How to Use AiRA, Your AI Reporting Assistant

Curious how your data can work for you? Use AIRA to quickly transform your data into clear, easy-to-understand insights.

 

 

What is AIRA?

Meet AiRA (AI Reporting Assistant), your built-in tool for understanding data in AfterSchool HQ.

AiRA allows you to ask questions in plain language and have a natural conversation about your data. It analyzes the selected data source and returns easy-to-understand reports, summaries, and visualizations—no spreadsheets required.

For Example:

• “How many students registered this month?”
• “Which programs had the most absences last week?”
• “Show attendance trends over the last 3 months”

AiRA will analyze your selected data and return clear, easy-to-read insights, no spreadsheets required.

Who Can Access AiRA?

Currently, AiRA is available to:

• Owner users
• Admin users

 

Ask Questions Naturally

You can ask AiRA questions just like you would ask a person. There is no limit to the number of questions you can ask.

💡 Tip: AiRA may take a few moments to process your data and generate responses.

1. Select a Data Source First

Before asking a question, you must choose a data source. This tells AiRA where to pull information from.

Available data sources include:

• Attendance Data
  Student check-ins, absences, and attendance trends
• Registration Data
  Student enrollments, sign-ups, and capacity
• Survey Data
  Responses from forms and surveys
• Custom CSV Upload
  Your own uploaded data (e.g., rosters, program lists, custom metrics)
  
  

💡Tip: AiRA will only use the selected data source for that conversation. You can switch sources at any time. Always Select the Right Data Source First.

2. Using Survey Data

When using a survey as your data source:

• AiRA pulls the latest available data at the time of selection
• It does not automatically refresh as new responses come in
• To analyze newly submitted responses, simply reselect the survey data source to load the latest available data.

3. Why AiRA Needs Training

AIRA improves over time as it learns from how you interact with it.

4. How AiRA Learns

Think of AiRA like a new team member who's great at identifying patterns and answering questions but is still learning your organization's data and reporting preferences.

AiRA improves over time by:

• Learning from the types of questions you ask.
• Adapting to your organization's data structure and naming conventions.
• Improving based on your feedback and follow-up questions.
• Becoming more effective as it analyzes real-world data and interactions.
  
  

💡 Tip: If a response isn't quite what you expected, let AiRA know by rephrasing your request or providing additional context. Every interaction helps improve future responses.

 

5. How You Can Improve Results

• Be specific
  Clear questions lead to better answers
• Try different phrasing
  Reword your question if needed
• Ask follow-up questions
  Example: “Can you show this as a pie chart?”
• Give feedback
  Let AIRA know if something isn’t correct
  
  

💡Tip: Use specific dates instead of vague terms like “recent.”

 

AiRA supports conversational follow-up questions. For example, after generating a report or chart, you can ask:

• "Can you show this as a pie chart?"
• "Can you re-run the data?"
• "Break this down by grade level."
• "Add totals to the top of each column."
• "Group the results by school."
  
  

💡 Tip: You don't need to start over each time. AiRA remembers the current conversation and can build upon previous responses.

 

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Troubleshooting

If AiRA’s response isn’t accurate, try the following:

1. Check Your Data Source

Make sure you selected the correct data source.

If using a CSV:

• Ensure headers are clear
• Use consistent naming

2. Be Specific

✅ “How many new students registered in March 2025?”
🚫 “How’s registration?”

✅ “How many male students enrolled between September 2024 and May 2025?”
🚫 “How many this school year?”

Avoid vague terms like:

• “recent”
• “a lot”
• “good”
  
  

3. Rephrase Your Question

If AiRA doesn't return the information you're looking for, try asking the same question differently.

For example:

• Use complete words instead of abbreviations (write January instead of Jan, or Wednesday instead of Wed).
• Add more detail or context.
• Tell AiRA what wasn't correct and ask it to try again.

Examples:

• "That isn't what I was looking for. Show registrations by school instead."
• "Can you group these results by grade level?"
• "Re-run the report using attendance data."
  
  

💡 Tip: Small wording changes often produce better results.

4. Ask Follow-Up Questions

You can refine responses by asking:

• “Can you show this as a pie chart?”
• “Can you re-run the data with totals?”
• “Can you break this down by grade level?”
  
  

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there a limit to how many questions I can ask?

A: No. You can ask as many questions as needed.

Q: Can I ask follow-up questions?

A: Yes. AiRA supports conversational reporting, so you can continue asking questions about the same data without starting over. For example, you can ask it to change a chart type, regroup the data, or provide additional details based on the previous response.

Q: Why is AiRA taking time to respond?

A: AiRA processes your data before responding, which may take a few moments depending on the dataset.

Q: Can I switch data sources?

A: Yes. You can change the data source at any time.

Q: Does AiRA automatically update survey data?

A: No. Survey data reflects the latest data at the time of selection and does not auto-refresh.

Q: Can I upload my own data?

A: Yes. You can upload a CSV file to analyze custom data.

Q: What should I do if AiRA gives incorrect results?

• Check your data source

• Rephrase your question

• Be more specific

• Ask a follow-up question

 

💡If you experience any issues or have further questions with “Intro to Your AI Reporting Assistant (AiRA)”, don't hesitate to get in touch with our support team at support@afterschoolhq.com.