Watch these five videos to learn everything you need to know about creating and managing AI Assistants for your courses.
New to Nectir AI? This tutorial series is designed for first-time users. Each video builds on the previous one, so we recommend watching them in order for the best learning experience.

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Video 1: Understanding Nectir AI Workspaces

Learn the fundamentals of Nectir AI Workspaces and how they organize your educational content. This video covers the basic structure and navigation of your Workspace.
What you’ll learn:
  • How Workspaces organize Groups and Assistants in a hierarchical structure
  • Understanding permission levels and creation rights for different user roles
  • Basic navigation of the sidebar interface and chat area
  • Accessing help resources, support features, and profile settings

Workspace Settings

Learn how to configure your Workspace and manage user access

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Video 2: Create First Group and Assistant

Walk through the process of creating your first Group and setting up a new AI Assistant. This video shows the initial setup process step-by-step.
What you’ll learn:
  • How to create a new Group and manage member access
  • Understanding user permission levels (members, facilitators, owners)
  • Different methods for inviting users to Groups (email invitation vs sharing links)
  • Creating your first Assistant and basic general settings (avatar, name, description)

Group Settings

Create Groups and manage member access and permissions

Create an Assistant

Step-by-step guide to creating your first AI Assistant

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Video 3: Assistant Knowledge

Build your Assistant’s knowledge foundation by uploading course materials and understanding how knowledge powers personalized responses. This is the foundation of your Assistant’s ability to provide tailored learning experiences for your students.
What you’ll learn:
  • How to upload knowledge files and track processing status
  • Supported file types including documents, images, audio, video, and code files
  • Optimizing AI performance with comprehensive context and explicit examples
  • Using LMS import to bulk upload course content from Canvas, Moodle, or D2L
  • Setting up source citations (early access feature) to show which files your Assistant references
Key Knowledge Upload Best Practices:
  • Upload complete documents rather than fragments for better AI context
  • Include explicit examples and case studies for pattern recognition
  • Use descriptive file names that show content and purpose
  • Test with questions that require cross-document synthesis

Assistant Knowledge

Upload knowledge files, optimize AI performance, and manage your content library

Show Sources

Configure source transparency settings

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Video 4: Assistant Prompt & Knowledge Scope

Create your Assistant’s personality and behavior through strategic prompt design and knowledge scope configuration. This is where you transform a generic AI into a supportive learning companion tailored to your students.
What you’ll learn:
  • Identify support opportunities - Understanding what specific help your students need most
  • Choose the right template from 13 options organized by category:
    • Academic Learning Support (Course Assistant, Tutor, Learning Partner, Research Planning Coach)
    • Writing & Communication (Writing Mentor, Professional Writing Coach)
    • Student Development (Career Coach, College Advisor, Role Play Assistant)
    • Administrative (Operations Assistant, Policies & Procedures)
    • Instructor Tools (Lesson Planner, AI Assistant Creator)
    • Test extensively with different student personas and edge cases
  • Create conversation paths instead of restriction lists - guide positive interactions
  • Configure Knowledge Scope (General, Topic, Document Only) based on your teaching goals
Key Prompting Principles:
  • Focus on what TO do rather than what not to do
  • Design if-then scenarios for different student responses
  • Test extensively before students interact with your Assistant
  • Create custom prompts using the AI Assistant Creator template

Assistant Prompt

Create effective prompts with templates, testing, and conversation paths

Knowledge Scope

Configure your Assistant’s knowledge boundaries and access levels

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Video 5: Complete and Manage Assistant

Complete your Assistant with conversation starters, configure advanced settings, and learn ongoing management strategies. This video covers the finishing touches that make your Assistant user-friendly and effective.
What you’ll learn:
  • Create conversation starters with the 50-character limit in mind:
    • Use question starters (“How can…,” “What should…”)
    • Design action prompts (“Help with…,” “Show how to…”)
    • Provide complete questions ready for students to use
    • Focus on planning prompts for organization and preparation
  • Configure advanced settings including AI model selection and temperature
  • Set up source citations to provide transparency about knowledge usage
  • Track and iterate using analytics to improve your Assistant over time
Advanced Configuration Options:
  • AI Model Selection - Choose between different AI models based on your needs
  • Temperature Settings - Control response creativity and consistency
  • Source Citations - Enable visibility into which knowledge files your Assistant references
  • Analytics Tracking - Track usage patterns and popular topics

Conversation Starters

Create engaging conversation starters within the 50-character limit

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Next Steps

Continue exploring additional features to enhance your Assistant’s effectiveness.

Advanced Features

Configure AI models, temperature settings, and advanced options

Assistant Analytics

Track usage patterns and optimize your Assistant

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Implementation Resources

Access additional materials to support your Assistant roll-out and workshop planning.

Onboarding Presentation

View the complete onboarding workshop presentation

Templates & Guides

Access templates, guides, and extra materials for Assistant creation

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Getting Help

Having trouble with any of these steps? The support team is available to help you succeed.

Contact Support

Email our support team for personalized assistance

Join Our Community

Connect with other educators and get tips from the Nectir community
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