Documentation

Getting Started

CodeKiwi turns your Google Slides presentations into live, interactive coding lessons. Students see your slides in real-time while writing and running code side-by-side — no accounts or installs required on their end.

As a teacher you'll need:

• A Google account (to sign in and access Google Slides)
• A Google Slides presentation with your lesson content

Students only need a modern web browser and the session code you share with them.

Creating an Account

Sign Up with Google (Recommended)

1. Go to codekiwi.tech/signup
2. Click Sign in with Google
3. Select your Google account and grant the requested permissions
4. You'll land on your dashboard at codekiwi.tech/home

Sign Up with Email

1. Go to codekiwi.tech/signup
2. Fill in your name, email, and password
3. Click Create Account

Marking Coding Slides

By default, students see only the slide. To show the live code editor on a specific slide, mark it as a Code Question. There are two ways to do this:

Option A — Via the Add-On Sidebar (recommended)

1. Open your presentation and make sure the CodeKiwi sidebar is open
2. Click the slide you want to mark in the slide panel on the left
3. Click Mark Current Slide in the Coding Slides section of the sidebar
4. The slide number appears instantly as a green chip in the list

The Coding Slides panel shows all marked slides as compact numbered chips. To remove a slide's coding marker, click the × on its chip.

Option B — Via Speaker Notes (manual)

1. Open the slide in Google Slides
2. Open Speaker Notes (View → Show Speaker Notes)
3. At the very top of the notes, type exactly:
   Code Question: Write a function that…
4. The text after the colon becomes the question prompt students see

Launching a Session

There are two ways to start a CodeKiwi session:

Option 1 — From your Dashboard (web)

1. Sign in at codekiwi.tech/home
2. Click Launch Session
3. Choose one of two options:
   • Use Template — creates a fresh CodeKiwi starter deck in your Google Drive and opens it for editing
   • Choose from Drive — pick an existing Google Slides presentation; CodeKiwi retrieves the slide thumbnails and launches the session immediately
4. You'll be taken directly to the teacher presentation view at codekiwi.app

Option 2 — From the Google Slides Add-On

1. Open your Google Slides presentation
2. Go to Extensions → CodeKiwi → Open CodeKiwi Add-On to open the sidebar
3. Use the Coding Slides panel to mark or unmark slides as coding questions right from the sidebar
4. Select a language (Python or JavaScript) from the Session Language toggle
5. Click Start Lesson — CodeKiwi exports your slides and generates a session
6. A new tab opens with the teacher presentation view

Teacher Presentation View

When a session starts, you land on the teacher presentation view at codekiwi.app. A lobby modal appears over your slides.

The Lobby

• Shows the 6-digit session code students use to join at codekiwi.app
• Displays a live count of connected students
• Give Students a Link copies a direct join URL to your clipboard
• Click Start Class to dismiss the lobby and begin presenting

During the Presentation

• Use Previous / Next in the bottom bar to advance slides — students sync in real-time
• Click the Session: XXXXXX title above the slides at any time to reopen the lobby (to copy the session code again)
• The Dashboard button opens a live view of all student code
• Lock Editors disables the student code editor — useful when you want students to focus on your explanation
• End Session ends the class for everyone and returns you to your dashboard

Speaker Notes Sidebar

Your slide notes appear in a sidebar on the right — visible only to you, not to students.

Monitoring Students (Dashboard)

Click Dashboard from the presentation view to open the live student dashboard. Each student appears as a card showing:

• Student name and color-coded card
• A status dot indicating their coding state (idle, coding, ran code successfully, or error)
• A live preview of their most recent code
• Timestamp of their last update

Cards refresh automatically every few seconds. Click any card to open the full inspect view for that student.

Inspecting & Editing Student Code

Click a student card in the dashboard (or navigate directly to a student) to open the inspect view. You'll see their full code and terminal output in real-time.

Navigating Between Students

• Use the ← / → arrows to jump between students in order
• Use the dropdown to jump to any student directly

Editing Student Code

You can edit a student's code directly from the inspect view to provide assistance:

1. Click the pencil icon in the editor header
2. Make your changes in the editor
3. Click Save — the updated code is pushed to the student's editor in real-time
4. Click Cancel to discard changes and return to read-only view

The Student Experience

1. Students go to codekiwi.app
2. Enter the 6-digit session code and their name
3. They join immediately — no account needed

Once inside, students see:

• Left pane: Your Google Slides synced in real-time as you advance them
• Right pane (coding slides only): A syntax-highlighted code editor and an output terminal
• A Run button to execute their code and see the result instantly

When you advance to a new slide, the student's editor and terminal reset automatically — each slide starts fresh.

Best Practices

Preparing Your Slides

• Keep each coding slide focused on one concept or task
• Write a clear Code Question: prompt in the Speaker Notes so students know exactly what to write
• Use regular slides for explanation, coding slides for practice
• Test your slides by running the session yourself before class

During the Session

• Share the session code early — project it or paste it in your class chat
• Use Lock Editors while explaining to keep students focused
• Open the Dashboard during coding time to spot students who are stuck
• Use the inspect view to nudge a struggling student's code rather than calling them out publicly
• Advance slides deliberately — the editor resets on each slide change

Suggested Lesson Structure

• Intro (5–10 min): Regular slides explaining the concept
• Demo (10–15 min): Walk through examples; lock editors so students watch
• Practice (20–30 min): Coding slides; monitor the dashboard; assist as needed
• Review (5–10 min): Discuss common errors you spotted in the dashboard

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions