Nexus for students

[ FOR STUDENTS ]

Get unstuck without giving away your thinking

Choose your class before you start, and read your teacher's instructions. Say what you are trying to do and include a step you have already tried. If an explanation is unclear, ask for a simpler example or another way to explain the same idea.

Here is why: in a field experiment with about 1,000 high-school students, students who got answers from AI did better on practice and 17% worse on the exam they took alone. Getting hints instead of answers removed that drop.

In your learning workspace, Next steps suggests what to try, such as "Try one on your own," with the reason behind it.

How your class's mode works

Your teacher sets a mode for each class, and you cannot change it:

• Hints: questions and nudges toward your next step.
• Guided: one step at a time, and you do each step.
• Full answer with critique: a full answer with an explanation, usually for checking work you have already done.

Know what your teacher can see

Your teachers can review the questions and answers in your class chats, and your school's Nexus administrators can see them too. Nexus tells you when a chat can be reviewed. Personal chats are not shown to teachers. The exceptions are a legal requirement and a parent's request to see records where the law gives parents that right. Monitoring software on a school device works outside Nexus and may capture anything a student types. Do not add passwords, someone else's private information, or anything your teacher has asked you not to share.

When an answer seems wrong

AI makes mistakes. Ask which reasoning or source supports the claim, compare it with your notes, and ask your teacher if the conflict remains. Where your school allows it, you can compare answers from two or three models and keep the one you prefer. Agreement between models is not proof that an answer is correct.

Ways to use AI that keep you learning

Most teens who use AI for schoolwork also use it without getting answers: 45% brainstorm, 43% check finished work and 40% get feedback on their own answer (Common Sense Media, Aug 2026). Those uses keep you doing the thinking. Before you ask, try one of these:

• Paste your attempt and ask what to check first.
• Ask for a hint about the next step, not the whole solution.
• Ask for a similar practice problem, and solve it alone.
• Explain the idea back in your own words and ask what you missed.