How can an AI tutor teach step by step like a tutor at a board?
An AI tutor teaches like a tutor at a board when it shows the working one step at a time, explains each step aloud and changes course when the student gets lost. Loki, the AI tutor in Examo, draws methods from the student's own course material, takes questions in the middle of a drawing and replaces the part that did not land with an example or another approach.
Key takeaways
- Step-by-step drawings suit methods, processes and ideas with a picture.
- A question asked mid-way is answered on the same board, not a new one.
- A quick check at the end confirms the idea before you move on.
What a good tutor does at the board
Think about the best private tutor you have had, or the teacher who made a hard topic click. They rarely handed you a finished solution. They picked up the chalk and built it in front of you:
- One line at a time. Each step of the working went up on the board while they said what they were doing and why.
- Watching your face. When you looked lost, they stopped and asked which part did not make sense.
- Rubbing out and trying again. If an explanation did not land, they wiped that part of the board and showed it another way, often with an example.
- Checking before moving on. A quick question at the end told them whether the idea had actually stuck.
A finished worked solution on a page shows you the answer. A tutor at a board shows you the order, the reasons and the moment each step happens, and changes course when you need it. That is what Loki, the AI tutor in Examo, is built to do.
How Loki teaches step by step
Loki answers from your own course material: the notes, slides, lectures and textbooks you added to Examo. When an answer has steps, such as a maths method, a statistics calculation, a derivation or a process with stages, Loki draws it out instead of only writing a paragraph.
- The drawing takes the whole screen. It opens over the page as soon as Loki starts, like a tutor stepping up to the board, and shrinks back into the chat with one tap.
- Loki talks you through it. Each step is written in chalk while Loki explains it in its own voice. The words light up underneath, so you can follow along with the sound off too. A small speaker button mutes Loki.
- Colour has a meaning. The main idea is in teal, the answer to remember in gold, common mistakes in coral and examples in green, so the board is easy to scan afterwards.
- The sums are checked. Calculations on the board are checked before you see them, and a board with a wrong sum is not shown.
- A quick check at the end. When the drawing finishes, a short multiple-choice question checks that you followed the idea, and tells you why the right answer is right.
You can pause, go back a step, replay it or change the speed at any time.
Stuck halfway? Ask in the middle
The most useful moment to ask a question is the moment you get lost, not after the whole explanation has finished.
Under the drawing there is a box to type to Loki. Loki stops talking while you type, so you can think. When you send your question, Loki answers on the same board:
- If you did not follow a part, Loki rubs that part out and keeps what still helps, such as the question at the top.
- It tells you what it is doing, for example: "If you want an example, this is what we need to do."
- Then it writes the new explanation in the space it cleared: "Here it is."
Your question and Loki's answer are also kept in the chat, so you can find them again later.
On a voice call with Loki (part of Pro), you do not even need to type. Just say "wait, I don't get that part" and Loki rubs out and redoes it while it talks. You can type during a call too.
When a drawing helps, and when words are enough
Not every question needs a board. Loki draws when the answer is something you need to see being built:
| Question | What you get |
|---|---|
| "What does the denominator mean?" | A short written answer |
| "How do I divide 3/4 by 2/5?" | A step-by-step drawing |
| "What happens to the price when demand rises?" | Both curves drawn and the shift marked |
| "What do μ and σ mean?" | The bell curve, with the centre and spread marked |
If you want a drawing and Loki answered in words, ask it to draw it out or show you.
Getting the most out of a tutor that draws
- Predict the next line. Pause before Loki writes the next step and say what you think it will be.
- Ask at the step where you got lost. "Why do we flip the second fraction?" gets a better answer than "I don't get it" at the end.
- Ask for an example. When a rule feels abstract, an example usually makes it concrete.
- Do one without the board. After the quick check, try a similar question yourself before you ask Loki again.
- Check important facts. Loki can make mistakes, so compare anything high-stakes with your course material.
Try it in your own course
Loki is free to start: text tutoring is included within daily limits, and Loki's voice on drawings uses your monthly allowance. Voice calls are part of Pro. See everything Loki can do on the AI tutor for students page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn off Loki's voice while it draws?
Yes. A small speaker button mutes Loki, and its words keep lighting up under the drawing. The choice is kept for your next drawings until you turn the voice back on.
What happens if I ask a question in the middle of a drawing?
Loki stops talking while you type, then answers on the same board. If you did not follow a part, it rubs that part out and writes a new explanation, often an example, in its place.
Does Loki draw every answer?
No. Short facts and definitions get a written answer. Methods with steps, processes and ideas with a picture get a drawing, and you can ask Loki to draw it out whenever you want one.
Turn your material into a complete learning workspace.
Organise your material into a course, understand it through detailed summaries and Loki, then move into recall, practice, creation and revision without losing the course context.