How to Setup Student AI Chat
Enable AI-powered chat for students — choose provider, model, set custom prompts, and configure fallback models
How to Setup Student AI Chat
Course37 includes a built-in AI chat assistant for students. Students can ask questions about course material and get instant, contextual answers — like having a personal tutor available 24/7.
Prerequisites
Before enabling student AI, you need at least one AI provider configured:
Enabling Student AI Chat
- Go to Settings → Integrations
- Scroll to Student AI Chat Settings
- Toggle Enable Student AI to ON
- Select a Provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or Groq)
- Select a Model (e.g.,
gpt-4o-mini,llama-3.1-8b) - Optionally set a Fallback Model
- Optionally add a Custom Prompt
- Click Save
Configuration Options
Provider & Model Selection
| Setting | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Which AI service to use | Groq |
| Model | Specific model for responses | llama-3.1-8b |
| Fallback Model | Backup when primary model hits rate limits | llama-3.1-70b |
Recommended Setup for Students:
- Provider: Groq (cheapest, fastest)
- Model:
llama-3.1-8b(very fast, cost-effective)- Fallback:
llama-3.1-70b(higher quality backup)This combination costs less than $0.01 per 100 student messages.
Custom Prompt
The custom prompt is prepended to every student AI conversation. Use it to:
- Set the AI's personality and teaching style
- Restrict topics to your curriculum
- Add organization-specific instructions
- Set the response language
Example Custom Prompt:
You are a helpful tutor for [Organization Name]. Only answer questions related to the student's enrolled courses. Always explain concepts step by step. Respond in Bangla when the student writes in Bangla. Never give direct exam answers — guide the student to think through the problem.
What Students See
Once enabled, students see an AI Chat button in their course view:
- Student opens a course → clicks AI Assistant icon
- Types a question about the course material
- AI responds with contextual help
- Conversation history is preserved per course
- Students can start new threads for different topics
Student AI Features
- Course-Aware — AI knows which course the student is in
- Conversation History — Previous messages provide context
- Thread Management — Multiple threads per course
- Token Tracking — Each message tracks input/output tokens
Admin AI Settings
Admins and teachers have their own AI configuration:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable Admin AI | ON by default |
| Provider | Which provider admins use |
| Model | Can be a more powerful model (e.g., gpt-4o) |
| Custom Prompt | Admin-specific instructions |
Tip: Use a more powerful model for admins (e.g.,
gpt-4ofor question generation) and a cheaper model for students (e.g.,llama-3.1-8bfor chat).
Model Recommendations by Use Case
| Use Case | Recommended Model | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Student Chat (High Volume) | Groq llama-3.1-8b | Ultra fast, cheapest |
| Student Chat (Quality) | OpenAI gpt-4o-mini | Good balance of quality and cost |
| Admin - Question Generation | OpenAI gpt-4o | Best accuracy for MCQ/CQ |
| Admin - Essay Grading | Anthropic claude-3-5-sonnet | Best at nuanced evaluation |
| Translations | Gemini gemini-1.5-flash | Fast, good multilingual support |
| Budget-Friendly Everything | Groq llama-3.1-70b | Great quality, very cheap |
Monitoring Student AI Usage
- Go to Settings → Integrations → AI Usage
- See per-student token consumption
- View popular questions and topics
- Track total student AI messages per day/month
Student AI chat tokens count toward your monthly token allocation (200K free) or your own API key usage.
Related Articles
- How to Setup AI Providers — Configure API keys
- How to Manage AI Tokens — Token allocation and tracking
- How to Add Questions — AI question generation
- How to See Results — AI grading