Table of Contents
You’ve finished setting up your Virtual Study Assistant through ELMS-Canvas. Now you’re probably wondering: what’s next? This guide will walk you through the Admin Console—the web interface where you manage, configure, and monitor your Virtual Agent, whether that’s the Virtual Study Assistant for your course or a departmental chatbot. As an administrator, you’ll review questions students or users ask, make adjustments as needed, and help keep everything running smoothly to ensure the best experience for your community.
The Admin Console has many features—too many for one guide! We’ll cover the key ones relevant to your ELMS-Canvas course and Virtual Study Assistant setup, leaving a more in-depth treatment topics for a separate guide.
Visit your Admin Console and log in with your university credentials. Once logged in, you’ll see a list of courses or agents where you’re an administrator. If you have trouble accessing your Admin Console, just reach out to the DIT AI Solutions Team at dit-ais@umd.edu.
Overview of the User Interface
Here’s what you’ll see when you visit the Admin Console. Your course's Virtual Agent (Virtual Study Assistant) name appears in the top left corner next to the UMD logo. Additional options are available by selecting the yellow circle with the first letter of your first name, which is located in the top right corner.
The navigation menu on the left contains several administrative features. We’ll go through each one to help you understand what they do and how to use them.
Virtual Agent Prerequisites
The first section is called Virtual Agent Prerequisites. Under it, you'll find the Checklist. Since you set up your Virtual Study Assistant through ELMS-Canvas, you’ve already completed the prerequisites. If you had set it up outside of ELMS-Canvas, there would be more steps to take. When you select Checklist, you should see confirmation that everything is set.
There’s also a video you can watch if you’d like to learn more.
Data Analysis
The next section is Data Analysis. Under it, you'll find Question Review.
Question Review
This is where you can view the questions students submit through the chatbot interface. There’s much to explore, but we’ll focus on the essentials.
- In the top left, you’ll see the current date. The list of questions and responses is organized by date. Select the date to view questions from another day.
- At the top right, you’ll see several tabs like ALL, UNKNOWN, KNOWN, and more. For now, keep the ALL tab selected.
- Below that are the columns: Checkbox, Actions, Timestamp, Intent Used, Question, Response, and Session ID.
Here's a view on the top left where you select the date.
Pay attention to:
- Timestamp: When the question was asked
- Question: The question asked
- Response: The Study Assistant's reply
- Session ID: Identifies a specific session (helpful for seeing if a user asked multiple questions during one session). In the example below, the same person asked the first two questions, confirmed by the duplicate session ID found in the Session ID column of the questions.
By regularly reviewing these, you can spot where students or users might be struggling. You’ll also get a sense of how well your Virtual Study Assistant is performing. This allows you to update your ELMS-Canvas content or other reference materials accordingly. Keeping that content fresh will make your assistant even more helpful.
Data Sources
The Data Sources section includes the Scripted Questions and Sample Questions subsections.
Scripted Questions
Scripted questions are typically based on your syllabus or course policies. Students may ask about office hours, exam dates, or how to contact the instructor—this is where you provide those answers.
- Script Question: List of scripted questions
- Answer: Type your response in the Answer column.
- Your response is saved automatically when you select a different line; there’s no save button.
- To delete a question, select the dash under Actions.
- To add a new question, select the plus (+) icon in the top right.
Sample Questions
Each week, Virtual Study Assistant creates five Sample Questions based on your ELMS-Canvas course content. You can use them if you want or skip them if you don’t.
Analytics
The next section is Analytics, in which you will find the Virtual Agent Analytics subsection. This subsection provides insights, including the number of questions asked, unknown questions, thumbs up, down votes, and more. We’ll cover this in more detail later. Early on, there may not be much data until your Virtual Study Assistant is actively used.
Virtual Agent Config
You may wonder why this is labeled Virtual Agent Config instead of Virtual Study Assistant Config. That’s because the Admin Console is used to administer all UMD Virtual Agents, including departmental assistants and the Virtual Study Assistant, so the broader term is used.
Virtual Agent Config link
The Virtual Agent Config section includes more configurable features than any other part of the Admin Console. Because of its breadth, we’ll walk through each part step by step.
Let’s start with the first section, titled Virtual Agent Configuration. In this section, you’ll see the following:
- Access your virtual agent here – Selecting this link opens a new window where you can interact with your agent.
- Virtual Agent Authorized Users – Add or remove other admins (e.g., co-instructors or TA staff).
- Your Canvas Site – A direct link to your course on ELMS-Canvas.
Connectors
A connector links your Virtual Study Assistant to external platforms.
In the Connectors section, you may see several available options. We're focusing on the ELMS-Canvas connector because it's the most commonly used with the Virtual Study Assistant.
Other connectors, such as Google Drive, Web Scraper, and ServiceNow, are also available. You can learn more about them in the UMD Virtual Agent: Admin Console Intermediate Guide.
The Canvas connector has an overview section provides key details about how the connector works, including how data is organized and managed.
Below the overview, you will see the following table:
The table includes the following columns:
- Title – The name of the ELMS-Canvas resource (e.g., Assignments, Announcements).
- Sources – The number of items scanned from that resource.
- Last Updated – The most recent ingestion time, typically around midnight.
- Actions – Use the red X icon to stop scanning a resource, or the green checkmark to re-enable it.
Resources that are not being scanned appear grayed out as a visual indicator.
In the upper right corner, select the circular arrow icon to manually trigger an immediate ingest. This is useful if you've recently updated content and want students to see the changes right away, rather than waiting for the overnight update.
System Configuration
The last Virtual Agent Config section we'll cover is System Configuration.
- Agent Name: Appears in the chatbot UI. Update this to something like “CMSC 330 Virtual Study Assistant.” Don’t forget to scroll down and select Save.
- Greeting Message: A message displayed when users open the chatbot.
- Prompt: Controls behavior; leave this unchanged unless you’re working with the DIT AI Solutions team.
- Quiet Mode Activation: When on, the assistant won’t respond. Useful during exams. Remember to turn it off after!
- Chatbot Mode: Choose between:
- Study Mode (default): Answers based on course content
- Tutor Mode: Guides students rather than giving direct answers
Agent Name
The default Agent Name will be "UMD Virtual Agent." We recommend editing it to a more suitable name for your course, such as CMSC 330 Virtual Study Assistant. Editing the agent name updates what's displayed in the title bar when users interact with your assistant.
Quiet Mode Activation
Below the Prompt section is a slider labeled Quiet Mode Activation. It is set to off by default. When you turn it on, the Virtual Study Assistant stops answering questions. Some instructors use this to prevent students from looking up answers during tests. Remember to turn Quiet Mode Activation off again when you want the assistant active.
Chatbot Mode Example
Next in Virtual Agent Config is Chatbot Mode. Here, you decide how the Virtual Study Assistant behaves. You have two options: Study Mode and Tutor Mode. By default, Virtual Study Assistant is in Study Mode, where it answers questions based on your course content. If you switch to Tutor Mode, it won’t give direct answers but will guide students toward a solution while still sharing relevant sources.
Database
This section can be ignored.
Deprovision
If you no longer want the Virtual Study Assistant active in your ELMS-Canvas course, select the Deprovision button. This removes the assistant but does not affect your course content. However, all the associated Virtual Study Assistant data is removed.
Save
Scroll to the bottom and select Save to confirm any changes.
Ingested Sources
Your Virtual Study Assistant ingests resources—this is the data it uses to answer questions.
- Select Ingested Sources in the sidebar to see a list of ingested content.
- Use the Included slider to determine whether a resource is active.
- For example, you might choose to exclude Lecture Quiz 10.
Other tabs include:
- Broken Webpages: Shows pages that could not be ingested.
- Ingest Details: Provides technical insights (you can skip this unless you’re curious).
These other tabs are covered in greater detail in UMD Virtual Agent: Admin Console Intermediate Guide.
Where to learn more
This guide is designed to help you get started quickly with the Admin Console. To keep things simple, we’ve focused on the most relevant features for getting up and running, and set aside some of the extras for later.
When you’re ready to explore more, check out the UMD Virtual Agent: Admin Console Intermediate Guide.
Get Help
At the bottom of the Admin Console sidebar is the Get Help section, where you'll find the Contact Support subsection. Selecting it will open a new email to the DIT AI Solutions Team. You can also email us directly at dit-ais@umd.edu.