LearnWise in Canvas | Staff Guide
What is LearnWise?
LearnWise is a new AI chatbot that works inside Canvas to help students get quick answers to their questions. It could help with things like finding exam dates, understanding deadlines, and supporting study and revision. LJMU are piloting and evaluating its potential to support staff and students within Canvas.
Why are we doing this?
We want to see if it can reduce the number of simple, repetitive questions that staff receive by email, so they have more time for teaching and supporting students with complex issues. We also want to see if it can support student learning.
What's happening?
We're launching LearnWise in two phases:
- Phase 1 - Course Information Mode (Starting early 2026). This helps students find basic information about their course - things like exam dates, assessment deadlines, and where to find course materials. Staff can choose whether to turn this on in their Canvas courses.
- Phase 2 - Study Mode. This creates personalised study resources like practice quizzes and flashcards based on course content. This could help students learn their course content more effectively.
How are we making sure it works?
We're taking a careful, step-by-step approach:
- Testing with small groups of staff first before releasing to students
- Asking staff and students for feedback at each stage
- Measuring whether it actually reduces staff workload and helps student learning
- Making sure it follows data protection rules and doesn't encourage cheating
Staff have control - you choose whether to use LearnWise in your courses. It's not being forced on anyone.
Students have support - this is an extra help tool, not a replacement for talking to your tutors.
We'll share what we learn as we go, so everyone can see how it's working and help us make it better.
Are the LearnWise AI chats anonymous?
Yes, requests to the LearnWise AI are anonymous, but we are reviewing the types of requests that we receive to help inform better learning experiences and workflows.
Want to know more? Contact the project team: tlacademy@ljmu.ac.uk
