UM3D
Generative AI Resources for UofM Faculty
AI for UofM Faculty
Suggested AI syllabus statements from UofM departments and faculty
Teaching & Learning with Generative AI Canvas Course (self enroll)
AI Community of Practice - Founded in Fall, 2023, the UM3D sponsored AI Community of Practice is a forum for invited UofM faculty and staff to discuss the potential benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular Large Language Models (LLMs), in teaching and learning
AI in Canvas
IgniteAI
UM3D is excited to announce that faculty at the UofM are among the first to try out Canvas’ new IgniteAI Agent, the native chat bot within Canvas. The Agent will be available to all instructors starting November 3, 2025. Simply click the new "Ignite Agent" button from any Course homepage to try it. Only instructors will see and have access to the Agent.
For an overview of all Canvas AI tools, including the AI Nutrition Facts feature, please visit the Canvas AI Tools Overview page.
How Ignite AI Works- An interview with Ignite AI
According to Canvas’ parent company, Instructure, “IgniteAI brings robust AI tools into the places where teaching and learning happen every day, providing full control and visibility over how and when they’re used.” You probably have noticed an AI Agent that sits in your Canvas course. This agent is designed to help you with many common course design tasks. Your students don’t see it. A UM3D human instructional designer interviewed the agent to learn more. Here’s the lightly edited transcript of that interaction along with a few follow up questions a fellow human answered.
Q: How can you assist me with my tasks in Canvas?
A: Welcome to Ignite Agent!
I'm here to help you with various tasks in Canvas. Here are some ways I can assist you:
Course Management • Create and organize modules, assignments, quizzes, and discussions • Set up and manage course content and structure • Export course content for backup or transfer • Create and edit wiki pages
Student Management • View student progress and performance data • Find students in your courses • Create and manage groups and differentiation tags • View outcome results and learning progress
Communication • Create announcements for your courses • Draft and send messages to students • Manage discussions and conversation threads
Assessment • Create and manage assignments with due dates • Set up quizzes with various question types • Manage assignment extensions and overrides • Track submissions and grades
Q: What can’t you do?
A: Great question! While I can help with many Canvas tasks, there are some limitations to what I can do:
What I Cannot Do:
- Direct Grading: I can't directly grade student submissions or provide feedback on student work.
- File Management: I can't upload, download, or manage files directly (like PDFs, images, or documents).
- Third-Party Integrations: I can't interact with external tools or LTI integrations within Canvas.
- Account-Level Administration: I can't handle institution-wide settings, themes, or authentication configurations.
- User Account Management: I can't create or modify user accounts, reset passwords, or change personal information.
- Calendar Management: I can't create or modify calendar events directly.
- Rubric Creation: While I can work with existing rubrics, creating complex rubrics from scratch is limited.
- Complex Reports: I can't generate custom analytics reports beyond what Canvas provides through its standard interfaces.
- Direct API Access: I don't provide raw API access or allow custom code execution.
- Content Migration: I can't handle full course imports/exports or content migration between systems.
Q: Do you use my Canvas materials for training?
A: No, I don't use your materials for training.
The content you share with me when using this assistant - including your course materials, student information, assignments, or any other data from your Canvas courses - is not collected or used for training purposes.
Your Canvas data remains private and is only accessed temporarily to help you complete the specific tasks you request. I don't store your course content or use it to improve my capabilities.
My purpose is solely to help you manage your Canvas courses more efficiently while maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of your educational materials and student information.
Q: How else is Canvas using AI?
A: … Canvas has stated that they're committed to implementing AI in ways that are ethical, transparent, and focused on enhancing human capabilities rather than replacing them. They emphasize that AI tools are designed to support instructors, not replace their judgment or expertise. For the most current and detailed information, I'd recommend checking Instructure's official documentation.
Finally, a few question from a human to a human:
Q: O, human! Are there any other AI tools you suggest I use to help me with my courses?
A: Just like the agent, I think your question is great! I suggest that you also try Khanmigo AI tools. These are pre-crafted prompts created by the makers of Khan Academy. As such, they do a thorough job of helping you to define exactly what you want it to do for you, and then helps you further refine the output. It can be added to your Canvas course for easy use. To learn more about Khanmigo Tools, see this video.
Q: O human! Where can I find more technical information about this IgniteAI Agent model?
A: Here is the agent’s “nutrition facts,” which state how the model was trained, what data it keeps, and other information.