Customizing Chatbots (BusyBee)

SchoolsPLP allows teachers to create custom chatbots within their courses to support student learning, guide discussions, and provide interactive instructional experiences. This functionality is available for schools with BusyBee enabled.

BusyBee works from your instructions and stays within educational guidelines, tailoring its tone, content, and behavior to fit your learning objectives.

*Note: BusyBee Chats limit users to 100 messages every 3 hours.

This guide explains how to add and configure a Custom BusyBee Chatbot activity within a course.

Step 1: Log in to SchoolsPLP

  1. Sign in to your SchoolsPLP account using your login credentials.
  2. You will be directed to the Progress Tracking tab on your Teacher Dashboard.

Step 2: Open the Course

  1. Locate the course where you want to add the chatbot.
  2. Click the course title to open it.

Step 3: Enter Setup Mode

  1. In the upper-right corner of the course page, click Course Setup.
  2. You will see a yellow bar at the top of the screen indicating that you are in Setup Mode.

Step 4: Open the Course Editor

  1. Click Open the Course Editor in a New Tab.
  2. This will open the Buzz LMS Course Editor, where you will see the course syllabus and modules.

Step 5: Choose Where to Add the Chatbot

  1. Locate the unit or module where you want to add the chatbot.
  2. Click the + (Add) button to the right of that unit.

Example: You may choose to add a chatbot to a unit such as Cell Biology.

Step 6: Select the Custom Chatbot Tool

  1. A menu of external tools will appear.
  2. Find Custom Chatbot in the list.
  3. Click Add in the lower-right corner of the chatbot tool box.

Step 7: Configure the Chatbot Activity

After adding the chatbot tool, you will configure the activity settings.

Activity Title

Enter the name of your chatbot activity.

Example:

Cell Structure Discussion

Instructions for Students

Provide directions or context for the activity. This may include:

  • Learning objectives
  • Instructions for the discussion
  • Required tasks for students

You may also add attachments if needed.

Custom Chatbot Settings

This section controls how the chatbot interacts with students.

Topic Conversation

Enter the main topic or focus of the chatbot discussion.

Example:

Cell Structure

First Message

The chatbot (Busy B) will begin the conversation with this message.

Example:

“Hello! Today we are going to explore the structure of cells. Can you tell me what the main parts of a cell are?”

Grade Level

Select the grade level for the activity.

Example:

9th Grade Biology

Language

Choose the language the chatbot will use during the conversation.

File Uploads

You may allow students to upload files as part of the chatbot interaction if needed.

Additional Questions or Instructions

Add any follow-up questions or prompts that you want the chatbot to ask students during the conversation.

This helps guide the learning experience and deepen discussion.

Rubrics

If you plan to grade the activity, you may add a rubric at this stage.

Chat Sources

You may add chat sources to provide reference material that the chatbot can use during the conversation.

Step 8: Save the Chatbot

Once you have finished configuring your chatbot:

  1. Navigate to the top of the page.
  2. Click Save.

Step 9: Place the Chatbot in the Unit

After saving:

  1. Return to your course syllabus.
  2. You will see the chatbot activity listed.
  3. Drag or move the activity into the appropriate location within the unit.

Example:

Place it under Cell Structure within the Cell Biology unit.

Previewing the Chatbot

To preview your chatbot activity:

  1. Click the three dots next to the chatbot activity.
  2. Select Preview.

You can now test the chatbot interaction as a student would see it.

Tips for Using Custom Chatbots

  • Use chatbots to guide discussions or review concepts.
  • Include clear prompts to encourage thoughtful student responses.
  • Add rubrics if the chatbot activity will be graded.
  • Test the chatbot using Preview before assigning it to students.

Automated monitoring

BusyBee's automated monitoring conducts continuous, real-time scanning of student conversations to ensure that content deemed inappropriate is promptly detected and flagged for review for teachers and administrators.

If inappropriate content related to self-harm, sexual content, or illicit activities is identified:


  1. The chat is ended for the student and a popup appears explaining that the chat has been blocked, why it was blocked, and what the student can do.

  1. When the popup is closed, a status message remains, explaining the reason for the block.
  2. The student can click Dispute if they think they were blocked by mistake. Doing this adds another status message to the chat and sends an email to their teacher about the error.
  3. The student can Reset the chat to begin again.

An automated email notification about any block is sent to all users enrolled as teachers in the course and to additional recipients, like principals, that administrators that have added to these emails. Email notifications include:


  • Student name and ID
  • Course title and ID
  • Activity title and ID
  • The reason for the block
  • Up to the last five messages of the chat

**Important note:

Please see this article on how to ensure your email is authorized to receive notification email alerts within the LMS (Buzz):  How-to-authorize-your-email-for-buzz-notifications

Manual monitoring

Teachers and administrators with access to the course can manually block chats:


  1. Preview the Chat activity from the course editor
  2. Click the More menu on the activity toolbar.
  3. Select Block.

  1. Select a reason for the block (Self-harm, Sexual content, Illicit activity, or Other).
  2. Click Block.

  1. The same status message appears in the chat as with an automated block, and the same notification emails are sent.
  2. You can click Add comment in the More menu to add additional context around the block for other teachers and administrators to see (these are not visible to students).

Unblocking Chats

A teacher can review a blocked chat. If they decide it was blocked in error, they can Unblock it from the More menu and the student can continue the chat if they haven't already reset it.

Need Help?

If you need assistance with chatbot features:

Return to SchoolsPLP and Click the Need Help tab on the right

  • From there you can:
    • Access AI Answers to search for answers to your questions
    • Contact the SchoolsPLP support team (Chat/Email)
    • Access the Knowledge Base (Help Docs)

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