (2020) ‘Students’ Perceptions of 360 Degree Virtual Tour-Based Historical Learning About The Cultural Heritage Area of The Kapitan and Al-Munawar Villages in Palembang City’, International Journal of Social Sciences and Management, 7(3), pp. 105–112. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v7i3.29764.

Abshire, S.A., Deese, J.J. and Freiberger, K.E. (2017) ‘Mission accomplished?: An analysis of institutional missions through virtual campus tours’, Journal of the Student Personnel Association at Indiana University, pp. 31–46. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369087279.

Afan Gafar, I. and Arif, Z. (2022) Systematic Literature Review: Virtual Tour 360 Degree Panorama, International Journal of Engineering Business and Social Science. Available at: https://ijebss.ph/index.php/ijebss.

Alexander, Bryan. et al. (2019) Educause Horizon report : 2019 Higher Education edition. EDUCAUSE.

Almodiel, M.C. et al. (2024) ‘Expanding Campus Engagement: A Study on the User Acceptance of a Virtual Reality-Enhanced Campus Tour in an Open University’, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNANCE, EDUCATION AND BUSINESS, 6(2). Available at: https://iop.upou.edu.ph/vrtours/upouvr/alpha/.

Aryani, M.I., Arviani, H. and Suryanto, T.L.M. (2022) ‘Virtual tour as digital branding tool in the political economy of higher education: Case of virtual tour 360 UPNVJ’, International Journal of Arts and Social Science, 5(2), pp. 124–133.

Audsley, S. (2025) What You Should Know About Virtual College Tours. Available at: https://www.educations.com/articles-and-advice/bachelor-studies/what-you-should-know-about-virtual-college-tours? (Accessed: 20 April 2025).

Baker, N. (2024) UK Mobile Phone Statistics 2024 – Stats Report – Uswitch. Available at: https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/studies/mobile-statistics/ (Accessed: 24 May 2025).

Batarseh, C. (2024) 9 Benefits of Virtual Campus Tours for Universities – Concept3D. Available at: https://concept3d.com/blog/virtual-tours/9-benefits-of-virtual-campus-tours-universities/ (Accessed: 23 April 2025).

Bello, S. (2024) Chatbots in Education: The Role of AI in Modernizing Student Assistance. Available at: https://smythos.com/ai-agents/chatbots/chatbots-in-education/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Cho, Y.-H. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2000) ‘A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Effects of a Virtual Tour’, in Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2000. Vienna: Springer Vienna, pp. 314–323. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6291-0_28.

Clark, S. (2022) Why Colleges and Universities Need Inclusive Virtual Tours | BestColleges. Available at: https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/inclusive-virtual-college-and-university-tours/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Donaher Kee, L. (2025) What students look for in a college—and how your virtual tour can help | EAB. Available at: https://eab.com/resources/blog/enrollment-blog/what-students-look-for-college-how-your-virtual-tour-can-help/ (Accessed: 23 April 2025).

EAB (2021) Virtual Tours. Available at: https://eab.com/solutions/virtual-tours/ (Accessed: 10 May 2025).

Figueroa Jr, R.B. et al. (2020) ‘Virtualizing a University Campus Tour: A Pilot Study on its Usability and User Experience, and Perception’, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNANCE, EDUCATION AND BUSINESS, 2(1), pp. 1–8. Available at: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/visit/,.

Hurter, B. (2024) The Role of AI Chatbots For Higher Education Success In 2024 | Element451. Available at: https://element451.com/blog/chatbots-in-higher-ed-what-you-should-know (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Iglesias, M.I., Jenkins, M. and Morison, G. (2021) ‘Enhanced low-cost web-based virtual tour experience for prospective students’, in Proceedings – 2021 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2021. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 677–678. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW52623.2021.00221.

IXRLABS (2023) Comprehensive Guide on Virtual College Tours: Everything you Need to Know. Available at: https://www.ixrlabs.com/blog/virtual-college-tours/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Lee, L.K. et al. (2020) ‘Using a Multiplatform Chatbot as an Online Tutor in a University Course’, in Proceedings – 2020 International Symposium on Educational Technology, ISET 2020. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 53–56. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/ISET49818.2020.00021.

Magolda, P.M. (2000) ‘The Campus Tour: Ritual and Community in Higher Education’, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 31(1), pp. 24–46. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2000.31.1.24.

Matterport (2022) User Generated Content & Languages. Available at: https://support.matterport.com/s/article/User-Generated-Content-Languages?language=en_US (Accessed: 15 May 2025).

Matyushina, K. (2022) Effect of a video tour, interactive map, and 360-degree virtual tour on engagement and interest. University of Twente.

Mendolia-Moore, T.A. (2018) The College Path: A Virtual Tour. California State Polytechnic University.

Minnesota State University (2024) The Virtual Chatbot to Answer University Related Questions, ‘Ask Stomper’ | Minnesota State University, Mankato. Available at: https://mankato.mnsu.edu/university-life/campus-services/student-affairs/maverick-moments/the-virtual-chatbot-to-answer-university-related-questions-ask-stomper/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Neupane, S. et al. (2024) ‘From Questions to Insightful Answers: Building an Informed Chatbot for University Resources’. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08120.

Nguyen, T.T. et al. (2021) ‘NEU-chatbot: Chatbot for admission of National Economics University’, Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 2. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100036.

NHS (2024) Project aims to ease patient anxiety with virtual hospital tour – Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust. Available at: https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/news/pioneering-project-aims-to-ease-patient-anxiety-with-hospital-virtual-tour/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

Putri Ramadhanty, A. et al. (2021) Virtual Tour Actual Usage: The Influence of Perceived Benefits and Sacrifices, Journal of Information System).

Roberto, T. (2023) Utilizing Virtual Campus Tours in Student Recruitment. Available at: https://www.keg.com/news/utilizing-virtual-campus-tours-in-student-recruitment (Accessed: 24 May 2025).

Salah, M., Abdalla, A. and Abdallah, M. (2023) ‘Evaluation of Existing Virtual Tour Studies and Their Applicability to Jordanian Universities’, in 2023 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, JEEIT 2023. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 64–67. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/JEEIT58638.2023.10185675.

Samala, A.D. et al. (2022) ‘ViCT—Virtual Campus Tour Environment with Spherical Panorama: A Preliminary Exploration’, International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 16(16), pp. 205–225. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v16i16.32889.

Samala, A.D. et al. (2024) ‘Exploring Campus through Web-Based Immersive Adventures Using Virtual Reality Photography: A Low-Cost Virtual Tour Experience’, International journal of online and biomedical engineering, 20(1), pp. 104–127. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v20i01.44339.

Shingte, K. et al. (2021) Research Paper on Chatbot Development for Educational Institute. Pune, India. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139.

Sophia, E. (2025) ‘The Effectiveness of AI-Powered Chatbots in Student Support Services’, ResearchGate [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390033254.

Swacha, J. and Gracel, M. (2025) ‘Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Chatbots for Education: A Survey of Applications’, Applied Sciences (Switzerland). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/app15084234.

Thompson, C. (2023) Who Cares About Virtual Campus Tours? Virtual Tours in the College Choice Model and Perceived Student-Institution Fit. University of Central Florida. Available at: http://library.ucf.edu.

Torchia, R. (2022) Virtual College Tours Continue Expanding Opportunities for K–12 Students | EdTech Magazine. Available at: https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2022/05/virtual-college-tours-continue-expanding-opportunities-k-12-students (Accessed: 23 April 2025).

Tulkin, A. (2020) Assessing Virtual College Tours for Students with Physical Disabilities & Health Conditions – Accessible College. Available at: https://accessiblecollege.com/2020/04/20/virtualcollegetours/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).

UAL (2025a) Brand guidelines | UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/brand (Accessed: 1 May 2025).

UAL (2025b) Typography | UAL, UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/brand/visual-identity/typefaces (Accessed: 1 May 2025).