ChatPods are AI-powered chat spaces in Kira where students engage around a specific lesson or activity. You guide the experience, monitor participation, and view learning insights in real time. Students get a structured, low-stakes place to ask questions, practice concepts, and learn together.
Why Use ChatPods?
Engage Every Learner
ChatPods are designed to get every student thinking and participating, whether through brainstorming, warm-ups, or creative confidence-building activities.
Prime Deeper Learning
ChatPods let students surface prior knowledge and opinions in a safe, interactive space, perfect before a whole-class discussion or a new lesson. This helps make student thinking visible and sets the stage for deeper exploration.
Versatility Across Subjects
Whether for history, art, writing, computer science, or any subject area, ChatPods can be customized and reused to fit your goals. You can align them to specific standards, add files, or adapt the prompt for any topic.
Real-Time Visibility & Feedback: As students interact with the AI, you get a live summary of participation rates and conversation threads, helping you quickly spot who's engaged and areas for follow-up.
Step-by-Step: Set Up and Run a ChatPod
1) Create
Click Create on the purple left-hand nav.
Choose AI Tools → AI ChatPods.
2) Configure
Required: Add a name and a prompt.
Optional: Add standards/skills, files, and additional context.
Tip: Click Improve Prompt to refine your wording.
3) Preview
Click Preview to experience the student view.
If the flow isn’t quite right, tweak or rewrite your prompt.
4) Save & Find Later
Click Save. Your ChatPod is stored in Library → My Resources with a summary page and session history.
5) Launch with Students
Click Launch Now (top-right).
Choose how to invite students—Invite with a Share Code is the quickest.
Set the session duration and click Launch.
Note: Student dashboard integration for share codes is coming; for now, share the link and students can click to join.
6) Monitor & Manage
Track how many students are in and their activity level.
View a live summary of the class conversation.
Pause to freeze activity (resume when ready).
In Beta, students refresh after you resume.
Close to end the session; you can relaunch anytime from the same ChatPod.
What should my ChatPod be about?
ChatPods are incredibly versatile—they’re subject-agnostic and can spark meaningful conversations in any discipline. Here are some ideas and inspiration from both your notes and the product’s guidance:
History & Social Studies
Discuss the events and causes of the American Revolution.
Have the ChatPod “speak” as a historical figure (e.g., George Washington) to introduce or explore perspectives on a topic.
Art
Chat about major art movements from the Renaissance to modern times. Invite students to compare, critique, or discuss artwork.
Writing & Language Arts
Explore ways to improve descriptive writing by encouraging students to use figurative language and describe their surroundings in creative ways.
Debate literary characters, themes, or author’s intent.
Computer Science
Chat about influential contributors throughout computing history.
Have the ChatPod walk students through troubleshooting or concepts in programming.
Any Subject/Grade
Use as a brainstorming space: spark ideas around a new project or theme.
“Do now”/Warm-up: Get students sharing prior knowledge, thoughts, or opinions before diving deeper.
Confidence building: Focus on review, practice, or low-stakes discussion to boost student voice.
Quick checks: Run an exit ticket or mid-lesson check-in.
Role-play: Ask the ChatPod to respond as a scientist, artist, leader, or any role tied to your current lesson.
Best Use Cases
To spark ideas and creativity when students brainstorm on a topic.
As a primer or warm-up before whole-class or group discussions.
To build student confidence around new or challenging material.
For checking understanding before or after instruction.
ChatPods can be customized for virtually any learning purpose — just set a topic, prompt, or role, and watch as students engage in thoughtful, visible learning conversations!
FAQ
How do students join?
Invite with a Share Code
Invite Students From A Section
Invite Students by Email
Can I use ChatPods in any subject?
Yes—ChatPods are subject-agnostic. Try historical debates, figurative language practice, CS pioneers, and more.
What does Pause do?
Pause freezes student interactions; Resume continues the session (students refresh in Beta). Close ends the session.
How do I monitor student activity?
The teacher view shows how many students have joined, their activity level, and a live class conversation summary.
Can I relaunch or reuse a ChatPod later?
Yes. You can close a session and relaunch it anytime, using the same ChatPod configuration.