Last updated on October 15, 2026
Generative AI is a powerful new technology with many applications for teaching and learning. However, its daunting for some educators to dive into a novel technology that can be used inappropriately, especially in an educational context. While it might be a little intimidating at first, it’s well worth exploring, both to see how it can be useful to you and how it might be leveraged by your students.
This tutorial will cover the basics of using Microsoft’s GenAI product, Copilot. Copilot is now available for all faculty, staff, and students at MSU Denver, so it’s a good place to start if you’re experimenting with the technology for the first time.
- Start Using Generative AI in Your Course – this spotlight takes a deep dive into practical concerns and best practices when using GenAI in education.
- Copilot Example Showcase – this is a collection of practical demonstrations of using Copilot.
Directions
[Length 5:18, CC Available]
Important Note: When using Generative AI, make sure to never upload anything with personal or identifiable data, such as student names, emails, or ID numbers.
Login to Copilot
- Go to copilot.microsoft.com.
- Copilot will work on the Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. However, Microsoft Edge provides more features and integrations than other browsers.
- Click the person icon at the bottom left of the screen.
- Click Sign in from the pop-up menu.
- Click Continue with Microsoft.
- Log in with your MSU Denver credentials.
- Select Work if asked Which Copilot experience are you looking for.
Start a Chat
- Click New Chat from the left-side menu.
- Enter a Prompt in the text box.
- You can view some suggestions for prompts below the text box. Click on one to automatically prompt the chatbot.
- Click the + button to the left of the text box to upload images or files for Copilot to refer to when responding to your prompt.
- Select Add content to search for and insert Microsoft 365 content.
- Select Upload images and files to upload a file from your computer.
- Select Attach Cloud Files to upload files from your OneDrive.
- Click the Arrow icon in the text box or press the Enter button to send the prompt.
- Copilot will now generate its response. This can take some time depending on the complexity of the prompt. You won’t be able to send any follow-up prompts until Copilot is done generating its response.
- Click the Stop (square) button in the text box to stop Copilot from continuing to generate its response.
- Type any follow-up questions or prompts into the text box.
- Every time you start a new chat, the chat will appear under Chats in the left-side menu.
- To name the chat so you can easily locate it again, hover over the chat, click the three-dot more options menu, and select rename.
- Hover over any footnote text following a link or sentence to open a link to where Copilot got its information.
- You will often have to prompt Copilot to provide its sources or links for them to appear.
Message Action Icons
There are several buttons in the bottom left-hand corner of each Copilot response you can click to do specific actions:
- Copy (overlapping rectangles): Will copy the entire response since your last prompt.
- Thumbs up / Thumbs down: Provides Copilot with feedback on whether you found the response helpful or unhelpful.
- Try Again (circular arrow): Have Copilot start over and try the prompt again with a different answer. You can also switch the model to a higher or lower performing model before asking it to try again.
- Three-Dot More Options Menu: Open up more options.
- Share Response: Allows you to share the prompt and response link to others in your organization.
- Edit in Pages (pencil): Opens a sidebar with a page where you can edit Copilot’s responses. You can continue prompting Copilot to add or revise the page content.
- Click Create to export the page as a document or PDF.
- Export to: Export the chat response to a Word Document.
- Read aloud: Have Copilot read its response using text-to-speech.
Create an Agent
In Microsoft Copilot, an Agent is an AI system that can plan, execute, and complete multi-step tasks across Microsoft 365 apps.
- Click Agents from the left-hand menu.
- Scroll down the page, and click New agent.
- Click Skip at the top right of the chat that prompts you to Message Agent Builder. The Agent Configuration window will open
- Click the Pencil Icon to the right of New Agent.
- Edit the Name for the Agent.
- Type a description for what the agent will be doing under the title where it says Describe your agent.
- The description provides the agent with a role. This should be a summary of what the Agent will be expected to do.
- Enter the instructions for the Copilot Agent in the large text box.
- Here, you should describe what the agent should do, define the tone of response, and outline any rules or guidelines it must follow.
- Note: GenAI works best when your instructions are specific, explicit, and focus on what the agent should do rather than what to avoid. It is recommended to clearly state it’s objective and boundaries, use action verbs to describe tasks, and provide examples.
- Optionally, click Suggest improvements to have Copilot generate suggested revisions to your instructions.
- Optionally, click + Add to the right of Skills to add a Skill.
- Skills are reusable task packages that help an agent perform specialized work consistently. You can upload a SKILL.md file or a .zip package, or you can generate a skill through a chat.
- Click + Add knowledge under Knowledge to add a specific Web URL the agent should refer to when completing tasks.
- Optionally, click the toggle to the right of Web search to restrict the Agent from searching the Web. When this is off, they will only use the links provided under Knowledge.
- For more Knowledge settings, such as allowances for creating documents, images, and using AI knowledge, click the Settings Gear to the far right of the Knowledge box.
- Optionally, enter a Title and Message under Suggested prompts to provide the agent with suggested ways of starting conversations.
- Click Create at the top right of the screen when done.
- Click Start chat to begin working with the Agent.
- Alternatively, click Share to share the agent with specific users, turn on Org-wide sharing for chat access, or copy the chat link to provide to users with access.
- To pin the agent to appear on the Copilot sidebar:
- Click Agents on the left sidebar menu.
- Hover over the Agent Name under Your agents.
- Click the Pin Icon.
- Click the three-dot more options menu to Share, Edit, or Uninstall the Agent.
Other Copilot Tools
On the left-hand menu, Copilot offers a few different options other than Chats and Agents. These have specific purposes for when you might choose to use them.
- Search: Find Microsoft 365 content (such as files, Teams recordings, etc.) to open or choose one of the suggested prompts to the right of the file.
- Library: Find Copilot pages or images that were created from previous chats.
- Teach: Explore different GenAI teaching tools built into Copilot, such as bots created specifically to help with lesson planning.
Have questions?
Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support or try one of our self-help tutorials.
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