You've just finished giving a writing assignment, and you are still grading papers hours later. As you correct each essay, you feel your eyes growing heavy. One more paper, and you just might doze off. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever had the experience of grading writing assignments, you know how tedious the process can be and the way it can suck the energy out of you. The good news is that AI in the classroom can help. This article will explain how artificial intelligence is changing how teachers grade writing assignments and offer valuable insights to help you achieve your goals, like saving time spent grading, utilizing tools for teachers, and getting high-quality, specific, and accurate writing feedback for essays.
EssayGrader.ai grading software for teachers is a valuable tool that can help you reach your objectives by automating essay grading and providing personalized student feedback. Instead of dreading your next writing assignment, you’ll be able to confidently tackle it, knowing that EssayGrader.ai has your back.
What Is AI & Why Is It a Big Deal Now?
AI, or artificial intelligence, is a technology that enables machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI can learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks.
AI is a hot topic today because of recent technological advancements, increased computational power, and the integration of AI into existing tools such as chatbots and recommendation engines. Although artificial intelligence was coined in 1956, it has become more popular today thanks to increased data volumes, advanced algorithms, and improvements in computing power and storage.
Early AI Research and Military Involvement
Early AI research in the 1950s explored topics like problem-solving and symbolic methods. In the 1960s, the US Department of Defense became interested in this type of work and began training computers to mimic basic human reasoning.
For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed street mapping projects in the 1970s. DARPA produced intelligent personal assistants in 2003, long before Siri, Alexa, or Cortana were household names.
The Evolution of AI: From Early Assistants to Modern Applications
This early work paved the way for the automation and formal reasoning we see in computers today, including decision support systems and smart search systems designed to complement and augment human abilities. While Hollywood movies and science fiction novels depict AI as human-like robots that take over the world, the current evolution of AI technologies isn’t that scary – or quite that smart. Instead,
AI has evolved to provide many specific benefits in every industry. Keep reading for modern examples of artificial intelligence in health care, retail, and more.
The History of Artificial Intelligence
The history of artificial intelligence goes back to the 1950s, but it didn’t get its name until 1956. Early AI research focused on problem-solving and symbolic methods.
In the decades since, organized research has gone through cycles of high expectations followed by disappointment, known as AI winters. Rapid advances in computing power, algorithms, and data storage have fueled a resurgence of AI that is transforming many aspects of daily life.
The 1950s–1970s
John McCarthy coined the term artificial intelligence in 1956 at the first academic conference at Dartmouth College. Early AI research explored topics like problem-solving and symbolic methods. In the 1960s, the US Department of Defense became interested in this work and began training computers to mimic basic human reasoning.
For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed street mapping projects in the 1970s. DARPA produced intelligent personal assistants in 2003, long before Siri, Alexa, or Cortana were household names.
From Early AI Research to Modern Automation
This early work paved the way for the automation and formal reasoning we see in computers today, including decision support systems and smart search systems designed to complement and augment human abilities.
While Hollywood movies and science fiction novels depict AI as human-like robots that take over the world, the current evolution of AI technologies isn’t that scary – or quite that smart. Instead, AI has evolved to provide many specific benefits in every industry. Keep reading for modern examples of artificial intelligence in health care, retail, and more.
Why Is Artificial Intelligence Important?
AI automates repetitive learning and discovery through data. Instead of automating manual
tasks, AI performs frequent, high-volume, computerized tasks. And it does so reliably and without fatigue. Of course, it is still essential for humans to set up the system and ask the right questions.
AI adds intelligence to existing products. Many products you already use will be improved with AI capabilities like Siri was added as a feature to a new generation of Apple products. Automation, conversational platforms, bots, and smart machines can be combined with large amounts of data to improve many technologies—upgrades at home and in the workplace range from security intelligence and smart cams to investment analysis.
How AI Learns: From Data to Skills through Progressive Algorithms
AI adapts through progressive learning algorithms, letting the data do the programming. AI finds structure and regularities in data so that algorithms can acquire skills. Just as an algorithm can teach itself to play chess, it can teach itself what product to recommend next online. The models adapt when given new data.
AI analyzes more and deeper data using neural networks with many hidden layers. Building a fraud detection system with five hidden layers used to be impossible, but that has changed with incredible computer power and big data. You need lots of data to train deep learning models because they learn directly from the data.
Deep Learning and Accuracy: From Everyday Apps to Medical Breakthroughs
AI achieves incredible accuracy through deep neural networks. For example, your interactions with Alexa and Google are all based on deep learning.
These products become more accurate the more you use them. In the medical field, AI techniques such as deep learning and object recognition can now pinpoint cancer on medical images with improved accuracy. AI gets the most out of data.
The Role of Data in AI: Leveraging Quality Data for Competitive Advantage
When algorithms are self-learning, the data itself is an asset. The answers are in the data – you just have to apply AI to find them. Since the role of the data is now more critical than ever, it can create a competitive advantage.
If you have the best data in a competitive industry, even if everyone applies similar techniques, the best data will win. Using that data to innovate responsibly requires trustworthy AI. That means your AI systems should be ethical, equitable, and sustainable.
How Artificial Intelligence Works
AI combines large amounts of data with fast, iterative processing and intelligent algorithms, allowing the software to learn automatically from patterns or features in the data. AI is a broad field of study that includes many theories, methods, and technologies, as well as the following major subfields:
Machine Learning
Machine learning automates analytical model building. It uses methods from neural networks, statistics, operations research, and physics to find hidden insights in data without explicitly being programmed for where to look or what to conclude.
Neural Networks
A neural network is a type of machine learning made up of interconnected units (like neurons) that process information by responding to external inputs and relaying information between each unit. The process requires multiple passes at the data to find connections and derive meaning from undefined data.
Deep Learning
Deep learning uses huge neural networks with many layers of processing units, taking advantage of advanced computing power and improved training techniques to learn complex patterns in large amounts of data. Common applications include image and speech recognition.
AI Tools: What Are They?
Given the rapid pace of technological innovation and development, higher education, like nearly all industries, is continuously called upon to consider creative approaches to teaching and learning. The following resource offers instructors a brief introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools, specifically ChatGPT, along with several strategies they might consider for navigating or engaging with these tools in their courses.
What are AI Tools?
While instructors will continue to encounter new tools and technological innovations, which can sometimes feel overwhelming, teaching and learning science offers support for navigating and responding to innovative tools, expanded opportunities, and ongoing shifts.
ChatGPT's Rapid Evolution: From Introduction to Current Limitations
Most recently, higher education has grappled with the seemingly overnight introduction of ChatGPT, which first became available in November 2022 and has since captivated the discourse in higher education with its ongoing evolution and iterations. The following section offers an overview of ChatGPT, what it does, and its current limitations.
Impact of GPT-4 and Beyond: New Capabilities in Generative AI
It’s essential to recognize that because the technology is self-learning, it can improve and evolve quickly; thus, what is a limitation today could be addressed in future iterations or versions. This was perhaps made most evident with the release of GPT-4 during the Spring semester of 2023, which introduced a series of new capabilities for the generative AI tool.
Since the release of ChatGPT, hundreds of AI apps have exploded into the scene, some of which assist in research (e.g., consensus. app and scite.ai), brainstorming (e.g., mymap.ai), and student presentations (e.g., lenovo.ai, twelvelabs.io, and invideo.io).
ChatGPT: An AI Tool for Higher Education
ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, is a model […] that interacts conversationally and can:
- Answer follow-up [sic] questions
- Admit its mistakes
- Challenge incorrect premises
- Reject inappropriate requests (OpenAI Blog, ChatGPT)
Concerning the classroom, ChatGPT can produce written responses to input prompts, write essays and poems, assist with computer code, provide feedback on student-written text, and more.
Capabilities and Accessibility
The most recent version, GPT-4, is described as more creative and collaborative, with the ability to generate, edit, and iterate with users on creative and technical writing tasks (OpenAI, GPT-4). Unlike its predecessors, GPT-4 can:
- Produce longer-form responses
- More complex analyses responding to particular prompts
- It has wider capabilities, such as image analysis and the addition of plug-ins that connect ChatGPT to other third-party services, including information from the web
It is important to note that GPT-4 and its capabilities are only available through a paid subscription to GPT Plus; these more advanced features are not built into the free uses of ChatGPT.
ChatGPT's Limitations and Areas for Improvement
Despite these expanded capabilities, like many AI tools, ChatGPT has various limitations. Some of its current limitations include:
- Sharing incorrect information: The paid GPT-4 version of ChatGPT has access to the internet, while GPT-3.5 (the free version) does not and can only access information before 2021. Since ChatGPT is a predictive text model, it can sometimes make up information, especially if the information is not easily accessible. This makes ChatGPT prone to making factual mistakes, often confusing similar information, and even making up citations when asked to produce them.
- Generating personal reflections: ChatGPT can generate responses to questions and prompts, but it is still an AI bot; thus, it cannot respond to a prompt that requires a student’s personal experience or reflections.
- Producing non-text based responses: Despite the availability of other image-based AI generators, such as Dall-E 2 and MidJourney, ChatGPT responses are strictly text-based. Any response produced can only offer text. With its most recent updates, ChatGPT can accept image input prompts to generate captions and produce image analyses.
Navigating ChatGPT in the Classroom: Understanding Capabilities and Limitations
An awareness of ChatGPT’s capabilities and limitations can help instructors talk openly with their students about the tool's potential role in the course and what is expected in terms of student engagement with AI tools. Knowing what ChatGPT can and cannot do can also help instructors make course and assignment design decisions.
The following section offers several approaches for instructors to consider when developing their approaches to ChatGPT in their courses. Instructors can explore OpenAI’s documentation Educator considerations for ChatGPT as they consider their approach to teaching and learning with ChatGPT.
5 Opinions of Teachers Who’ve Used AI in the Classroom
A recent EdWeek Research survey finds that one-third of K-12 teachers use artificial intelligence-driven tools in their classrooms. While 33 percent may not seem high, it’s a promising start for a technology that didn’t exist a year ago.
Of the educators who said they’d used AI tools, 21 percent said they’d used them a little, 10 percent said they’d used them some, and just 2 percent said they’d used them a lot.
Educators See AI’s Potential for Personalized Learning
Artificial intelligence experts have touted the technology’s potential to transform K -12 education into a more personalized learning experience for students and teachers through personalized professional development opportunities. Beyond the classroom, experts also believe that generative AI tools could help districts become more efficient and fiscally responsible.
Challenges: Familiarity and Cheating Concerns
Many teachers are still unfamiliar with the technology, worried about students using AI tools to cheat, and unaware that the tools can produce inaccurate or biased responses.
Teachers Are Getting Creative With AI in the Classroom
Teachers have used ChatGPT and other generative AI tools to create lesson plans, give students feedback on assignments, build rubrics, compose emails to parents, and write letters of recommendation. In open-ended responses to the EdWeek Research Center survey, educators who have used the technology say it can be a very effective tool if used responsibly. Others also say that while they’ve used AI tools a bit, they’d like to learn more about using them for their work and how to teach students to use them properly.
Here’s how and why some educators say they’ve been using AI tools in the classroom:
1. Let’s Stop Tiptoeing Around AI in the Classroom
AI is something we shouldn't be tiptoeing around. I have been following language models for years and was among the first ones to sign up for ChatGPT last November. This is here to stay, and it is a disruptive technology.
We, in education, need to jump on this train and teach kids and teachers to use it. It is currently the PERFECT search engine and the PERFECT assistant. It is a FABULOUS time-saver when you become a power user about ChatGPT, Bard, or Claude2 inputs. AI is here to stay, and it is growing exponentially every single day. [...] This technology is a game-changer for poor and struggling districts. — District superintendent in Mississippi
2. Let’s Educate Students About AI and How to Use It
We should responsibly teach students how AI works and how to use it as a tool. My high school students try to use ChatGPT to write papers, but they always seem wonky and repetitive. I tease them and suggest that they were at least well-written! I explained that to utilize the tool, we must read and edit what the AI spits out.
I frequently use ChatGPT to write lesson plans, syllabi, and parent letters. It can be a very effective tool, but I still review and edit anything that looks off. As artists, people must understand the difference between creating something from scratch and using AI to generate visuals. — High school fine arts teacher in Texas
4. AI Professional Development Opportunities Are Popping Up
My district recently issued a survey to staff asking if we would be interested in having a trained AI/ChatGPT professional offer a professional development session on AI and ChatGPT. It was an open exploratory opportunity.
They asked if we would be interested and what we would like them to address in the session. I share this because my school is trying to realistically navigate how AI will fit into our school's instruction. I fully support this; I used ChatGPT in my classroom last year and look forward to learning more ways to understand, leverage, and teach students about this technology. — High school English teacher in New Jersey.
5. Teachers Are Using AI to Help with Their Work, Too
Recently, our technology teacher told me about using ChatGPT to craft recommendation letters. I get many of these, and it helped when I received several requests with quick due dates. I can see the usage but would want a lot more training and guidelines set.” — Michigan high school social studies teacher.
AI (Almost) Ruined My Students’ Test Prep
When ChatGPT became publicly available, my students used it almost immediately as a plagiarism tool. The timing was bad. I was preparing students for the AP English Literature exam, and we were drilling quite a bit of formulaic writing in the 300-400 word range, for which ChatGPT is particularly well suited.
When the realization dawned on me that many of my students were using the tool unethically, my feelings [were] hurt. It was depressing in a genuinely existential way. As the leader of the English department at my school, I held a meeting with the department, and we crafted an acceptable use policy. This school year, we started to proactively design procedures that would make it harder to use AI unethically, and some teachers, myself included, have started finding ways to model ethical use. It's been a roller coaster. — High school English teacher in Texas.
Related Reading
- Technology In The Classroom
- How Do Teachers Grade
- Different Grading Systems
- Evidence Based Grading
- LMS Gradebook
- Constructive Criticism Examples For Students
- Grading Software For Teachers
- Digital Gradebook
- Education Workflow Automation
10 Pros and Cons of AI in the Education Sector
1. Bias: The Risk of Racial or Gender Prejudice
Artificial intelligence is only as knowledgeable as the information it has been trained on. If a program like ChatGPT is trained on biased information, then when a student asks it a question, they could get a biased response, which can perpetuate stereotypes and social inequalities. If a biased AI tool is used for grading, students could receive low grades based on race or gender.
2. Errors: When AI Gets It Wrong
In addition to bias, artificial intelligence may generate misinformation. The data that AI draws from may have errors, be outdated, or spread misinformation. Neither students nor teachers should assume that the information provided by AI is accurate.
3. Cheating: AI Can Do Your Homework
Students can use ChatGPT to write entire essays, answer quiz questions, or do their homework. Ironically, AI programs can now detect AI writing to help teachers determine if their students are cheating. But, sometimes, those programs may falsely identify a student’s original work as plagiarism.
4. Isolation: The Dangers of Too Much AI
If students interact with a software program more than with a teacher, they can begin to feel disconnected and isolated. Their motivation and engagement may decrease, which could lead to an increase in dropout rates.
5. Jobs: Will AI Replace Teachers?
Artificial intelligence has the potential to be a powerful learning tool. However, some teachers worry that it will replace them.
6. Assistance: How AI Can Help Teachers
Teachers who’ve tried AI have found that it can help make their jobs easier, from developing lesson plans to generating student project ideas to creating quizzes. With assistance from artificial intelligence, teachers can gain more time to spend with their students.
7. Speed: AI Works Fast
If a student feels stuck while working on an assignment, artificial intelligence programs can provide immediate, helpful assistance if a teacher or caregiver isn’t available. A student can ask,
How do I solve for X? to be reminded of the steps for solving an equation. A student can ask, What are some effective strategies for improving my essay writing? and ChatGPT can offer advice and resources right away.
8. Individualization: AI Helps Meet Students’ Unique Needs
AI programs can help individualize learning opportunities for students. ChatGPT can quickly and easily translate materials into another language, making it easier for students who speak another language to understand assignments. ChatGPT can also revise materials suitable for varying grade levels and tailor projects to suit students’ skills and interests.
9. Context: AI Can Provide Rich Learning Experiences
In a 2023 TED Talk, Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, shared an example of an AI tutor that helped a student understand the symbolism of the green light in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
The student asked the AI tutor to act as if it were the character Jay Gatsby and answer her question, Why do you keep staring at the green light? The AI tutor answered as Gatsby, giving her an accurate, elegant, contextual response. Future students could use AI to talk to Anne Frank about her life, Marie Curie about her scientific discoveries, and Shakespeare about his plays.
10. Personalization: AI Can Tailor Learning for Individuals
Artificial intelligence can also personalize student learning. By analyzing student performance data, AI-powered tools can determine which students need support to improve their learning experience and the best ways to help those students.
6 Use Cases of AI in the Classroom That Will Change Education in 2024
1. Avatars in Multiple Languages: AI's Global Reach
AI is changing how we think about personalized learning, which has the potential to reach learners from diverse backgrounds and cultures. One exciting way to leverage AI for personalized learning is through avatars.
These customizable avatars can be programmed to deliver lessons in a student's native language with human-like speech. Educators can create avatars that teach in their students' native tongue, even if they don't speak it themselves. This will help provide a more accessible educational experience on a global scale.
2. Course Preparation: A New Way to Plan Lessons
AI will change how teachers prepare for their courses and lessons. Conversational tools, such as ChatGPT, can help educators plan their courses, search for and index information, outline methodological proposals, and suggest online educational resources, among other things. These tools can help teachers save time and better prepare for their lessons.
3. Services for Education Through APIs: New Tools for Teachers
As generative AI becomes more popular, education-focused startups are developing new tools and services to help teachers and students. Many of these services use application programming interfaces (APIs) to help automate common tasks such as content creation, student assessment, and class management. With these new applications, we will see a democratization of AI in education as teachers and students create personalized tools that target their specific needs.
4. Integration in Art Courses: AI as a Creative Partner
AI is already used to create art and assist artists in the creative process. Educational institutions will inevitably integrate AI tools into art courses to help students develop their creative processes and produce innovative works. Platforms such as DALL·E and Midjourney allow users to create highly complex visual pieces, which are used by an ever-increasing number of professionals in the field.
5. Personalized Learning Experiences: A Tailored Approach to Education
AI has the potential to create more personalized learning experiences for students. By analyzing data on a student's performance, AI can help identify individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as make recommendations for improvements. This information can help educators optimize their instruction and provide students with targeted supports that can help them improve and reach their goals.
6. Infographics, Presentations, and Glossaries: Time and Cost Savings
AI has the potential to save educators time and money when creating course materials. For example, tools like SlidesAI can help educators create presentations in minutes, while other tools can assist in creating glossaries and infographics. With these tools, teachers can reduce outsourcing costs and the time spent producing content.
Efficient Grading with EssayGrader – Save Time and Improve Feedback Quality
EssayGrader is the most accurate AI grading platform, trusted by 60,000+ educators worldwide. On average, a teacher takes 10 minutes to grade a single essay.
Time Savings
With EssayGrader, that time is cut down to 30 seconds. That's a 95% reduction in the time it takes to grade an essay, with the same results.
Custom Grading
Teachers can:
- Replicate their grading rubrics (so AI doesn't have to do the guesswork to set the grading criteria)
- Set up complete custom rubrics
- Grade essays by class
- Bulk upload essays
- Use our AI detector to catch essays written by AI
- Summarize essays with our Essay summarizer
Wide Application
Our AI tool helps primary school, high school, and college professors grade their students' essays.
Proven Results
Over half a million essays were graded by 60,000+ teachers on our platform. Save 95% of your time grading school work with our tool to get high-quality, specific, and accurate writing feedback for essays in seconds with EssayGrader's grading software for teachers.
Get started for free today!
49 AI Tools for the Classroom
1. EssayGrader
EssayGrader is the most accurate AI grading platform, trusted by 60,000+ educators worldwide. On average, a teacher takes 10 minutes to grade a single essay.
Time Savings
With EssayGrader, that time is cut down to 30 seconds. That's a 95% reduction in the time it takes to grade an essay, with the same results.
Custom Grading
Teachers can:
- Replicate their grading rubrics (so AI doesn't have to do the guesswork to set the grading criteria)
- Set up complete custom rubrics
- Grade essays by a class
- Bulk upload essays
- Use our AI detector to catch essays written by AI
- Summarize essays with our Essay summarizer
Wide Application
Our AI tool helps primary school, high school, and college professors grade their students' essays.
Proven Results
Over half a million essays were graded by 60,000+ teachers on our platform. Save 95% of your time grading school work with our tool to get high-quality, specific, and accurate writing feedback for essays in seconds with EssayGrader's grading software for teachers.
Get started for free today!
2. Gradescope
Gradescope by Turnitin is a versatile application and online platform designed to facilitate the creation, distribution, grading, and analysis of assessments for educators.
Gradescope leverages AI to offer an automated grading system streamlining the assessment process. It accommodates a wide array of assignment types, including PDF, online, programming, and bubble sheet assignments. Students have the option to upload PDFs or photos of their work for evaluation.
3. Zipgrade
Zipgrade is a grading app that allows teachers to scan and grade multiple-choice tests using mobile devices.
Features:
- Teachers can print answer sheets
- Create custom keys
- View item analysis
- Export results to CSV or PDF files
- Share reports with students and parents
4. Co-Grader
Co-Grader is a popular AI-guided system for grading student work imported from Google Classroom.
Features:
- Rubric-based grading that is aligned with state standards or customized criteria set by the teacher.
- Teachers can define grading criteria using rubric templates, allowing for consistent evaluation of student work.
5. Smodin: AI Grader
Smodin’s AI Grader uses artificial intelligence to grade essays based on plagiarism detection, grammar checking, readability analysis, and content evaluation.
Features:
- AI Grader can grade short-answer questions and longer forms of writing, such as essays and reports.
- It can also provide feedback and comments on the student’s work, highlighting the errors and suggestions.
- It provides suggestions on how to make essay writing more effective and checks the essay for plagiarism, readability, word count, vocabulary, and tone.
6. MagicSchool: Assessment Assistant
Designed by a former teacher, MagicSchool is an AI-powered platform that offers over 60 tools to assist educators, including a series of assessment features.
Features:
- Rubric Generator
- Diagnostic Assessment Generator
7. Eduaide: Assessment Assistant
Created by ex-teachers, Eduaide is a powerful AI-driven teaching assistant with over 100 educational resources, including assessment tools.
Features:
- Create lesson plans
- Teaching resources
- Assignment feedback
- Assessments and more
To burnish its lesson plan offerings, Eduaide offers lesson seeds, which include:
- Lesson rubrics
- Engagement activities
- Quizzes
- Worksheets
- Slides and more
8. ClassCompanion: AP Level and More
Class Companion is an AI-powered tool that helps teachers assess student writing and provides real-time feedback on student writing. Teachers craft assignments, students submit their work, and the AI provides feedback, suggestions, hints, and more.
Features:
- Identify areas where students need improvement and provide targeted feedback.
- Provides feedback on the clarity and coherence of student writing, helping teachers identify areas where students need to improve their writing skills.
- Grade assignments, track student progress, and generate reports.
- It supports all subjects that have written assignments, including AP-level classes.
9. Feedback Studio: Robust Features
Feedback Studio by Turnitin features a vibrant range of feedback and grading tools designed to help teachers deliver efficient and meaningful feedback to students.
Features:
- Teachers have a comprehensive feedback suite that includes drag-and-drop QuickMarks, written comments, voice-recorded comments, and automatic grammar checking.
- Teachers can annotate submitted documents directly on the screen, which includes text highlighting, embedded comments, shared remarks (to address prevalent issues), rubrics (to focus feedback on specific assessment criteria), general comments, and audio feedback.
10. EnglightenAI: Sync with Google Classroom
Enlighten AI is an AI teaching assistant created by teachers for grading, focusing on delivering feedback to students quickly and effectively.
Features:
- Syncs with Google Classroom to enable teachers to upload documents and see student responses and then provide feedback generated by Enlighten AI goes directly to students.
- Instead of writing detailed and time-consuming individualized feedback for each student, the teacher trains Enlighten AI to understand their pedagogical focus and grading scale so that it can take up the bulk of the feedback process.
11. Graded Pro: New AI Grader
Graded Pro is a new AI-powered grading platform streamlining the assessment process for most subjects, including:
- Mathematics
- Sciences
- Humanities
- English
- Computer Science
- Art
Features:
- Fully integrated with Google Classroom, Graded Pro automatically retrieves student submissions
- Eliminates manual upload tasks
- Allow teachers and students to continue working in a familiar setting
12. Happy Grader
HappyGrader is a brand new AI grading platform created by a veteran math and science teacher. It keeps humans in the loop while automating the process of grading exams after students submit their answers through a Google Form or other online form tool.
Features:
- Uses pattern recognition to recommend that teachers assign full and partial credit to students’ short-answer responses.
- AI is used to predictly score and provide feedback for paragraph responses based on the teacher's rubric.
13. Timely Grader
TimelyGrader is an AI grading and feedback platform that streamlines the grading process from rubric creation to grade pass back to the LMS. It also empowers students by giving them access to personalized feedback whenever needed.
Features:
- Robust AI-assisted grading capabilities for various assessments such as essays, term papers, and reports.
- Provides instructors with explanations and reasoning for each grading suggestion so they can validate the AI's suggestions.
- Provides instructors with first-pass feedback for each student submission.
14. Kangaroo AI Essay Grader
Kangaroo AI is a new AI-powered grading platform in beta mode that offers instant grading.
Features:
- Offers instant grading, significantly reducing teachers' time on manual grading and maintaining consistency in grading standards.
- Teachers can upload customizable rubrics tailored to specific assignment criteria or learning goals, ensuring a personalized grading experience.
- The platform also includes 24/7 support through RooChat, a friendly AI teacher assistant, and operates on a secure platform, ensuring data safety and confidentiality.
15. Vexis
Vexis is an advanced grading system that uses artificial intelligence to provide teachers with detailed grading evaluations and personalized feedback to students.
Features:
- Streamline and enhance the grading process for educators.
- Vexis AI's Personalized Feedback feature provides individualized comments on student work, while the detailed reports feature provides teachers with a comprehensive overview of student performance.
16. Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is a ChatGPT-4 powered chatbot that can help you browse the web, answer questions, and more. It can be accessed through the Copilot website or Microsoft Edge browser and can be used to ask simple and complex questions and request summaries of articles, books, events, news, sports results, and more. Microsoft Copilot can also be used as a creative tool, helping you write poems, and stories, or even share ideas for a project
17. ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that interacts with you conversationally, the way a human would. It's trained with information from all over the internet and tons of other sources, and it's been trained by humans to interact with you authentically.
18. Claude
Claude (claude.ai) is an AI assistant created by Anthropic. Claude can process large amounts of information, brainstorm ideas, generate text and code, help you understand subjects, coach you through difficult situations, help simplify your busy work so you can focus on what matters most, and more. It uses Constitutional AI to be safe, accurate, and secure.
19. Perplexity
Perplexity is another generative AI chatbot that lets users ask questions and get responses conversationally. What sets Perplexity apart is that it cites sources which are easily clickable to get more context and more information.
20. Google Gemini
Google Gemini is an experimental conversational AI chat service developed by Google. Google Gemini is designed to engage in text-based conversations with users, offering responses and generating human-like dialogue. It uses advanced natural language processing techniques to understand and generate text in response to user prompts, making it a useful tool for natural language understanding and generation.
21. Pi
Pi is your AI companion, ready to assist you with various tasks and answer your queries. It's designed to be supportive, smart, and available whenever needed.
22. Adobe Express with Firefly
Adobe Express incorporates Adobe's Firefly generative AI model, which gives users new ways to bring their ideas to life. With generative AI, you can create custom images and text effects using text prompts. As an educator, you can use this feature to generate unique and engaging visuals for your lessons and activities.
23. Ideogram
Ideogram (ideogram.ai) is an AI image generator. Type a description of the image you'd like to generate -- or choose features of the image from selectable options below the prompt. Ideogram generates your image and can improve your description/prompt with AI.
24. Microsoft Designer
Microsoft Designer (designer.microsoft.com) is a graphic design app that uses AI to help users create professional-quality designs quickly. Users can start with their ideas or images, and the designer will generate unique designs and offer personalized recommendations. My favorite feature is creating fill-in-the-blank prompts that you can share for others to use.
25. Auto Draw
AutoDraw is a free, web-based drawing tool created by Google that uses artificial intelligence to help users create professional-looking drawings and illustrations quickly and easily. It has been around for a long time, and its simplicity means that anyone, at any age, can use it to try AI.
26. Pictory
Pictory AI is a cool platform that makes it super easy to create engaging videos. It uses advanced AI technology to help you turn your written scripts or articles into captivating videos. You can even add your voice or use an AI voiceover to bring your video to life.
27. Curipod
Give Curipod (curipod.com/ai) a topic, and it will generate an interactive slide deck for you in seconds, including:
- Polls
- Word clouds
- Open-ended questions
- A drawing tool
28. Diffit
Diffit allows you to get leveled resources for literally anything. You can adapt existing materials for any reader, generate “just right” resources for any topic and then edit and share resources with students.
29. SchoolAI
SchoolAI is an all-in-one AI platform for the classroom that's designed for K12 teachers and students. It offers teacher tools to complete tasks and student-facing custom AI chatbots. It includes built-in student monitoring and controls for teachers.
30. Brisk Teaching
Brisk Teaching (briskteaching.com) is a free Chrome extension that uses AI to help teachers save time and improve their teaching methods. Brisk integrates with Google Classroom, Docs, Slides, YouTube, Canvas, and Schoology, allowing teachers to: create instructional materials, provide feedback, evaluate student writing, adjust reading levels, generate personalized curriculum, and analyze class progress.
31. Antimatter Sorcerer
Antimatter (antimatter.systems) has added to its fun meme and text messaging classroom tools with Sorcerer. Create a sorcerer -- an AI chatbot -- and choose topics it'll discuss with your students. As students interact with the Sorcerer, it ranks the student's mastery of the topic, increasing it as the student shows more and more proficiency.
32. Education Copilot
Need a starting point for your lesson plans? Education Copilot provides AI-generated templates for lesson plans, writing prompts, educational handouts, student reports, project outlines, and more. It has 10+ tools to help save time and create content for the classroom.
33. Nolej
Nolej generates a lot of interactive educational content, such as all-in-one courses, interactive videos, assessments, and plug-and-play content.
34. Khanmigo
Khanmigo is an AI-powered learning tool developed by Khan Academy that can be used as a virtual tutor and a debate partner. Teachers can also use it to generate lesson plans and assist with other administrative tasks.
35. Copy.ai
Copy.ai is an AI-powered writing tool that uses machine learning to generate various types of content, including blog headlines, emails, social media content, web copy, and more.
Educators can use it to generate lesson plans, substitute teaching plans, newsletter copy, email, writing prompts, etc.
36. Grammarly
Grammarly is your online writing assistant. Using artificial intelligence helps you compose bold, clear, mistake-free writing. It can work inside your email client, productivity suites, and social media. Grammarly’s AI checks grammar, spelling, style, tone, and more.
37. Quillbot
Quillbot is an AI-powered writing assistant that can rephrase, summarize, and improve text through various modes like paraphrasing, summarizing, and expanding
38. Goblin Tools
Goblin Tools is a collection of small, simple, single-task tools designed to help neurodivergent people with tasks they find overwhelming or difficult. The tools include Magic ToDo, Formalizer, Judge, Estimator, and Compiler.
39. Hello History
Hello History is an app that lets you have lifelike conversations with historical figures. Get a personal perspective on life, history, and the world from some of the most influential figures of all time—Cleopatra, Einstein, Buddha, and more.
40. Chat PDF
ChatPDF is an AI-powered tool that allows users to interact with PDF documents in a conversational format. From the website ChatPDF in a Nutshell Your PDF AI - like ChatGPT but for PDFs. Summarize and answer questions for free.
41. Suno
Suno is a generative AI music creation program that generates realistic songs combining vocals, instrumentation, or purely instrumental tracks. It operates by producing songs based on text prompts provided by users.
42. QuestionWell
QuestionWell generates endless questions so teachers can focus on what matters. Just input some reading, and the AI will write essential questions, learning objectives, and aligned multiple-choice questions.
43. Formative AI
Formative has long been an assignment and quiz platform, allowing teachers to ask students various question types. Now, it has incorporated the power of ChatGPT to generate new standard-aligned questions and hints for learners, as well as student feedback.
44. Conker
Conker lets you create multiple-choice, read-and-respond, and fill-in-the-blank quizzes on specific topics for students at various levels. It will also let you copy/paste reading material to generate quizzes.
45. Twee
Twee is an AI-powered tool designed to simplify lesson planning for English teachers by generating questions, dialogues, stories, letters, articles, multiple-choice questions, true/false statements, and more.
46. FigJam Jambot
Jambot is a FigJam widget that brings the power of ChatGPT’s AI to your boards.
47. Q-Chat
Q-Chat is an AI-powered tutoring assistant integrated into the Quizlet learning platform. It can answer questions, explain concepts, and provide study help across various subjects.
48. Snorkl
Snorkl is an educational platform that allows students to record and share their spoken thoughts, powered by AI transcription and analysis tools
49. Parlay Genie
Parlay Genie (part of Parlay) is a discussion prompt generator. It generates higher-order thinking questions for your class based on a topic, a YouTube video, or an article. It uses ChatGPT to create prompts for your students.
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13 Tips for Effectively (& Safely) Using AI in the Classroom
1. Bring Student Drawings to Life
Young kids love to sketch, and AI can animate their sketches—and introduce them to the power of the technology in the process. During a presentation at the 2023 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, learning coach Doug Sanders encouraged teachers to check out the Animated Drawings tool from Meta AI Research.
Simply take a photo of a student’s latest sketch and upload it to the site, and the AI can quickly perform dozens of different actions—walking, dancing, throwing out some boxing jabs, and more. Encourage students to craft a story around the animations. Why is their drawing running wildly across the room? What is it running from? The drawing must be vaguely humanoid for the tool to work, so guide students toward drawing humanlike figures.
2. Use AI-generated images as Writing Prompts
Teacher Lori Brenneise recommends using images as prompts to help students develop their creative writing skills. Finding the perfect image is as easy as using one of many free high-quality image generators, like:
- Stable Diffusion
- Craiyon
- Microsoft Bing’s image creator
- Canva's new AI image-generating tool
Simply type in a prompt that could elicit good storytelling—like a goat eating cake while on a surfboard—and project the resulting image during class. Brenneise asks students to write about what the image makes them:
- See
- Hear
- Touch
- Smell
- Taste
From there, students can dig deeper and spend some time writing the image’s backstory. (How did a goat get to the beach in the first place?) To better connect this activity to content learning, ask students to include recent vocabulary words in their writing—or prompt the AI to include relevant concepts in the image, like fossils, crystals, or migration.
3. Use AI Responses to Spur Scientific Thinking
AI language models typically do a decent job of answering basic science questions. Their accuracy rate is far from 100 percent, which can be a good way to engage elementary students in critical thinking. In a full-class session, teachers can pull up ChatGPT and ask students what questions they have related to the current unit. For example, if a student is still confused about cloud formation, the teacher could prompt ChatGPT: Please explain how clouds form to a third-grade audience. The class can dissect ChatGPT’s response as a group with questions like:
- What did it leave out?
- What are people still confused about?
- What parts of the answer might not be accurate?
To investigate further, encourage students to search through class resources or reputable online sources to confirm or deny ChatGPT’s scientific claims. By allowing students the opportunity to assess the products that AI generates, we can prompt their learning and their development of critical thinking skills, writes educator Sunaina Sharma.
4. Find the Faults in AI-Generated Historical Images
AI image generators can help students envision what historical scenes—like the signing of the Constitution or Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address—might have looked like, suggested educational technologist and history educator James Beeghley at this year’s ISTE conference. But Beeghley noted that these images are likely to be full of inaccuracies. Unreliable AI images can be a great jumping-off point for a fun history class activity.
On the class screen, pull up an AI image generator like Bing’s image creator, Craiyon, or Canva, and type in a prompt related to the period you’re covering in class, like Sacagawea guiding Lewis and Clark; then switch the style setting to photograph for maximum realism. (Since AI image platforms can take a few minutes to produce an output, try doing this before class.) Ask students to analyze the output using what they’ve already learned or have them do additional research to identify elements of the image that have no basis in reality—like anachronistic clothing or technology or a biased presentation of particular groups.
5. Use AI Math Tools to See All Sides of a Problem
Many math teachers know—and curse—the name Photomath, a powerful AI-based app that can scan and solve a math problem from a photograph. Valerie Bennett, an assistant professor of STEM education curriculum and instruction at Clark Atlanta University, says there are ways to use Photomath to engage students in deeper learning.
One option is to have students compare their problem-solving approach with an AI approach, Bennett told EdWeek. Teachers can give students problems and ask them to use pen and paper to solve them before feeding them into Photomath. Because Photomath runs through the steps to reaching a solution, Bennett said, students can contrast the tool’s process—and results with their own:
- Did the platforms come up with different answers?
- Different methods?
- Which is most efficient?
Answering these questions will help students think more deeply about different approaches to solving problems and help them refine their own methods.
6. Learn About Voice From ChatGPT’s Imitations of Famous Authors*
Help students better understand the concept of voice in writing and how well-known writers cultivate one, by asking ChatGPT to attempt to imitate authors’ styles. For example, ask ChatGPT to write two poems about your school’s mascot in the style of Shakespeare and Maya Angelou or two speeches about the impact of climate change by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. Ask students to contrast ChatGPT’s imitations of various authors and dissect the ways that specific writers use word choice, narrative techniques, or literary devices like alliteration to help craft a distinct voice.
You can also challenge students to find stylistic choices in the original output that the original author probably wouldn’t have made. You can have students contrast a ChatGPT-generated rousing, 272-word speech in the style of Abraham Lincoln about the lives lost on the battlefield with the genuine Gettysburg Address. The AI’s imitation, in most cases, will be much less impactful than the real author or speaker, and you can ask students to identify the literary techniques that made the original piece so masterful.
7. Chat With Historical Figures
To resurrect dead historical figures and attempt to approximate what they might have said in conversation, educational technology professor Maureen Yoder encouraged teachers to check out Hello History during a presentation at 2023’s ISTE conference. The ChatGPT-powered app lets you chat with dozens of historical figures, from Cleopatra to Einstein. Hello History is free but has a 20-message daily limit, so try using ChatGPT for longer conversations.
Have students prompt it: For the rest of this conversation, role-play as [historical figure], then ask it a variety of questions. You can expect the outputs to be full of inaccuracies—either outright biographical mistakes or misrepresentations about what the historical figure believed. Challenge students to take what the chatbot says and analyze it carefully. What did the AI get right and wrong about the figure’s life and beliefs? They can answer this based on what they’ve learned in the class or perform independent research to verify ChatGPT’s claims.
8. Speak With AI in a Foreign Language
When learning a new language, students might feel self-conscious about making mistakes and avoid practicing as much as they should. According to BBC reports, many language learners are turning to AI chatbots for help since a chatbot won’t judge you, and you can speak about exciting things. According to the BBC, research suggests these chatbots can also be useful for:
- Vocabulary development
- Grammar
- Other language skills
Language teachers can have students carry out a conversation with ChatGPT. Start with a prompt like I want to practice my Spanish. Can you speak to me in Spanish at a ninth-grade level, with short sentences? There are also AI chatbots specifically for language learning, like LearnLingo and Tutor Lily, which both have free versions; these can be adjusted to various levels of fluency and offer text and audio conversation options. Teachers can ask students to interact with these language platforms at home and print out the results as homework or try chatting with them during an in-class session.
9. Ask Students to Grade ChatGPT’s Writing
Many students’ biggest temptation is letting ChatGPT write their essays. One fun and engaging way for teachers to work around that desire is… to sometimes let students do that. Instead of assigning students an essay analyzing Of Mice and Men, have students type that essay’s prompt into ChatGPT instead.
Have students take on the role of the teacher: In groups, students should collaboratively read the ChatGPT response and assess it using a rubric the teacher provided for them, as suggested by Sharma. Have students mark up ChatGPT’s response and come up with constructive feedback that they can deliver in their next prompt. (For example, Your paragraphs lack topic sentences. Try again.) By taking on the role of an editor, students can actively develop a better understanding of what makes an essay successful.
10. Develop Course Policies that Include Digital Transparency
It is essential to be explicit with students about the expectations around using ChatGPT and other AI tools in your course. For example, ChatGPT can read a student’s essay and provide meaningful feedback that the student can use to make edits. As the instructor, be clear about these expectations: can students use the tool for feedback on their writing? If so, how should they disclose their use? As with all course policies, especially those around academic integrity, it is essential for instructors to be explicit and transparent with their expectations and to have frank conversations with their students.
Some colleagues are collecting and maintaining an open-source repository of sample digital transparency language and policies from higher education. While not affiliated with Columbia, this collection can offer insight into the different approaches institutions and individual instructors take to address AI tools in the classroom.
The Role and Risks of AI-Detection Tools in Education
Since ChatGPT’s introduction, there has been a parallel rise in tools claiming to detect AI-generated work accurately. As with any form of detection software, there are risks of misidentification, which can have consequences in the classroom.
These products are best used carefully and as one of many ways to work with students. It is essential to include these tools in any discussion with students around course policies, making clear why and how such services may be used in the course.
Collaborative Policy Development: Partnering with Students on AI Tool Usage
Instructors might also consider partnering with their students when developing usage policies in a course. This partnership can create opportunities for instructors and students to discuss the evolution of particular tools, their potential benefits in specific disciplines, and their limitations.
Instructors should be explicit about the course objectives and how using these tools might interfere with students’ learning and their achievement of particular learning goals.
11. Scaffold Activities and Assignments
Regardless of AI tool innovation or evolution, one important approach for instructors is to leverage scaffolded activities and assignments. Scaffolding is the process of breaking down a larger assignment into subtasks, which create opportunities for students to check-in and receive feedback. At the same time, scaffolding can help instructors become more familiar with students’ work as the semester progresses.
This cyclical feedback and revision process makes using tools like ChatGPT challenging and unlikely, as students will provide drafts incrementally and engage in drafting and revision. More importantly, though, this breaking down of a large project into incremental parts helps students to engage more deeply with the different skills and parts, while also creating valuable time for feedback and reflection throughout the process. For ideas on scaffolding student work, view the recording of Using AI writing tools in your scientific writing process in which Tim Requarth shares how he uses AI tools to streamline and support the writing process.
12. Design Authentic Assessments for Learning
Authentic assessments centered on student learning can help instructors and learners make intentional choices about integrating AI tools into the writing process. These authentic assessments ask students to apply the course concepts they have learned to a real-world situation or problem. Authentic assessments can enhance student learning by engaging students in a particular subject and practicing specific disciplinary skills that will help prepare them for their professional lives outside the classroom.
These kinds of assignments engage students in higher-order thinking and require that they grapple with real-world problems and challenges. Designing authentic assessments can ask students to draw from and engage with specific course materials, explore their local community, make connections between course concepts, or incorporate their personal experiences or reflections. In this way, authentic assessments can help prevent using tools like ChatGPT in that their very design and objectives are rooted within specific course concepts while also asking students to infuse their own experiences and reflections.
13. Incorporate AI Tools into Assignment Design
For some courses, depending on the goals and objectives, instructors might consider ways to incorporate AI tools in their assignment design; in doing so, instructors can provide students with opportunities to practice and foster the digital literacy skills they will need for the future.
These creative assignments might ask students to produce AI-written texts to develop an awareness of voice, authorship, and accuracy. Students could apply a rubric and offer feedback on AI-produced texts to build a more profound awareness of a course prompt. ChatGPT might be called upon as a learning support tool, where students ask for the following:
- Feedback on their texts
- Have readings summarized
- Create personalized study materials
- Brainstorm for ideas
No matter the assignment design approach is taken, instructors should offer opportunities to discuss the assignment with students, asking them to reflect on the experience and analyze their engagement with the tool.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning
New research has shown that students might not be the only ones who can benefit from artificial intelligence in education. AI tools can support teachers and administrators, too. Some of the first tools we see emerging for education won’t be aimed at students but at helping teachers navigate the challenges of changing classroom environments, from pandemic-induced disruptions to new technologies like AI.
In a recent report, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: An Educational Perspective, Harvard Graduate School of Education authors define how AI can enhance educational processes and support teachers in their complex jobs. They note that AI can help automate routine tasks, improve personalized learning, and provide actionable insights to reduce the burden on teachers and improve classroom dynamics.
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