Works in the course you already run
Canvas opens inside Workspace, with your courses, permissions, and existing setup intact. Sign in the way you always do. No migration or API tokens.
The AI workspace for instructors
Tell it what needs doing. Workspace works through it.
NextStep Workspace is an AI course operations assistant that works inside Canvas. It can understand a course, navigate the LMS, and complete multi-step tasks — from grading and feedback to course questions, content preparation, deadline roundups, and student follow-up. You review what matters.
Free for instructors on macOS and Windows. Keep Canvas exactly as it is.
Demo of the NextStep Workspace desktop app: labeled sidebar of chats, assistant in the center with a task list, school Canvas gradebook in a side panel, drafts waiting for instructor approval.
NextStep Workspace
Grade argument essays
ENGL 101
Grade the argument essays against my rubric and draft feedback. Don’t post anything.
On it. Working through 12 submissions with your rubric now. Scores and comments stay drafts until you approve them.
Gradebook
SpeedGraderSearch Students
Search Assignments
Student Name | Classical Argument EssayOut of 100 Manual | Midterm QuizOut of 50 | Discussion 4Out of 20 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avery Kim akim24 | 94 | 46 | 18 | 93.5% |
| Ben Ortega bortega | 87 | 42 | 17 | 85.9% |
| Maya Chen mchen19 | 48 | 19 | 92.9% | |
| Jordan Ellis jellis | 40 | 16 | 82.4% | |
| Priya Natarajan pnatarajan | 45 | 18 | 89.4% | |
| Sam Whitfield swhitfield | 38 | 15 | 77.1% |
Does the work, not just the talking
Ask in plain language. Workspace can read the course, navigate Canvas, and work through a multi-step task while you follow along.
Your judgment stays in the loop
Workspace shows its plan and queues consequential changes for review. You decide what gets edited, posted, or sent to a student.
Across the work of a course
One assistant for more than grading.
Grading is a useful place to start. Workspace is built for the wider set of jobs that fill an instructor’s day: finding context, preparing materials, checking the course, and turning information into the next useful action.
01
Grade a stack of work
Read the rubric and submissions, draft scores and feedback, and collect everything in one review queue.
02
Prepare the next assignment
Turn course goals and existing material into a first draft of instructions, a rubric, or a quiz for you to refine.
03
See what needs attention
Round up missing work, approaching deadlines, and course activity without opening every page by hand.
04
Work from course context
Ask questions across your materials, assignments, and Canvas pages instead of copying context into a separate chatbot.
05
Improve course content
Review instructions, rubrics, and learning materials for gaps or ambiguity, then prepare revisions for approval.
06
Prepare student follow-up
Gather the relevant course history and draft a thoughtful check-in while you keep control of what gets sent.
How Workspace works
Give it the goal. Keep control of the result.
01
Describe the outcome
Ask for the finished work in plain language: grade these essays, audit next week's module, summarize missing work, or improve this rubric.
02
Follow the work
Workspace turns the request into a visible plan, opens the right parts of Canvas, and works through each step beside you.
03
Decide what counts
Review the result, inspect the evidence, and accept, edit, or reject any consequential change before it reaches the course.
Same privacy guarantees
The assistant runs on NextStep inference, not someone else's API.
Everything the assistant reads and writes runs through our own inference, inside NVIDIA Confidential Computing. That enclave is locked down far enough that even we can’t see the responses. Your courses never train anyone’s models.
Read the Trust CenterStart with Workspace. Grow into the LMS.
An instructor can start with Workspace on Canvas today. When a school wants one connected platform for courses, tutoring, early intervention, and isolated infrastructure, the full NextStep LMS is ready for that next step.