When a File-Sharing Classroom Isn't Enough for Live Lessons

Most tools that call themselves a "classroom" are really file lockers: you post a worksheet, pupils download it, and later you collect it back. That is handy for admin, but it does almost nothing while you are actually teaching in the room. If you want a classroom platform for live teaching, the question is not "where do the files live?" but "what happens on the board, and on every pupil's screen, right now?" ClassKite is built around that moment rather than around storage.

File sharing is admin; teaching is live

Handing out a PDF and gathering it in is a distribution job. It tells you nothing about whether the class followed your explanation, and it leaves you marking a pile afterwards. Teaching live is different work:

Upload a PDF and teach straight from it on the smart board, annotating with pressure-sensitive, calligraphy-style ink as you go.
"Follow-me" page sync keeps every student device on the page you are on, and full-screen present mode clears the clutter.
Your pen strokes stream live to pupil screens, and a continuous vertical scroll means long documents stay in one flow.

None of that requires a Google account or any roster import — pupils simply open a browser. If you are weighing this against the obvious incumbent, our live-teaching alternative page lays out the difference honestly.

Check understanding without leaving the lesson

Because you are already teaching from the document, you can turn it into questions and run practice live in the same session. Push a practice to the class and watch objective answers auto-mark on submit, so multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching and jumbled-sentence questions give instant feedback. You build those questions by hand, by bulk-importing the Question Bank spreadsheet template, or by letting the AI draft questions you review and approve one by one. Maths goes in as LaTeX and you can attach images. If you would rather work from existing material, here is how to create digital practice from a PDF.

See the room, not a submission count

A file locker tells you who handed in. A live lesson tells you who is stuck right now. The Live Student Grid shows in-progress, done and flagged-for-help states, a "struggling" signal, presence dots, and each pupil's completion and score. Afterwards, reports cover per-session completion, average score and accuracy, a per-student breakdown, a score-trend chart, a sessions log and CSV export. There is no gradebook — the point is to teach responsively, not to keep a ledger.

Start teaching live from your next PDF — upload, annotate on the board, and check understanding in the same session.

Frequently asked questions

Does ClassKite integrate with Google Classroom?

No. There is no Google integration or roster import. Pupils join free in a browser using a class code — no app and no paid account needed.

Is the live grid and reporting free?

Teacher Basic is free and lets you teach with PDF annotation on the smart board, write questions by hand, and run practice with instant feedback. The Live Student Grid, reports, sessions log, score trend and CSV export, plus AI question generation and spreadsheet import, are on the paid Teacher Plus and School plans.

Does the AI read my PDF and write the lesson?

No. The AI drafts questions only, which you edit and approve. It does not read your PDF's contents and it does not write lesson plans or worksheets.