Kai the AI

The Chat Interface: Natural Language Admin (Our Recommended Way)

Here’s a question: Would you rather:

Option A: Click Dashboard → Students → Manage → Select Student → Actions → Enroll → Choose Section → Confirm → Done

Option B: Type: “Enroll Sarah Martinez in Section 2”

We built Kai with a radical idea: What if course administration worked like conversation instead of menu navigation?

Why Chat-First Administration?

The Problem with Traditional Interfaces

Menus require you to:

Result: Simple tasks take 2-5 minutes of clicking.

The Power of Natural Language

Chat lets you:

Result: Same task takes 10 seconds of typing.

Real Example: Course Administration

Traditional Way (5 clicks, 2 minutes)

Scenario: Invite 3 students to join your course

  1. Click “Students” tab
  2. Click “Invite Students” submenu
  3. Click “Send Invitations” button
  4. Search for Student 1, click “Invite”
  5. Repeat for Students 2 and 3
  6. Click “Save Changes”
  7. Click “Confirm”

Time: ~2 minutes Cognitive load: High (where’s the invitation option again?)

Chat Way (One message, 10 seconds)

You type:

Invite Alex Kim, Jordan Lee, and Sam Chen to my course

Kai responds:

✓ Sent course invitation to Alex Kim
✓ Sent course invitation to Jordan Lee
✓ Sent course invitation to Sam Chen

All set! They'll receive invitation emails with enrollment links.

Time: 10 seconds Cognitive load: Zero (just say what you want)

What You Can Do with Chat

Student Management

Enrollment:

You: Enroll Sarah Martinez in Section 2
Kai: ✓ Sarah Martinez enrolled in Section 2. Welcome email sent.

You: Move all students from Section 3 to Section 1
Kai: ✓ Moved 24 students from Section 3 to Section 1.
     Students notified of section change.

Drops and Withdrawals:

You: Drop John from my course
Kai: Before I do that, John has submitted 3 assignments.
     Should I:
     1. Drop and archive his work
     2. Drop and delete his work
     3. Cancel

You: Archive his work
Kai: ✓ John dropped from course. Work archived. Exit survey sent.

Assignment and Grading

Quick Assignment Creation:

You: Create a reading response assignment due Friday
Kai: ✓ Created "Reading Response" assignment
     - Due: Friday 11/22 at 11:59 PM
     - Points: 10 (default)
     - Posted to Canvas

     Want to adjust points or add rubric?

Grading Status:

You: What assignments do I need to grade?
Kai: You have 3 assignments to grade:

     1. Essay 2: 45 submissions (avg 8 pages)
     2. Problem Set 5: 38 submissions
     3. Reading Response: 12 submissions

     Want me to start grading any of these?

Extension Requests:

You: Give Sarah a 2-day extension on Essay 2
Kai: ✓ Sarah Martinez: Essay 2 due date extended to 11/24
     Notification sent to student.

Course Content

Quick Updates:

You: Change the midterm date to October 25th
Kai: Found 3 references to midterm:
     1. Syllabus (currently Oct 18)
     2. Canvas calendar (Oct 18)
     3. Announcement from Sept (Oct 18)

     Update all three?

You: Yes
Kai: ✓ Updated all 3 locations to October 25th
     Posted announcement about date change
     Students notified via email

Module Release:

You: Make Module 5 available now
Kai: ✓ Module 5 "Quantum Mechanics" published
     - 6 readings available
     - 2 videos live
     - 1 quiz activated

     32 students have already accessed it!

Analytics and Reports

Quick Insights:

You: Who's struggling in my class?
Kai: 4 students showing concerning patterns:

     🔴 Critical:
     - Alex Kim (missed last 3 quizzes, not responding)

     🟡 Warning:
     - Jordan Lee (declining quiz scores: 85→70→62)
     - Sam Chen (low participation, asks for help)
     - Taylor Wong (inconsistent engagement)

     Want details on any of them?

Performance Checks:

You: How did students do on Quiz 5?
Kai: Quiz 5 "Thermodynamics" results:
     - Average: 78% (class average usually 82%)
     - Range: 45% to 98%
     - Most missed: Question 3 (entropy concept)

     Recommendation: Review entropy in next lecture.
     Should I create a review video?

Communication

Announcements:

You: Announce that office hours are canceled tomorrow
Kai: Draft announcement:

     "Office Hours Update:
     Tomorrow's (11/20) office hours are canceled.
     Regular hours resume on Friday."

     Send to: All students (42)
     Via: Email + Canvas announcement

     Approve?

You: Yes but add that they can email questions
Kai: ✓ Updated and posted
     "...Regular hours resume Friday. Feel free to
     email questions in the meantime."
     Sent to 42 students

Targeted Messages:

You: Email all students who scored below 70 on Quiz 5
Kai: Found 8 students. Draft message:

     "Hi [Name],
     I noticed you had some challenges with Quiz 5.
     Let's connect during office hours to review.

     Available times:
     - Wed 2-4pm
     - Fri 10am-12pm

     What works for you?"

     Send this?

Why We Recommend Chat-First

It’s Faster

Our testing shows:

Over a semester:

It’s More Natural

You already know how: No training needed. If you can text a friend, you can admin your course.

Matches your thinking:

No context switching: Stay in conversation mode, don’t shift to “find the menu” mode.

It’s More Powerful

Complex tasks simplified:

You: Find all students who missed Quiz 3 and Quiz 5,
     and email them about office hours
Kai: ✓ Found 6 students matching criteria
     ✓ Sent personalized office hours invitation
     ✓ Updated student notes with outreach date

This would take 10+ clicks and 5+ minutes in traditional interface.

It Learns Your Patterns

After you use chat for a while:

You: Friday routine
Kai: Running your Friday routine:
     ✓ Posted weekend reading assignment
     ✓ Released Module 6
     ✓ Sent weekly progress summary to class
     ✓ Flagged students who need check-ins

     Same as last 3 Fridays!

Kai learns your patterns and can automate them.

You Can Still Use Menus!

Important: Chat is our recommended way, not the only way.

Menu interface is available for:

Best approach: Use chat for daily tasks, menus for setup and exploration.

Common Chat Commands

Daily Tasks

"What do I need to do today?"
"Grade the latest assignment"
"Who needs attention this week?"
"Post tomorrow's reading"
"How are students doing?"

Student Support

"Give [name] an extension until [date]"
"Drop [name] from my course"
"Email students who missed [assignment]"
"Who's at risk of failing?"
"Invite [name] to my course"

Course Management

"Create a quiz for Friday"
"Change [assignment] due date to [date]"
"Make Module X available"
"Update office hours to [times]"
"Cancel class on [date]"

Analytics

"Show quiz results for [quiz]"
"Who hasn't submitted [assignment]?"
"What topics confuse students?"
"Compare this semester to last"
"Student progress report for [name]"

Tips for Effective Chat

Be Specific But Natural

✅ Good:

"Give Sarah a 2-day extension on Essay 2"
"Email all students in Section 1 about the schedule change"
"Create a 10-point reading response due Friday"

❌ Too vague:

"Help that student"
"Send email"
"Make assignment"

Ask Questions

Kai is conversational! You can ask:

"How does grading work?"
"What's the fastest way to enroll students?"
"Can I bulk-edit assignments?"
"Show me what's possible"

Use Follow-Ups

Chat remembers context:

You: Show students at risk
Kai: [Lists 4 students]

You: Email the first two
Kai: [Drafts email to Alex and Jordan]

You: Add office hours times
Kai: [Updates email with your hours]

You: Send it
Kai: ✓ Sent

Create Shortcuts

Name your common routines:

You: Save this as "Weekly Wrap-Up"
Kai: ✓ Saved! Now you can type "run weekly wrap-up"
     to execute this sequence automatically.

Privacy and Control

Important safeguards:

Kai will confirm before:

You maintain full control:

Data security:

Getting Started with Chat

Week 1: Explore

Try simple commands:

"What can you do?"
"Show my course overview"
"List my students"

Week 2: Daily Tasks

Replace one menu task with chat:

"Post today's reading"

Week 3: Build Confidence

Try more complex tasks:

"Find students who missed last two quizzes and email them"

Week 4+: Chat-First Workflow

Make chat your default for admin tasks. Fall back to menus only when needed.

Real Testimonials

”I can’t go back to clicking” “After using chat for a month, traditional course management feels painfully slow. It’s like going from smartphone to rotary phone.” - Prof. Anderson

”Saves me hours every week” “I track time on admin tasks. Chat saves me 10-15 hours per semester. That’s time I can spend on actual teaching.” - Dr. Kim

”Game changer for accessibility” “As someone with RSI, reducing clicking is huge for me. Chat lets me admin my course without pain.” - Prof. Thompson

Next Steps

Ready to try chat-first administration?

  1. Watch it in action: Demo video
  2. Explore what’s possible: Chat Documentation
  3. Start chatting: Join the beta

Questions about the chat interface? Ask our team – we’d love to show you how it works!

P.S. Yes, you can still use menus. But once you try chat, we bet you won’t want to. 😊