NinerLink by InScribe: Online Student Support Community
NinerLink by InScribe
NinerLink is UNC Charlotte’s AI-Powered Online Student Support Community that leverages technology to connect students to their peers, instructors, instructional assistants, and resources in a safe digital environment that is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Its goals are to promote:
- Engagement and Belonging
- Peer-to-Peer Discourse
- Learning Efficacy
- Personalized and Adaptive Support
NinerLink is powered by InScribe, an AI-integrated community platform for higher education institutions that supports opportunities for students to come together online for various purposes and intentions.
NinerLink Benefits
Benefits to Students
- 24/7 Digital Support: Safe space for help-seeking and collaboration.
- AI-Powered Resources: Curated study materials and recommendations.
- Study Groups & Peer Connections: Engage in discussions and teamwork.
- Live Review Sessions: TA-led with automatic reminders.
- Seamless Access: Available via Canvas and mobile single sign-on.
Benefits to Faculty
- Fewer Emails: Streamlined communication.
- AI-Driven Insights: Community and resource usage analytics.
- Smart Automation: AI assists with curation, posting, and archiving.
- Proactive Support: AI flags student concerns for human intervention.
- Faculty-Designed: Tailored support with course-specific or expanded communities.
Benefits to Teaching Assistants and Preceptors
- Stronger TA Connections: More interaction and relationship building.
- Enhanced Support: Greater access to office hours and live reviews.
- Defined Moderation: Clear TA roles within the community.
NinerLink Grounding
Struggling with academic and social integration can lead to isolation, poor performance, and lower retention rates (Chang et al., 2020; Collins et al., 2013). NinerLink provides a 24/7 digital space for help-seeking, collaboration, and student support—boosting success and retention.
Research-Backed Approach
Built on High-Impact Teaching Practices (HIPs) and the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework, NinerLink fosters:
✅ Social Presence – Encourages belonging and help-seeking
✅ Teaching Presence – Faculty & TAs provide resources and live support
✅ Cognitive Presence – Supports critical thinking through discussion
AI-Powered Support
NinerLink features ROSI, an AI assistant that delivers real-time, personalized resources, enhancing student engagement (Bond et al., 2023).
By integrating HIPs, COI, and AI, NinerLink creates an innovative, adaptive student support system—helping you stay connected and succeed.
NinerLink Community Characteristics
Help Seeking & Peer Interaction
Peer Sharing and Support
Student-Led Discussion Boards
Student-Led Chat (including Group Chat)
Q & A
Live Review Sessions & Reminders
Office Hours and Live Review Sessions
Review Session Automatic Reminders
Moderator-Led Engagement
Discussion Board for Class Activities
Polls
Code Sharing
Runnable Code
Access to Course Resources
Resource Archiving
AI-Driven Resource Curation
AI-Driven Resource Recommendations
Browse Resources by Topic
Platform Access and Integration
Canvas Integration
Single Sign-On Login
Three point navigation via Canvas, Inscribe Mobile App, and Inscribe Web Portal
AI Community Moderation & Sentiment Flagging
AI Community Moderation
AI Sentiment Flagging for Human Review
Analytics
Student Usage Analytics
Resource Usage Analytics
Customizable Reputation Points for Community Engagement based on:
- Questions Posted: Questions started.
- Answers Posted: Responses provided to questions.
- Shares Posted: Share posts created (statements).
- Share Responses Posted: Responses to share posts.
- Replies: Replies to responses to either share posts or questions. Replies are one level down from responses so think of them as a follow-up question to an answer given, or a follow-up to a particular response on a share post.
- Reactions Given: Total number of reactions given to share posts, questions, and resources.
Want to Learn More?
Learn about the history of NinerLink by InScribe.
Learn about the origins of NinerLink, and the faculty who championed it.
Learn about capacity building efforts.
See how the CTL is working with faculty champions to scale and build capacity for future NinerLink communities.
Interested in adding NinerLink to your course(s)?
Submit a help ticket for a NinerLink consultation.
Symposium on AI-Powered Student Support Communities with InScribe
