Using Kami in the Classroom

Kami is a PDF annotation and editing application with several immersive and interactive features to enhance learning (Kami, n.d.-b). Free features include integration with Google Drive and OneDrive, text, freehand, and box highlighting, strikethrough, underline, insert textbox, drawing, text boxes, and text comments. The school/district and individual teacher plans offer additional tools such as adding videos and images to PDF documents, an integrated dictionary, voice typing, read-aloud, inserting equations, graphic organizers, voice and video comments, and stickers. All plans allow users to collaborate within the same PDF and access the extensive Kami library. Premium education plans allow teachers to integrate Kami with Google Classroom and other LMS platforms to share content and assignments with students. This tool, particularly the premium plans, helps teachers take advantage of a comprehensive suite of PDF annotation tools to make engaging, interactive instructional content for their students (Kami, 2022). Essentially, this product can enhance instruction where traditional paper worksheets or resources may have been previously used.

Audience

The suite of features is extensive and flexible, allowing teachers of all subjects and grade levels to benefit. However, it may be better suited for middle and high school classrooms since the array of tools may be overwhelming and unnecessary for younger students. In particular, any teacher who instructs students in notetaking and/or annotating texts will benefit from this tool. My district, Manchester School District in New Hampshire, has a premium subscription, so I will be focused on the features available with this level of service.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of using this tool include offering enhanced annotation and editing tools to students and making more engaging content that promotes collaboration. Disadvantages of using Kami may include a less streamlined experience than using Google Classroom alone since students will need to navigate to another website to use the tool and potential losses in reading comprehension associated with digital reading mediums (Clinton, 2019).

Budget

Individual teacher subscriptions come to $99/year per teacher, but school and district plans vary in cost (Kami, n.d.-b). However, for a large district, the rate for the teacher subscription is $2.25/user. Therefore, the cost of subscribing to the Manchester School District would be approximately $38,250 to cover students and teachers (Kami Sales Team, personal communication, March 11, 2024).

Training and Rollout

For school and district subscribers, Kami offers free training and onboarding (Kami, n.d.-b). Additionally, there are free self-paced resources available on the Kami website and their YouTube channel that teachers can access on-demand (Kami, n.d.-c). In general, teachers can be given access to their new Kami accounts as soon as the subscription is purchased, even if training has not been provided yet. An email will be sent out to all staff to announce the new tool and provide a basic overview of how to log in and some of the features available. The district or school should schedule training sessions provided by Kami early in the rollout process to support teachers who may not be familiar with similar tools. Since the Kami is similar to other applications that staff may already be familiar with, these training sessions will be optional and flexible to meet the needs of staff. Training opportunities can include webinar sessions on individual topics that may be of interest to staff members such as using Kami in each content area, grading with Google Classroom and Kami, providing feedback using text, audio, and video commenting, using Kami with colleagues, and troubleshooting the student experience in Kami.

Equipment Needed

Teachers and students will need computer devices. In the case of my district, they will use existing Google Workspace for Education accounts to access the platform and integrate the tool with our LMS, Google Classroom. A classroom project or interactive display (like a ClearTouch or Smart Board) may also be beneficial to facilitate the modeling of the platform to students. The district previously purchased ClearTouch devices with integrated PCs, so teachers will be able to access and display the Kami interface to students with this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What can Kami do for me?

A: View this walk through video to introduce some of the basic features offered by Kami.

Q: How do I log into Kami?

A: Since we are a Google district, you will log into Kami by going to kami.app and selecting "Continue with Google." You will then be prompted to log in using your Google account - make sure to use your district account!

Q: How do I assign material to my students using Kami?

A: There are several ways to use Kami to assign material to your students! As a Google district, it is recommended that you use Google Classroom. You must first sync your Kami account with Google Classroom to upload your classes to the Kami platform.

Once you have logged into Kami, you will see several options. Select the button that says, "Create a Google Classroom Assignment."

Fill out the form that appears. You will upload your PDF from Google Drive or another source, depending on where you have it saved. You can select the tools that you want available to students, schedule the date it will be posted on Google Classroom, and organize the new assignment within your existing topics.

More information about using Kami with Google Classroom can be found here.

Q: How do I add students to my class on Kami?

A: Again, you will use Google Classroom to do this. You must first install the Kami extension. After you create an assignment in Kami (see the directions above), students will select "Open with Kami" in the Google Classroom assignment. They will then be automatically given access to their Kami accounts and the assigned PDF. More information can be found here.

Q: How do I find ideas for using Kami in my subject area? What kinds of activities and assignments are possible in Kami?

A: Kami is a flexible web tool that allows your students to annotate and customize their PDFs. You can take notes, annotate texts, and create collaborative PDFs where students can interact with each other and their teacher. Kami Academy offers free on-demand training that can help you use Kami effectively to achieve your instructional goals.

All FAQ answers are paraphrased from the Kami Help Center and tailored to meet the needs of teachers in Manchester School District. Access additional support by contacting administration or your building technology integrator if you can't find the information you need here or in the Kami Help Center.

References

Clinton, V. (2019). Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 42(2), 288-325. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12269

Kami. (n.d.-a). Help center. Retrieved on March 10, 2024. https://help.kamiapp.com/en/

Kami. (n.d.-b). Pricing. Retrieved on March 10, 2024. https://www.kamiapp.com/pricing/

Kami. (n.d.-c). Resources: Kami Academy. Retrieved on March 10, 2024. https://www.kamiapp.com/kami-academy/

Kami. (2022). Kami 101 for teachers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQQnDjnydQE&t

Kami. (2023). What is Kami: Your classroom PDF annotator and more [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZphxOn928Y