Explain tool

What is the Explain tool?

The Explain tool generates a clear explanation of selected text, images, charts, graphs, or diagrams in a document. It rephrases ideas in accessible language and adds helpful context, much like a teacher breaking down a challenging concept step by step.

With the latest update, Explain now includes expanded personalization settings directly inside the modal. Plus, Teachers have full control of what students can use.

Students can:

• Set a learning goal for the type of explanation they need

• Choose the style of response

• Adjust the reading level

• Translate the explanation into another language

All without leaving their workflow. This creates fewer clicks, better flow, and more consistent scaffolding when students need support most.

 

 

How to use the Explain tool

1. On the Kami toolbar, open the Understand tools menu and select Explain.

 

2. Highlight text in your document, or toggle on Area Selection (located at the bottom of the Understand tools menu) to select images, diagrams, or larger sections of content.

The explanation will appear automatically in the modal. 

 

 

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Personalizing your explanation

The updated Explain modal includes a new expandable settings section.

 

1. Goal

Choose a learning goal for the kind of support you want:

• Choose for me: Kami automatically selects the most helpful explanation style based on the content.

• Understand concept: Focuses on explaining the overall idea clearly.

• Work through it: Breaks down the content step by step.

• Define tricky term: Focuses on clarifying difficult vocabulary or phrases.

2. Style

Select a style to determine how detailed you want the response to be:

• Short: A concise explanation.

• Detailed: A more thorough breakdown with added context.

4. Adjust level

Use the level slider to make the explanation easier or more complex to read.

• Slide toward Easy for simplified language.

• Slide toward Hard for more advanced wording.

This allows students to match the explanation to their reading level or learning needs.

 

Other Explain options

From the Explain modal, you can also:

 

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Using Feature Control with the Explain tool

When creating an assignment or sharing a document with collaborators, you can configure optional Feature Controls to grant or remove student/collaborator access to certain features.

 

For the Explain tool, you can limit or grant access to each of the 4 learning goal options (Choose for me, Understand concept, Work through it, and Define tricky term). Otherwise, you can disable the Explain tool for students/collaborators altogether.

 

2. If an assignment is being created, teachers can choose to configure feature access for the Whole Class or Individual Students from the left-side panel. When sharing a file from Kami, only the Whole Class option will be visible.

 

The Individual Students setting will override the Whole Class setting for those students if they differ. This allows you to manage the majority of your class efficiently, while still differentiating for specific student needs.

 

 

3. Under the Understand Tools section, find the Explain tool options. 

 

 

4. Select the checkbox next to the specific learning goal(s) you'd like to disable. When disabled, your students/collaborators will not see these option(s) available as learning goals.

 

5. Otherwise, you can select the checkbox next to the Explain tool to disable the tool altogether. With this disabled, your students/collaborators will no longer see the Explain tool listed under the Understand tool menu in the Kami toolbar.

 

 

6. When finished, select Confirm at the bottom of the Feature Control window to save your changes. Then, proceed with publishing your assignment as normal.

 

 

Any changes made to your Feature Control settings will be automatically applied to students/collaborators, so you can modify them before or after you share your assignment.