Engaging every learner: How Kami transforms passive lessons into active learning

“Kami’s interactive features transformed what could have been a passive learning experience into something engaging, accessible, and personalized, ensuring that every student, regardless of their abilities, could participate fully.”
Mary Beth Flatau, Technology Specialist, New York

During a remote learning unit on ecosystems in a Living Environment class, Mary Beth Flatau encountered a common challenge: How to ensure that all students, including those with disabilities, could engage fully with complex reading materials. Many students struggled with comprehension and participation when faced with dense, text-heavy content. This often led to frustration and disengagement. Without real-time support or adaptive tools, it was difficult to create a truly inclusive learning experience.

One student in particular had difficulty engaging with long texts, which made participation challenging. For him, dense readings felt like an insurmountable barrier, and he often avoided the material. However, after introducing Kami’s interactive tools into the lesson, everything changed. Instead of passively skipping over difficult sections, he began actively engaging with the text. He used Kami’s features to highlight key points, add comments, and draw visual representations of the material.

“In my 20+ years as a Special Education teacher—and the last three years as an Instructional Coach helping teachers integrate technology into the classroom—I’ve worked with many tools, but few have had the same impact on student engagement as Kami.”

For the first time, Mary Beth saw this student take ownership of his learning, marking up the text with his own thoughts and questions. By the end of the unit, he had not only gained a deeper understanding of ecosystems but had also developed the confidence to tackle complex material. This wasn’t just a victory in reading comprehension, it was a breakthrough in how he saw himself as a capable and engaged learner.

Mary Beth soon noticed that this shift in engagement wasn’t limited to just one student. Across the entire class, students who had previously struggled to participate started to find their voice. The combination of real-time feedback, the ability to organize information visually, and the chance to interact with the lesson in multiple ways helped create a more inclusive, student-centered environment.

“Kami is the one tool I couldn’t live without. When teachers ask me, ‘What’s the best product for…?’ I almost always find myself coming back to Kami. It truly does it all, providing the flexibility to support all types of learners.”

Key benefits included:

• Students feeling more confident participating in discussions, knowing they had alternative ways to express their thoughts.
• Real-time feedback allowing Mary Beth to keep everyone on track, preventing confusion from turning into disengagement.
• The ability to annotate, highlight, and visually break down texts making learning more accessible, especially for students with diverse needs.

The success of this lesson encouraged Mary Beth to integrate more of Kami’s tools into her other lessons. Features like real-time annotation, voice-to-text, and AI-powered tools allowed her to break down barriers for students who previously struggled to participate. The Split-and-Merge Tool became essential in customizing readings, making them more manageable for students with cognitive challenges.

With more than 20 years of experience in Special Education and as an Instructional Coach, Mary Beth advocates for the value of Kami in the classroom. She highlights how the tool’s interactive features enable teachers to meet the diverse needs of all students. By providing flexible ways for students to engage with material and demonstrate their understanding, Kami empowers all students—especially those with learning challenges—to engage actively, build confidence, and take ownership of their learning.