Set up your AI teaching assistant — and launch your first activity
Think of Walter as an AI teaching assistant that works within your existing course. It can extend the things that are valuable for users but difficult to scale — individual tutoring, answering questions, opportunities to practise, writing feedback and simulations.
Open the instructor area for the Walter teaching assistant connected to your course.
What you’re doing: Accessing the instructor/admin area for the Walter AI teaching assistant associated with your course.
Watch how — Access Walter from Blackboard
How to
Open your course in Blackboard.
Go to the part of the course where you want to add Walter.
Open the option for adding a course tool or activity.
Select Walter AI and open the Admin option shown in the video.
Choose Create a new agent if this is the first Walter setup for the course.
Choose Use an existing agent if a Walter agent has already been created and you want to reuse that setup.
Continue until the Walter instructor/admin area opens.
Good to know
New AgentChoose this when you are setting up a new Walter teaching assistant for the course.
Existing AgentChoose this when a Walter agent already exists and you want to continue using its existing setup and content.
What you should see: You should now be inside Walter’s instructor/admin area for your course.
Next: understand how your private course space is organised.
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Step 2
Understand your private course space
A quick orientation before you start adding content.
Walter works within your institution’s private environment. Your course has its own space where you decide what Walter knows, what users are expected to learn, and what activities they can complete.
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Boston University
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Your Blackboard course
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Walter AI Teaching Assistant
Course structure
Knowledge Groups
This is how you organise the course in Walter — for example by week, topic, chapter or module.
Content
Documents
These are the teaching materials Walter should use, such as notes, slides, handouts or other course documents.
Learning outcomes
What users should achieve
These tell Walter what users are expected to understand or be able to do.
Next: Give Walter the information it needs to support your course.
Next: set up Walter’s knowledge.
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Step 3
Give Walter the three things it needs
To start working with your AI teaching assistant, provide just three pieces of information: your course structure, your content and your learning outcomes.
1 · Course structure
= Knowledge Groups
Set up the course structure in a way that matches how you teach it.
2 · Content
= Documents
Add the core materials you want Walter to use when supporting users.
3 · Learning outcomes
= Learning Outcomes
Tell Walter what users are expected to know or be able to do.
Start with your course structure. In Walter, this is set up using Knowledge Groups. Think of each Knowledge Group as a part of your course — for example Week 1, Topic 1, Chapter 1 or a specific module.
Watch how — Create a Knowledge Group
Open your Walter Admin area.
Go to Knowledge Groups.
Select the option to create a new Knowledge Group.
Enter a clear name for the topic or part of the course.
Save the Knowledge Group.
Example: Week 1 — Introduction
Tip: Keep the structure simple at first. You can always add more Knowledge Groups later.
3B · Add your content
Add the documents Walter should use
Your content means the documents and teaching materials you want Walter to rely on — for example lecture notes, slides, handouts or other core course materials.
Watch how — Upload course content
Open the Knowledge Group you created.
Go to the area for adding course content.
Upload your course material.
Wait for the file to finish processing.
Check that the material appears inside the Knowledge Group.
Tip: Start with the core materials users should rely on. You don’t need to upload everything at once.
3C · Add your learning outcomes
Tell Walter what users should know or be able to do
Your learning outcomes tell Walter what users are expected to understand or be able to do after this part of the course.
Watch how — Add Learning Outcomes
Open the same Knowledge Group.
Go to Learning Outcomes.
Add the relevant learning outcome.
Save your changes.
Example: Explain the key concepts introduced in Week 1.
Course structure+Content+Learning outcomes=Walter’s foundation
Next: turn this foundation into a learning activity.
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Step 4
Create your first learning activity
Start with a simple “Teach it back” Role Play.
Recommended first activity: Teach it back. Ask users to take the role of the teacher and explain a concept to Walter. Walter plays the learner, asks questions and probes the user’s understanding.
Watch how — Create the Teach it back Role Play
How to
Go to Activities in Walter Admin.
Select Role Play.
Create a new Role Play.
Give the activity a clear title.
In the user role, describe what you want the user to do during the activity.
In Walter’s role, describe how Walter should respond and what it should do during the conversation.
Use AI Assist to build the scenario from those role descriptions as a starting point.
Select the relevant course content and learning outcomes.
Use AI Assist for the score.
Review the generated scenario and score. You can still edit either one if needed.
Select Save to finish creating the Role Play.
Need a starting point?
Copy and adapt this example
Activity title
Teach it back — Week 1
User role — describe the action
You are the teacher. Explain one key concept from Week 1 in your own words. Give a simple example where useful, and answer Walter’s follow-up questions clearly.
Walter’s role — describe the action
You are the learner. Listen to the user’s explanation, ask relevant follow-up questions when something is unclear, and ask for an example or a clearer explanation when needed. Let the user do most of the explaining.
Important: Describe the actions in the two role fields first, then use AI Assist to create the scenario and the score. You can still edit both before you Save.
Next: place Walter and the activity into Blackboard.
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Step 5
Add Walter to Blackboard
Add the general Tutor first, then place your specific Role Play directly into the course.
5A · Add the general Tutor
Add the Walter AI Tutor
This gives users a general course chat where they can ask Walter questions and get support based on the course content you have set up.
Watch how — Add and open the general Walter AI Tutor in Blackboard
Open the relevant part of your course in Blackboard.
Use the course option for adding a tool or activity.
Open Walter AI.
Choose the Walter AI Tutor.
Add it to the course.
Open the Tutor to check what users will see.
When to use this
The general Tutor is useful when you want users to have a broader place to ask questions about the course.
5B · Add the specific activity
Deep-link the Teach it back Role Play
Place the Role Play directly in the relevant part of Blackboard so users can go straight into the activity without searching for it inside Walter.
Watch how — Add the specific Role Play to Blackboard
Go back to the relevant part of the course in Blackboard.
Add another Walter activity.
Choose the option for a Role Play.
Select the Teach it back Role Play you created.
Add it to the course.
Open the activity to check the user experience.
General Tutor
Blackboard → Walter AI Tutor → broader course support
Direct Role Play link
relevant Blackboard course area → Teach it back Role Play
Why use a direct activity link? Users encounter the activity exactly where it belongs in the course. They don’t need to open the general Tutor and look for it themselves.
✓ You’re ready to go
You have set up Walter and launched your first learning activity inside Blackboard.
Access WalterOrganise the courseAdd contentAdd outcomesCreate a Role PlayAdd it to Blackboard
Your first Walter learning activity is now part of the course.
Use cases
Start with what you want users to do
Choose the teaching need first. The Walter feature is simply the tool that helps you deliver that learning experience.
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Practise explaining or responding
Let users learn by doing
Use a simulated conversation when users need to explain a concept, practise a professional interaction or respond to a realistic situation.
Teach it back: the user explains a concept while Walter acts as the learner.
Simulation: Walter can act as a client, patient, customer or another role.
Walter feature: Role Play
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Check understanding
Give users a quick knowledge check
Create low-stakes practice from your course materials so users can check what they understand before moving on.
Use it for revision after a topic or module.
Choose a structured quiz or a conversational back-and-forth format.
Walter feature: Quiz
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Develop written responses
Let users practise explaining, justifying or applying ideas
Use a longer written response when the learning goal is more than selecting the right answer.
Add clear scoring criteria or a rubric.
Review the response and Walter’s suggested feedback before releasing results.
Walter feature: Essay question + rubric
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Put an activity in the right place
Make the activity part of the normal course flow
Place a specific Quiz, Role Play or topic-based Tutor directly inside the relevant relevant Blackboard course area so users can go straight to it.
Useful when the activity belongs to a specific week or topic.
Users do not need to open the general Tutor and search for the activity.
Walter feature: Activity Chooser / direct link
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Encourage independent study
Let users build a study space from their own materials
Users can bring together their own notes and study materials and turn them into a guided AI learning space.
Useful for revision and self-directed learning.
Can be reached through Walter or linked directly in Blackboard.
Walter feature: NoodleMe
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Teach mathematical concepts
Support practice that includes equations and working
Use Walter when users need to work with mathematical notation, calculations or step-by-step reasoning rather than plain text alone.
Useful for tutoring, practice questions and open-ended mathematical responses.
Equations can be written clearly using mathematical notation and LaTeX where needed.
Walter capability: Math support
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Guide users through a topic
Give users a more guided learning journey
When users need more direction, Walter can guide them through a topic, suggest what to do next and check their understanding along the way.
Useful when you want more than a question-and-answer chat.
Works best when the course structure and learning outcomes are clearly set up.
Walter feature: Agentic Mode
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers for common setup questions
The core walkthrough stays focused. Use this page when you need a little more detail.
🆕 When should I create a new agent or use an existing one?
Choose New Agent when you are setting up a new Walter teaching assistant for the course. Choose an existing agent when you want to continue using a Walter setup you already have access to, including its existing course materials and activities.
What you will see when adding Walter:
This is the Walter screen where you choose whether to create a new agent or reuse an existing one.
📥 Is my Blackboard content automatically copied into Walter?
No. Add the course materials you want Walter to use by uploading or importing them into the relevant part of your course structure. If the source material changes later, make sure the version Walter uses is updated as well.
🎭 How should I set up the Role Play without writing the scenario myself?
Start by describing the action in the user role and Walter role fields — what the user should do and how Walter should respond. Then use AI Assist to build the scenario from those role descriptions as a starting point.
Use AI Assist for the score as well. You can still edit both the generated scenario and score before you Save the Role Play.
If the activity needs to stay grounded in specific course materials, link the relevant references during setup.
🔗 What is the difference between the general Tutor and a direct activity link?
The general Tutor gives users a broader place to ask questions about the course. A direct activity link takes them straight into a specific Role Play, Quiz, topic or other Walter experience from the relevant relevant Blackboard course area.
✏️ Can I change the setup later?
Yes. You can continue refining the course structure, documents, learning outcomes and activities as your course develops. Start with the core information first, then add or update content when it is useful.
Support
Need a hand?
The key setup instructions are already in this guide. If you need extra help, use one of the options below.
