Microsoft Copilot Chat

Microsoft Copilot Chat can be accessed via the University licenced Microsoft 365 service or the URL: m365.cloud.microsoft/chat

Copilot Chat may also be available from the interface of many other Microsoft services like Outlook, etc. (web. mobile and desktop applications).  Just look for the Copilot logo:

The enterprise shield symbol/icon will appear near the top right to verify you are connected to the University of Toronto Microsoft Copilot: 

Consult the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education: Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom: FAQ’s around topics such as Student Use of Generative AI and Instructor Use of Generative AI.

• Instructors should be clear about their expectations for using generative AI tools in their course. 
• Include your expectations in your syllabus and discuss openly with your class. Is it important to indicate how your acceptable use relates to the course learning goals, so students understand the reason why they are or are not allowed to use generative AI tools. The Sample Syllabus Statement resource, produced by the OVPIUE, provides advice and examples to include in your own syllabus. 
• Try it for yourself; you do not need to become an expert in using Generative AI tools.  Trying out a few tools for yourself will at least give you an idea of what your students are able to do when interacting with your course content.  
• Never upload or use information which may be considered confidential, sensitive, private or personal as part of prompting an AI too. And do not use material where you do not own the copyright – don’t upload other people’s work, especially student work, where you do not have written consent to do so. 
• Consult university policies and guidelines. In particular, instructors can visit the OVPIUE Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom: FAQ’s site for more information. 

A prompt is natural language text describing the task that an AI agent or chatbot should perform. Prompt writing (sometimes known as prompt engineering) is the process of structuring a prompt that can be interpreted and understood by the AI system. In the context of using Microsoft Copilot, a prompt can be a textual query such as “What is the Pythagoream theorem?”, or a command such as “Write a poem about the sun”, or a short statement such as “Your last response requires more details.”.  How to write a prompt for AI (Microsoft Education blog).

For advanced prompt ideas, consult these education focused prompt libraries:

• AI for education prompt library (aiforeducation.io/prompt-library) 
• More useful things, Prof. Ethan Mollick (moreusefulthings.com/prompts) 
• Microsoft prompts for education repository (github.com/microsoft/prompts-for-edu) 

Prompt writing guidance – 

Start with basic information: 

1. Be clear and specific.   
2. Provide relevant context and background information. 
3. Provide examples. 

or follow the 3 Ps:

1. Provide a persona – “You are a university instructor in the department of anthropology.”
2. Provide a purpose – “You are developing a 12-week graduate course on ethnographic research methods.”
3. Outline your parameters – “Generate a syllabus for this course. Start with a description, followed by five learning outcomes. The learning outcomes should follow Bloom’s taxonomy. Generate topics for each of the 12 weeks. The topics should build on each-other sequentially. This is a seminar format.”

Try some more advanced prompt writing techniques:

Thinking about incorporating a UofT approved chatbot as a virtual tutor for your course?  Consult the CTSI AI Virtual Tutors – Effective Prompting Strategies guide.

For most University users, a plus [+] icon should be available near the bottom left of the Microsoft Copilot chat box:

Microsoft Copilot cannot access all organizational content automatically, however users can actively provide it individual files as part of their prompt for Copilot to use. Users can include organizational content as part of their prompt in three ways:

1. Users explicitly type or paste this information directly into the chat.
2. Users upload a file by selecting the paperclip icon in the chat box. They can also drag and drop a file into the chat box. Uploaded files are stored in a user’s OneDrive as part of enterprise data protection.
3. Users type a prompt into Copilot in Edge after enabling the ‘Allow access to any webpage or PDF’ setting, and an intranet page is open in the browser. In this scenario, Copilot may use this content to help answer questions.

In all cases, Copilot does not use your data to train foundation models and enterprise data protection (EDP) applies.

Yes. Instructors may wish to use the technology to demonstrate how it can be used productively, or what its limitations are. Consult CTSI’s information and advice about how you might use generative AI as part of your learning experience design.

Yes, you can ask your students to use the protected version of Microsoft Copilot, as it is an approved and vetted tool part of the U of T academic toolbox.

However, keep in mind that asking or requiring your students to access tools other than Microsoft Copilot is complicated by the fact that they have not been vetted by the University for privacy or security.

This Microsoft Copilot edition (Commercial data protection for Microsoft Copilot) has been evaluated by the University’s Information Security team, and it has been deemed safe to use for up to Level 3 (Three) data.

Guidelines on using artificial intelligence (University of Toronto Information Security)

Furthermore, users should only use Copilot with their own content or content available publicly but not where the copyright holder has not granted permission. To read more about copyright and AI considerations, please visit this helpful resource from the University of Toronto Libraries. Where possible, de-identify (replace personally identifiable information fields with one or more artificial identifiers) or anonymize (remove personally identifiable data) data sets to avoid any privacy implications.

Currently, there are two different versions of Microsoft Copilot:

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is an AI-powered assistant that helps answer questions, generate content, summarize information, and support everyday chatbot-based tasks.
• Free for U of T faculty, staff, and students
• Enterprise-grade data protection

Microsoft 365 Copilot (Paid)

• Microsoft 365 Copilot is a premium, fully integrated assistant embedded within apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams.
• Requires a paid license
• Only available to faculty and staff
• Requires a signed confidentiality agreement

Please consult the M365 Copilot Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI) website for more information.

The University of Sydney has created a AI in Education resource for students, built by students to provide ways students can use generative artificial intelligence productively and responsibly as part of their learning journey in university.

• Prompts to help you learn

A collection of sample student prompts from OpenAI for ChatGPT (but the same prompts will work for students with our University licenced Copilot Chat). This give a nice overview of different ways students can use a chat tool for learning, and possible ideas on how instructors might be able to incorporate a Generative AI chat tool (like Cogniti or Copilot Chat) into course work.

• 100 chats for college students
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