The newest AI tool is making a big impact in schools

AI is now grading your kid’s essays.

Before you grab your torches and pitchforks, let’s review the details—

👉 Last month, a platform called Writeable was acquired by the learning technology company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), and is now being offered to teachers in grades 3-12.

👉 Since you read this newsletter, this shouldn’t be a surprise to you. In January, we distilled a 70-page report from the US Office of Educational Technology which basically said “AI is here to stay, so we better get used to it.”

So let’s dive into this particular technology, and what it’s used for:

A teacher’s dream assistant

Have you ever read dozens of 5th grade essays in a row?

Your 5th-grader’s teacher has.

Of course they have — it’s their job. And chances are, they truly do want to make a meaningful impact in the lives of their students. 

But it’s a time consuming (and often tedious) task.

Now imagine that this teacher has a highly-trained assistant who understands the objectives of each assignment.

This assistant: 

• Reads all of the essays first.

• Takes care of all the grammar corrections.

• Provides feedback for the teacher to review.

The assistant cuts the time it takes the teacher to grade the essays in half, and provides extra insights that the teacher can choose to pass on to the student.

This is already how most college classes work — assistants often do the heavy lifting when it comes to grading papers so that professors can focus on “higher impact teaching and learning activities.”

This is what AI tools like Writeable can do for teachers.

But there’s a downside, right?

It depends.

A concern from parents is that lazy teachers will simply use tools like this to handle all of the grading for them, without taking time to review and modify the AI’s grade.

That’s valid.

Not only could actions like this result in incorrect grading, it can severely hinder a teacher’s understanding of each individual student’s performance.

This is why the US Office of Educational Technology is prioritizing “humans in the loop” as their #1 strategic recommendation.

“Humans in the loop” means that anytime AI is called on to perform any type of action, it’s reviewed by a human.

In this case — that human is your kid’s teacher.

You gotta get in the loop too

It’s important for you to ask questions and understand how AI is being used in your kid’s classroom.

And here’s a trick:

Because of a psychological phenomenon known as the “perceiver-elicited similarity effect”, your kid’s teacher will be more open and honest about how they’re using AI if you approach the discussion with curiosity and positivity, rather than skepticism.

Basically, you’ll attract more flies with honey than vinegar, and learn a heck of a lot more about how your kid’s school is using AI.

So schedule a friendly chat with your kid’s teacher and ask them about Writeable.