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Teaching books doesn't work if students won't (or can't) read
English teachers don't teach many novels because students won't do the reading on their own.
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 18, 20243 min read
12 comments


AI is winning the war on cheating
A majority of students use AI to help write papers, and AI detection tools remain unreliable.
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 2, 20242 min read
3 comments


Training (and restraining) an AI writing coach
A new AI writing coach will work from a student's notes, turning ideas into sentences.
Joanne Jacobs
May 26, 20241 min read
4 comments


If teachers ban AI for students, can they use it for grading?
Can teachers ban AI for students' writing but use it for grading?
Joanne Jacobs
May 26, 20242 min read
3 comments


Sympathy for the devil: What's the bad guy's point of view?
Novelist Rachel Kadish tells her creative-writing students to write a first-person monologue by a character with "abhorrent" views that...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 20, 20242 min read
5 comments


AI will change testing: Can it grade essays?
Number 2 pencils and fill-in-the-bubble are out, writes Matteo Wong in The Atlantic. Standardized tests are going digital. In a few...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20232 min read
1 comment


Let AI do it: High schoolers don't need to write essays any more
"Good-bye and good riddance" to teaching students to write essays, writes Daniel Herman in The Atlantic. Herman, who teaches English at a...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 5, 20232 min read
20 comments


Red, green, yellow, blue: Write a thesis, show it's true
The 3-3-3 paragraph had a thesis sentence with a "subject and attitude," supported by three topic sentences, each of which was supported...
Joanne Jacobs
May 10, 20231 min read
2 comments


Catching ChatGPT cheaters is tough: Is it bursty?
Open AI's program to catch chatbot cheaters is very unreliable, write Armin Alimardani and Emma A. Jane on The Conversation. The company...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 26, 20232 min read
7 comments

Teaching with AI: Can the bot be a useful tool?
ChatGPT can be a powerful teaching tool, argues Ben Talsma, who helps teachers use technology, on Chalkbeat. A learning specialist for...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20232 min read
3 comments


NYC schools ban ChatGPT
Is it real or is it artificial intelligence? ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot that"generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing" has been ...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20231 min read
2 comments


The kids can't write
Students are encouraged to express themselves, writes Elizabeth Grace Matthew, who's taught writing at several universities, on The Hill....
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 12, 20221 min read
20 comments


AI doesn't write well, but it's better than some students
Shakespeare it's not. However, a new artificial-intelligence technology called GPT-3, which understands and generates text, could help...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 23, 20222 min read
2 comments
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