Lumi Tutor

What makes Lumi different?

Most AI tools are guessing about what your course covers. Lumi knows. It is trained on your specific course: your readings, your assignments, and the concepts your instructor is teaching.

• Course-specific. Answers connected to what you are actually learning this term, not generic internet responses.
• Always available. Get help any time, with no waiting for office hours or email replies.
• Built for learning. Designed to help you understand, not just hand you answers.

Where to find it

Open any course where Lumi Tutor is available. You will see “Lumi Tutor” on the right side of the top navigation bar. Click it, and the chat window opens.

What you will see

Lumi greets you and offers a couple of suggested prompts to get you started. You can click one, type your own question, or use the small icon below the text field to open study tools

What Lumi Tutor is great for

• Understanding concepts. Get unstuck on something you do not fully understand yet, or ask “what is another way to think about this?”
• Assignment prep. Brainstorm an approach to an assignment and test your reasoning before you submit.
• Course planning. Get a course or weekly study plan, and quick answers to syllabus questions.
• Exam prep. Study for quizzes and exams using the built-in study tools (see below).
• Feedback partner. Copy and paste your discussion post or assignment to receive feedback on your work. 
• Quick clarification. Get a fast answer when you do not want to wait for office hours.

Using Lumi as a writing tutor

Lumi can help you strengthen your writing before you submit it. Paste in a draft (a discussion post, a paragraph, or a full assignment) and ask for feedback. Lumi will tell you what is working, point out what could be stronger, and ask questions that push your thinking. It will not rewrite the work for you, and that is the point: the goal is to help you submit something that is genuinely yours.

A typical session looks like this:

• Share your draft. Paste your writing and ask, "Can you give me feedback on this before I submit?"
• Read the feedback. Lumi highlights your strengths and flags areas to strengthen, such as putting ideas in your own words, deepening your analysis, or checking that your citations are complete.
• Revise and check again. Make your edits, paste the new version, and ask, "How does this sound now?" Lumi will tell you what improved and whether anything still needs attention.

Good prompts to try:

• "Does this sound like my own voice, or too much like my source?"
• "Where is my argument weakest, and how can I make it stronger?"
• "Are my citations complete and formatted correctly?"
• "Am I analyzing here, or just summarizing?"

Remember: Lumi gives feedback, not finished work. Use its questions to improve your own draft and check your syllabus for your instructor's rules on AI use.

Study tools

Click the small icon below the text field to open study activities. Lumi builds these from your actual course content on the spot.

• Multiple choice. Flexible self-testing questions.
• Drag the words. Fill-in-the-blank exercises, good for vocabulary and key terms.
• True or false. Quick checks on whether you have a concept right.
• Flash cards. Text-based flip cards for memorization and review.

Try this: Before your next quiz, ask Lumi for ten flash cards on the chapter you are reviewing, then run through them. Faster than making them yourself, and the questions come from your actual course material.

What Lumi will not do

By design, Lumi will:

• Not write your assignments for you or give direct answers to graded questions.
• Not handle advising, registration, or policy questions. Those go to your advisor or the right office.
• Not replace your professor. For questions about grades, deadlines, or course expectations, contact your instructor.

If you ask something outside its lane, it will say so and point you toward the right resource.

Academic Integrity and Lumi Tutor

Lumi Tutor was built and provided by IWU specifically to support your learning, and using it is encouraged. It is designed not to do your work for you: it will help you understand, brainstorm, study, and check your thinking, but it will not write your essay or hand you answers to graded questions. Studying with it, asking it to explain a concept, or using it to quiz yourself before an exam is exactly what it is for.

Some courses or instructors may have specific rules about AI use on certain assignments, so always check your syllabus or ask your instructor if you are unsure.

A few things to keep in mind

• AI answers are not perfect. Double-check anything important against your course materials or your instructor.
• Lumi works best when you treat it like a thinking partner, not an answer machine.
• If something Lumi says contradicts your instructor or your textbook, trust your instructor and your textbook.

Are my chats private?

Your instructor is not able to actively monitor your chats. Chats are accessible to authorized institutional administrators or support personnel for system support, quality assurance, or policy compliance purposes.

Rate Lumi's response

You will see thumbs up and thumbs down buttons on Lumi's responses. Use them honestly: your ratings directly shape how Lumi gets better over time.

• Thumbs up. The response was helpful, clear, and made sense.
• Thumbs down. The response was confusing, wrong, off-topic, or unhelpful.