Online coursework spreads your class across a dozen tabs: readings on one site, quizzes on another, lecture slides in a PDF, discussion posts somewhere else. The explanation you need is almost never on the page you are stuck on. Lensia fixes that by putting an AI assistant inside Chrome, and the part you will use most for online coursework is the sidebar chat: a panel that opens next to your class and stays open the whole session. You paste in what confuses you, read the walkthrough, ask a follow-up, and keep going without leaving the page. For the quick stuff, a floating panel grabs anything on screen in a couple of seconds. Install Lensia free and set it up in about a minute.
Lensia is a study aid. Use it to learn the material, build your own practice, and check your work *after* you attempt it. Using it during a graded assessment where AI is restricted is academic dishonesty, and that is not what this guide is for.
The sidebar chat is home base
Open the sidebar from your Chrome toolbar. Chrome's side panel docks next to your coursework so your material and the chat stay visible together. Every plan includes it.
The sidebar is the main surface because online coursework is a series of connected ideas, not one-off facts, and the sidebar keeps the whole thread:
- Conversation history carries across sessions, so Tuesday's confusing reading is still there when Thursday's assignment builds on it.
- Bookmarks save the explanations you will want again before a test.
- A model picker lets you switch from a fast model for quick recall to a stronger one for a heavy concept, all in the same conversation.
A realistic session: you paste a dense paragraph from an online reading and ask for it in plain terms, then type "quiz me on this" and answer the questions it writes, then paste your answers back to find the gaps. That loop, run beside your class, is how remote material actually sticks. For the routine around it, read the study smarter guide.
What paid tiers add in the sidebar
The sidebar is free. Two paid upgrades make it stronger. Web search and fetch URL let the AI pull a fact or read a specific link while it explains. Agent mode on Pro lets it chain steps: read your open tab, take a screenshot, look something up, then answer.
The floating panel: fast answers on any site
Because online classes live on so many different sites, it helps to have one tool that works everywhere without any special setup. That is the floating panel, on every plan. Press Ctrl+Shift+X, drag a box around a reading, slide, or practice question, and a step-by-step explanation appears on top of the page in a few seconds. No new tab, no retyping.
The panel does more than one-shot answers:
- Ask Mode turns it into a custom-question box where you can type a prompt and attach up to three images from your screen.
- Quick Capture (
Ctrl+Shift+F) repeats the last capture area, which is fast when you are stepping through a set of similar problems. Ctrl+Shift+Ehides the panel completely and brings it back.
For the full breakdown of both surfaces, read how Lensia works.
Works on the sites your class already uses
Both surfaces read from your screen, so nothing needs a special connection to your school's platform. Study readings, slides, and practice on the platforms you actually use: Canvas (Canvas guide), Moodle, Blackboard, Schoology, Top Hat, Google Forms practice sets, or a PDF in the browser. For platform-specific advice, read Canvas, Moodle and Blackboard tips every student should know.
Which plan you need
Every tier signs in with Google. Sign in once to activate.
Free covers the sidebar chat, the floating panel with Ask Mode, Quick and Standard models, and the Lensia Max router (it picks a model per question and takes 15 percent off the cost). Basic adds roughly ten times the usage, reasoning mode (a single on/off toggle), custom instructions, web search, fetch URL, and the Advanced models. Pro has the highest allowance and adds agent mode in the sidebar plus Auto-Solve on Vocabulary.com. For a fuller comparison, read the AI study helper for students guide and the AI homework helper complete guide.
Get set up for your next online class
Setup takes under two minutes. Install Lensia from the Chrome Web Store, sign in with Google, and open the sidebar next to whatever class has you stuck. Then reach for Ctrl+Shift+X on the next question you hit while reading. One tool, every tab, no more bouncing between windows to understand your own coursework.
Install Lensia today and make your online coursework make sense.