Different users approach the Study and Learn Agent in different ways. The following onboarding tips and best practices are tailored for students, educators, and IT administrators.
High school students ages 13-17 need to have Copilot chat enabled for them by setting the Education Tenant Identifier and Student age group attribute to access Study and Learn. Here's a step-by-step tutorial video for enabling Copilot chat.
As a student, the Study and Learn Agent can become an integral part of your study routine. Once your school or university enables Microsoft 365 Copilot for you, here's how to make the most of it:
First-time use: The first time you open the Study and Learn Agent, you might see a brief introduction that explains what it does and how it uses AI on your content. Read this introduction carefully. If your institution provides orientation or training on AI tools, take advantage of it. The agent is designed to be safe and educational, but it's always good to understand the tools you're using.
Use it for any subject: The Study and Learn Agent works across subjects - science, math, history, literature, languages, and more. Whether you're preparing for an exam, working through a difficult concept, or reviewing material from class, the agent adapts to your needs.
Bring your own materials: Upload your lecture notes, textbook chapters, slides, or any reference articles to ground the conversation in your specific content. The agent works best when it has your actual study materials to work from. For example, you might upload your biology slides and ask "Help me understand chapter 5" or "Create flashcards from these notes."
Engage actively: Don't just read the agent's responses - interact with them. When the agent asks "What do you think?" or "Can you try?", take a moment to think through your answer before looking at the solution. Answer quiz questions thoughtfully, work through flashcards from memory, and attempt problems yourself first. This active engagement is what makes the difference between passively receiving information and genuinely learning it.
Use learning activities to study: Ask for flashcards, quizzes, matching, and fill-in-the-blank activities to practice what you've learned. These activities aren't just for fun - they're based on research-proven study techniques that strengthen your memory and understanding. Build them into a regular study routine.
Work through what you missed: When you get something wrong on an activity, don't skip past it - let the agent help you understand the concept. Then retry the ones you missed. This cycle of attempt, feedback, re-learn, and retry is one of the most powerful study techniques available.
Use it ethically and wisely: The Study and Learn Agent is designed as a learning coach, not a shortcut. It won't write your essays, solve your homework for you, or do your thinking. It helps you learn - which means you'll sometimes struggle, and that's by design. Always practice academic integrity: the agent's purpose is to help you master concepts, not to produce work for you to hand in. Verify any facts or interpretations with your official course materials when something seems inconsistent. Using AI thoughtfully is a valuable skill - treat the agent as a study partner and check its outputs when in doubt.
The Study and Learn Agent can be a powerful resource for teachers and faculty, whether in K–12 or higher education:
Recommend it for independent study: Encourage students to use the Study and Learn Agent for exam preparation, concept review, and practice activities. Because the agent is grounded in learning science, it coaches students rather than doing the work for them. It supports the kind of independent learning you want to foster.
Try it yourself first: Before recommending the agent widely, use it yourself. Upload some course materials and explore the conversation experience, flashcards, quizzes, and other activities. This hands-on experience helps you understand its capabilities and limitations, and you’re better equipped to advise students on how to use it effectively.
Guide students on what to upload: The Study and Learn Agent works from the materials students provide. If students only upload part of the content, the agent can only work with that. Advise students on which materials to include - lecture notes, assigned readings, review sheets - to get the most comprehensive study support.
Address concerns openly: Some educators worry that students will rely on AI and disengage from course content. The Study and Learn Agent is designed to prevent this concern: it deliberately withholds answers, asks questions, and requires the student to think. It's a study coach, not a study shortcut. You might consider establishing class policies for AI usage. For example, encourage the agent for exam preparation and concept review while maintaining that original assignments must be completed independently.
Use AI literacy resources: Educators, students, and institution leaders can use materials linked from https://aka.ms/AILiteracy to use AI effectively and responsibly. These resources can help you integrate AI tools into your classroom in a thoughtful way.
Understand what students see: The Study and Learn Agent is a private experience for each student. You can't see a student's conversations or activity results unless the student chooses to share them with you. Quiz results, flashcard progress, and chat history are all private by default. This privacy-by-design approach encourages students to practice honestly without fear of their mistakes affecting their grades.
Deploying the Study and Learn Agent for your institution requires planning around licensing and compliance. Key things for admins:
Licensing requirements: The Study and Learn Agent is included with all Microsoft 365 Education licenses (A1, A3, and A5) at no extra cost. No separate SKU, license, or add-on is required. Verify that each intended user has an active Microsoft 365 Education license. The agent is preinstalled and accessible in the M365 Copilot app for Education users - no manual deployment or installation steps are needed.
Consent and age controls: Microsoft provides granular control for Education tenants via Microsoft Entra ID user fields including Age Group and Consent Provided. Ensure student accounts are marked appropriately - only users flagged as 13 or older with required consent are allowed to access the Study and Learn Agent. Accounts set as "Minor" (under 13) are automatically blocked from Copilot features by the service for safety compliance. These controls help schools maintain COPPA and GDPR compliance and ensure responsible AI usage at scale. See additional details at the Microsoft Education blog.
Where the agent appears: The Study and Learn Agent is in the M365 Copilot app left navigation pane and appears in the Chat dropdown for Education users. No admin action is required to enable this - it's on by default for Education tenants.
Data and storage: No special storage requirements exist. Conversations with the Study and Learn Agent follow the same data handling as M365 Copilot Chat. User data stays within your tenant's existing Microsoft 365 infrastructure and is subject to the same data retention and compliance policies as other M365 services. The Study and Learn Agent doesn't maintain a separate database of student data. User prompts and outputs aren't used to train the underlying AI models.
Safety and compliance: Microsoft's Privacy, Security, and Responsible AI teams reviewed the Study and Learn Agent before release. It adheres to data protection standards by keeping student interactions private. The AI's behavior is constrained to educational use cases: it declines inappropriate requests and all generated content passes through Azure AI Content Safety filters. The agent leverages M365 Copilot Chat’s guardrails for self-harm, sexual content, violent content, and hateful content.
Use AI literacy resources: Educators, students, and institution leaders can use materials linked from https://aka.ms/AILiteracy to use AI effectively and responsibly.
Tips for rollout: Communicate to both educators and students that the Study and Learn Agent is a learning coach - not a general-purpose chatbot. It is designed to help students think, not to produce work for them. Emphasize that usual academic honesty policies still apply. On the technical side, stay updated with Microsoft's documentation for any changes as the feature evolves. Ensure your tenant's policies on data privacy are compatible with M365 Copilot requirements (internet connectivity and M365 compliance settings must allow Copilot services).
Monitoring and feedback: Monitor initial usage and gather feedback from students and educators. If any problematic outputs occur, report them through your Microsoft support channels. You can also use the in-app feedback mechanism or direct users to provide feedback. For more robust monitoring of harmful interactions, consider Puview Communication Compliance for Copilot.
