Christie elementary school

CHALLENGES

Christie Elementary utilizes Google Chromebooks and Kami, a leading annotation and classroom engagement tool, in multiple classrooms for activities such as digital note taking, math assignments, and collaborative science projects, ultimately as a means of enhancing students’ communication and creativity skills. “Kami levels the playing field by giving every student a voice and allowing their creative juices to flow.” Kaya Jones, PACE Specialist Teacher explained, “ With Kami my students can sketch pictures while they are reading a poem, and collaborate with classmates that are across the room, to show mastery of the content. I love that students have a wide range of tools to use on any document in Kami.”

But practical reality was different. With students still developing fine motor skills, mastering handwriting, and typing and other forms of input into digital lessons was a challenge. Students would often make mistakes, illegible marks, or be unable to express ideas fully due to frustration with having to write with their fingers on a trackpad or typing too quickly.

SOLUTION

Over the course of eight weeks, Plano Academic & Creative Education (PACE) students at Christie Elementary used the Logitech Pen with the Kami App. The Pen allows students to write naturally, just as they would with a regular pen or pencil. The instinctive design gives students the ability to express their creativity and collaborate in even more ways in Kami. They can draw, write, outline, annotate, and highlight with ease and precision. 

The Logitech Pen is compatible with USI-enabled Chromebooks and Chromebook apps, making it the perfect fit complement to Kami. This simple compatibility allowed teachers and students to very easily collaborate, sharing ideas, drawing and writing together with ease, as well as erasing and correcting each others’ mistakes. With the intuitive design and simple connectivity, students were able to turn the Pen on and immediately start working in Kami.

STUDENT QUOTES

“This writes so smoothly, like an actual pencil”

— Kelsy R. 

     Student

“SO satisfying! You barely have to touch the screen to write”

— Juliet G.

     Student

RESULTS

Christie Elementary students found that having a Logitech Pen greatly enhanced the Kami app experience and their ability to express themselves. Over 96% of students said they would choose to use the Logitech Pen with Kami. Students used the Pen for multiple projects, like case study analysis in Social Studies, or KenKen puzzles in Math. And they loved how the Pen felt in their hand, how the tip encouraged them to write neatly, and how they could write anywhere on the screen. 

Educators at Christie Elementary loved the long battery life, the ability to tap precisely, and how it improved classroom collaboration. Educators were able to share their screens using Kami, allowing them to collaborate with students in real time, writing and drawing on the screen together. Educators also felt that writing with the Pen allowed students to retain information more, even while drawing or writing idly.