A recent book review in The New York Times generated controversy after readers noted it echoed certain passages from a previously published review of the same book in The Guardian. After investigating the incident, New York Times editors revealed the writer who wrote their review admitted to using AI and was unaware the chatbot was lifting ideas.

This is a mainstream example of a new type of plagiarism that has become increasingly common in the classroom. I’ve started calling AI plagiarism to distinguish it from both traditional plagiarism and overall AI cheating.

What’s striking is that it emerges both from clearly inappropriate AI use, such as students entering prompts directly into an AI chatbot, as well as from using AI as a brainstorming partner. As such, it has significant implications for how educators think and talk about appropriate AI use and prevent inappropriate use, at least when it comes to writing assignments.

Thinking about these policies recently has changed my approach as a writer and professor. Here’s how I'm overcoming AI plagiarism.

Warning Students About Dangers of AI As A Thought Partner

Since generative AI emerged as a mainstream force in education, the use of AI as a brainstorming tool has been recommended by many educators as an appropriate way for AI to assist the writing process.

Though I was initially open to this idea, I recently became skeptical of its ability to truly help as a writing partner. Students I work with have not improved their writing by asking AI for advice, and if anything, the writing I read, both in and out of class, has gotten much worse in recent years.

Beyond quality concerns, using AI as a “thought partner” places the user at a high risk of committing plagiarism. Also, if everyone is using it for the same assignments, there's potential for a lot of overlap, intentional or not.

I’ve started to tell students that taking advice from AI is like buying art from an unscrupulous art dealer. You can never be certain that the painting you purchased doesn’t belong to someone else.

Focusing On The Plagiarism Part

One positive about AI plagiarism is that it's frequently easier to catch using an old-fashioned plagiarism detector such as SafeAssign and Turnitin, which search the internet for papers submitted by other students and similar content in general.

In the writing courses I teach, when multiple students start using AI to write their papers, similar setups and phrasings start appearing. It’s easier to confront students about this than it is about potential AI use, which is more difficult to prove.

I’m all for giving students more chances and treating these infractions as teachable moments, but I’m taking a harder line than I once did because AI has made this problem more prevalent. The first time I catch students with a line or two of text that’s identical to another student, they might get off with a warning and a conversation with me. The next time, the penalty will be reported for an academic infraction.

Being Less Strict About Small Mistakes

Another way to discourage AI use in general is to let students know that I won’t be taking them to task for little grammatical mistakes as long as what they write sounds like they’re actually writing.

I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the run-on sentences and tortured, passive sentence construction, and all the other common grammar mistakes I used to see constantly. I’d rather flawed human writing than the flat, passionless, and generic owner's manual-type pieces that too many students are submitting these days.

By encouraging students to truly share their writing, without fear, I’m trying to take away one potential incentive for turning to AI.

Remind Students That AI Writing Is Bad Writing

Many people are convinced AI is making their writing better, but plagiarism concerns aside, it isn’t. I can tell when someone on social media starts using AI to write their posts, and I also see when a student turns to the AI dark side mid-semester. It’s not an improvement.

This all bears repeating for students. Writing can be an emotional roller coaster. I’ve been a professional freelance writer for close to two decades and have averaged hundreds of published stories per year. Despite this, in the course of nearly every story I’ve ever written — including this one — there was a point when I stopped and thought I should contact my editor and tell them the story is just not working.

AI catches students, and even professional writers, in this vulnerable state, and suddenly, its self-confident and immensely digestible prose looks really good. Don’t fall for it! When it comes to writing, AI is a con artist that makes you believe it knows better than you. It doesn’t, and that’s the message we should be sharing constantly with students.

Since the early days of ChatGPT, educators have talked about how AI can be used as a writing tutor or coach that doesn’t write for students but helps them organize their ideas and clean up their efforts.

I liked this idea when I first heard it. I’d love to live in a world where every student has access to a high-quality writing instructor. But in practice over the past few years, I haven’t noticed my students' writing improving; it's been the opposite. While the grammar has gotten much better, the content has suffered.

Today, in my classes, on social media, and through many emails I receive, I see writing with fewer technical errors, but this comes at a terrible cost. Generally, our writing is more boring, less individualized, and conveys far less meaning than it did a few years ago. The cause is AI, of course, but it’s more than that.

I think many of us have uncritically bought into the idea that AI can be an effective writing tutor. I’m no longer convinced it can be, and here’s why.

AI Is Not Actually Good At Writing

Even though people are taking writing advice en masse from ChatGPT and other AIs, we all acknowledge, subconsciously at least, that AI is terrible at writing anything original. That’s why we call AI-generated content AI slop, and when we read something and say it sounds as if AI wrote it, we are not complimenting it. Why then are we asking it to give us extensive notes, revisions, and suggestions on our writing?

AI doesn't transform our writing into William Shakespeare; when it takes on the role of a writing tutor, it’s still that same unimaginative writer. The fact that so many people are taking advice from a robot writer whose writing they hate is just another example of the cognitive dissonance of our times, and I'm genuinely puzzled by it.

AI Doesn’t Partner With You, It Takes The Wheel

A common refrain is that AI can help a student or educator brainstorm or help clean up their ideas. In this way, it can work with you like a good writing tutor, providing instant and unlimited feedback on your work.

This is another concept that sounds okay in theory but doesn’t hold up in practice. Unlike a good writing tutor, AI has a tendency to take the wheel of your writing. Even models specifically tuned toward teaching tend only to start by asking questions before offering detailed examples of what your answer can look like. Often, these suggestions are bland and lifeless, but even if these were more creative, this process is hijacking the writing process.

AI Gives Too Much Feedback

Even if the problems mentioned above could be programmed out of future AI models, I’m increasingly convinced that having an on-demand writing coach on your shoulder isn’t a good thing.

Throughout my career as a writer, I’ve benefited from feedback from editors and mentors who have read my work and altered and strengthened it--productive struggle. Seeing how they changed and improved my writing helped me get better as a writer, and continues to help my work. For example, this article will be better than the one I initially submitted, thanks to changes made by my editor.

Some thought AI could mimic this process, but I think that’s a false comparison. If I asked my editor what I should write after each sentence, and he sat next to me and rewrote my work as I was writing it, I wouldn’t be deserving of the byline associated with this story, and I probably wouldn’t earn many more writing assignments. (Editor's note: You would not!)

Even If AI Was Better At Writing, It Still Wouldn't Make Our Writing More Engaging

The fantasy author Brandon Sanderson once explained the problems with using clichéd writing in a way that really stuck for me. I’m paraphrasing here, but the idea is that clichés are not inherently bad; in fact, the first time someone hears one, it is often a great way of describing something, which is why it resonates. The problem is that over time and overuse, it becomes stripped of its power and meaning. For example, the first time I heard the phrase "X is like Y on steroids,” it was descriptive and funny. By the ten thousandth time I heard it, I started to groan.

The same thing is now happening with any writing techniques AI uses regularly. Even if it's non-objectionable to begin with, it starts to be intolerable as it spreads everywhere and everyone is doing the same thing.

Right now, AI writing is lifeless and stale to begin with, but even if it improves its writing voice, without more variation in style and tone, any of its techniques are destined to become overused almost instantly.

I do think AI’s writing will continue to get better, but I’m skeptical it can create the kind of variation necessary to uniquely power the voices of a majority of writers on the planet. And without unique writing voices, I’m not sure why we’re writing in the first place.

Knoword is a gamified platform that's built to help students progress in building vocabulary. The idea here is to make things so fun that students want to come back for more.

This learning-while-playing setup is designed to work across age and ability levels so that it's widely accessible to help all students, and educators, when it comes to vocabulary building.

The platform is already widely used and can be applied across subjects to allow for an uptake, which works school-wide, rather than specifically for English learning, for example.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Knoword to see how this could work for your class.

What is Knoword?

Knoword is a web-based game so it's easily accessible across a wide range of devices and internet connections. It uses game-based learning to help develop vocabulary expansion. This is done with immersive word games and customizable activities.

The most basic offering here is vocabulary practice being turned into interactive challenges. This blends learning with gameplay to keep students engaged, and even eager for more.

Thousands of community-made packs to pick from are available. These range from academic-specific vocabulary to trivia packs. You also have the option to build custom packs, or edit pre-existing ones, to get the perfectly tuned result for a certain subject or unit, for example.

That all makes this useful both for self-guided learning as well as in-classroom use and even remote assignments.

How does Knoword work?

Knoword comprises thousands of word packs that are interactive sets of definitions and answers. These are broken down into several play modes to allow students and educators to pick the format, which includes multiple choice, typing mode, or pairs/recognition matching.

Educators can pick from a selection of pre-created packs in subject-specific areas, make their own from scratch, or duplicate and edit packs as needed. Helpful parameters are available, including setting time limits, answer strictness and more, to help teachers build ideally suited sessions. Then, once completed, educators can track student progress using detailed analytics.

The system also uses AI as a way to help generate text clues from lists to help automate pack creations -- saving time for teachers.

Students can get playing right away without the need to create individual accounts, making it an easy option to introduce into the class.

What are the best Knoword features?

Knoword offers a great selection of packs that can be aligned to subjects or topics. Crucially, these are adaptive and allow students to go at their pace so as to grow but at a rate that feels fun, comfortable, and engaging.

The immediate feedback and multiple play modes make this a stand-alone tool for students to work with on their time, but also with teacher assistance and interaction as wanted.

The AI-powered Magic Import feature is a helpful way to generate clues with ease. This allows educators to convert lists of terms into engaging gameplay in minutes.

Assignments offer a way to provide structured options to guide learners through material, while giving educators insights such as trends in accuracy and areas needing reinforcement.

Offline materials are also available, including printable worksheets. Any pack can be turned into customizable worksheets or physical flashcards, ideal for off-screen practice or differentiated learning.

The various game modes help to make this varied and fun while staying engaging over longer period of use. The different gameplay formats -- typing, multiple choice, match pairs -- appeal to varied learning styles, from visual to recall practice.

How much does Knoword cost?

Knoword operates on a freemium model. But there are tiers for more.

Basic (Free): Create up to five packs, generate content with AI, assign activities, track basic student progress, integrate with Google Classroom, and download worksheets.

Pro ($9.99/month): Allows unlimited packs and assignments, creates image and audio clues, and removes branded watermarks on cards.

Team Plan (~$80/year): Designed for schools or departments to manage multiple educator accounts.

Knoword best tips and tricks

Kick off with curated packs
Before creating your own, explore the community library. Thousands of packs across subjects are already available -- and bookmarking makes future reuse easy.

Use assignments strategically
Assignments let you control the learning environment: time limits, modes, and even answer strictness (capitalization, punctuation). Tailor these to your learners’ proficiency.

Blend digital and printable exercises
Export packs as worksheets for class use or homework -- great for reinforcing vocabulary with written practice.

Groovelit is a classroom platform created to help encourage writing through gamified guidance that works alongside teachers.

The idea here is to tap into the creativity in every student that might otherwise go underused in the face of literacy challenges. By gamifying the writing experience, and adding direct feedback, this can help to draw every student into the world of writing.

Creative prompts are used to help get started while a scoring system can work to progress students along toward mastery. This can be used to improve writing skills and fluency in a way that allows this to benefit students across a range of subjects, from ELA and social studies to science.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about how Groovelit could work in your class.

What is Groovelit?

Groovelit is a gamified creative writing platform aimed at use by students from fourth to tenth grade. Through guidance and gamification, this works to ignite the creative spark in all students while empowering them by helping to learn how to use that effectively as a writer.

Groovelit prompts a student to produce written response -- be it narrative, persuasive, or vocabulary-rich -- within a short, structured time frame.

The system uses AI to evaluate submissions against criteria such as grammar, relevance, vocabulary usage, and adherence to the prompt. Points are awarded in ways that feel immediate and game-like rather than punitive.

This idea should help writing to feel less like work and more like play. Competition and natural reinforcement also help to shift student perspectives toward writing to be sought more readily, by choice.

How does Groovelit work?

Groovelit works a little like a quiz game, yet students don't select answers, instead they write answers. A teacher can pick a genre such as narrative or argumentative, for example, before setting prompts and aligning to curricular goals. Then they can send a link to students to begin.

Students work with a countdown timer, responding directly from within a browser window. They are assessed, live, by the AI, which uses criteria such as vocabulary, grammar, and engagement levels to provide feedback to students as they go.

Once the timed round is complete, the results are shown right away with scores. Teachers can later assess aggregated data, or spotlight certain areas to celebrate success.

This cycle continues with quick writing, instant feedback, and visible achievement, motivating students to progress further and faster toward mastery.

What are the best Groovelit features?

Groovelit gamifies learning but in a way that stays fresh thanks to a selection of game modes. These include narrative storytelling, argumentative responses, vocabulary connections, and root-based word games.

Teachers can also tailor the experience to suit needs, including adapting pacing, content focus, and student readiness.

The AI scoring works well as a way to offer immediate feedback and guidance that's tailored to suit the student where they are in their learning. This can help sustain focus and reinforce teaching moments.

For teachers, the formative data analysis options help offer actionable insights. The system offers growth areas, word-choice creativity, and standout sentences that exemplify strong writing.

The platform supports English language learners (ELLs), with customizable prompts and difficulty adjustment that should make this helpful for a wide range of language abilities.

How much does Groovelit cost?

Groovelit is free to sign up for and to use. Teachers can sign up from a school account, or it's possible to sign in with third-parties such as Google, for example.

This has no ads or tracking, and remains free to use for as long as needed.

Groovelit best tips and tricks

Alignment
Align prompts directly to your current unit of study so students see the activity as meaningful reinforcement rather than a standalone game.

Learnings
Review the formative data after each session to identify patterns in grammar, vocabulary, or comprehension that may need reteaching.

Wins
Spotlight strong student responses (anonymously if preferred) to model effective writing and build classroom confidence.

826 Digital is an online resource that's ideal for teachers who want to inspire young writers.

The nonprofit website is a part of 826 National, a writing and tutoring network that was founded by Dave Eggers. This resource launched in 2017, and is now widely used across the 50 U.S. states and throughout the world in more than 60 countries.

The goal here is to make writing instruction inspiring while at the same time being accessible and -- crucially -- a lot of fun for students.

Consequently, there are resources for both students and teachers to make this easier all round, so the focus can be on good quality and highly creative writing.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about 826 Digital as a tool for your class.

What is 826 Digital?

826 Digital is a hub filled with resources for teachers and students that encourage and support creative writing skills and practice.

As the site itself says, this about the ability to "spark the power, brilliance, and joy of writing." And with more than 1,000 writing prompts available immediately, it's clear this is a good place for any budding writer to get started or find inspiration.

The resource library can be accessed online, so it's easy to navigate to from most internet-connected devices with a browser.

This offers teachers ready-to-go lesson plans. For both teachers and students there are quick prompts, extended projects, student work samples, and video resources.

How does 826 Digital work?

826 Digital has all its resources readily available on its website that you can access immediately without the need to sign-up or provide any details.

Select the Resource Library and you're met with a host of options organized into helpful categories to navigate and narrow down what's needed.

Materials are also searchable by grade levels, genre, writing skill, or resource type. This is designed to help make it easy to fit with curriculum-focused teaching.

Everything is also designed to be modular. Teachers can use five-minute warm-up prompts, one-session lessons, or multi-week projects to fit into their teaching plans as required.

It's also possible to sign up for emails to get the latest updates sent to you as well as select time-sensitive resources.

What are the best 826 Digital features?

826 Digital breaks the learning prompts into helpful sections that can be navigated to best suit what's needed. These are:

• Sparks: Short and adaptable writing prompts that take just a few minutes.
• Lessons: As the name suggests, this is for one- or two-session units and target specific skills.
• Projects: These cover multiple sessions and help dive deeper into topics or themes.
• Student Writing: This shows example pieces as a way to help mentor with text.
• Educator Tools: Guides and strategies for planning and teaching writing.
• Videos: These Watch and Write sessions offer featured authors and creators giving guidance over video.

Teachers can use a combination of these many resources to fit into current teaching plans. Equally, these can be great for teachers new to this area, or trying to integrate writing skills into other subjects.

Indeed, this can be a great place for students to get into creative writing on their own time, too.

How much does 826 Digital cost?

826 Digital is a not-for-profit organization meaning everything is available for free to access and use. It runs thanks to philanthropy and grants as well as donations and campaigns.

You don't have to provide any details to access the site, although you can sign-up with email to access features such as downloading, bookmarking, sharing, and uploading.

The organization makes it clear that there is no tracking and it does not engage in third-party tracking or targeted advertising.

826 Digital best tips and tricks

Start small
Use the Sparks to give simple writing prompts so students get a taste and can enjoy, while building stamina without pressure.

Mentor up
Use the student writing resource as a way to help your class feel mentored by the work of others, showing anything is possible.

Use videos
Using the videos within lessons can make otherwise abstract writing skills more graspable for students, ideal as a lesson starter.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Scribbr is a more unique offering these days as AI-assisted services crop up all over. This platform uses real-world professionals along with AI to help you perfect your writing.

The company says its free resources are used by 5 million students every month. It offers a wealth of information, including slides for teachers and how-to guides for students.

This covers a range of services from proofreading and editing to plagiarism checks and citation generation. The idea being that students should be able to get to a top-grade paper by enhancing their efforts using this service.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Scribbr in your class.

What is Scribbr?

Scribbr is a paper-writing aid, backed by real people as well as AI resources, that aims to help students write the best possible papers they can manage. It also represents a helpful resources for teachers to use when grading, and to help students write their papers.

The service is built to cover a few main services, which include: proofreading and editing, plagiarism and AI content checking, citation generation, paraphrasing, and more.

It offers more than 300 helpful articles, at time of publishing, that touch on topics that can assist students, including academic writing, plagiarism, citing sources, and more.

The system works with a variety of papers, from essays and theses to PhD dissertations and research proposals. The idea being that this should help get it perfect before handing in to be read and assessed.

How does Scribbr work?

Scribbr comprises several different tools with the human-powered ones in the more premium offering as well as some more AI-powered services in the free tools. If you opt for the paid submission, then your paper can receive the human checks, which generally get turned around in a 24-hour period, although it can take as long as a week, depending on how long your paper is.

While the human checks are well-suited to proofreading, editing, spelling, grammar, and citations, the AI tools can work well for these, too. Although its the citation generator that works very well. This allows you to have your essay formatted with citations in a few clicks, and even lets you select the output style, including MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and others.

The plagiarism detector is a useful tool for teachers as it uses advanced dynamic databases to work out any attempts at plagiarism as well as AI detection being possible.

What are the best Scribbr features?

Scribbr uses a plaigarism checker that's powered by Turnitin as a way to offer excellent accuracy. Thanks to this being used in multiple libraries and databases, it has wide-reaching access to materials so the results are generally very accurate and reliable.

The use of AI tools also allows for use by those who aren't able to pay for the human touches, or are limited on time. These can also be a useful second line of defense, perhaps running a paper through these first before sending in for a human edit to ensure total perfection -- or as close as you can get in real life.

The multilingual offerings of this service are also worth noting as this might be primarily aimed at English writers and speakers but goes beyond. You can take a look at the many editors working with Scribbr to see the varied language speakers available.

Customer support is also excellent, which can be seen from the Trustpilot page alone, where all concerns are addressed and all issues are mended by the attentive team.

The Summarizer tool is really helpful when researching as it can make ingestion of large and complex bodies of information far quicker and more easy.

How much does Scribbr cost?

Scribbr offers a selection of free resources as well as its paid-for premium services that are charged for depending on the paper.

The rates for papers are $19.95 for a small document up to 7,500 words, $29.95 for a medium document up to 50,000 words, and $39.95 for a large document of more than 50,000 words.

Scribbr best tips and tricks

Start with AI
Use the free tools first including AI and then submit if you want a two-layer approach to catch any possible mistakes.

Mark with AI checks
Use the AI checker to ensure students aren't cheating and show them how it works so they realize AI can't be used as a shortcut.

Use the Summarizer
Have the Summarizer tool condense papers when researching to cover more ground if working through lots of learning material.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

The very best tools to teach writing are so plentiful now that finding the right ones can be a job in itself. That's what this article aims to make light work of for you, by laying out only the most relevant tools to teach writing in class and beyond.

From AI assistants to self-grading and guiding tech, there is a plethora of powerful writing-based teaching resources out there. You may want to work on storytelling, or perhaps it's more of a focus on grammar and structure that you need. In any case, there is likely an app for that and it's going to be in this guide, if it's good enough.

This aims to offer a mixture of free and some premium apps, while focusing on those that are widely available as web apps, when possible. That should mean this guide offers the broadest selection of tools to the widest of audiences.

Best tools to teach writing

Best to teach writing skills overall

NoRedInk

The NoRedInk website is a powerful resource for teaching writing thanks to this ELA resource's personalized content. Teachers set up their account and then use student accounts to let them learn based on their interests and abilities.

This asks students to restructure sentences, manipulate multi-paragraph sentences, scaffold essays, do guided reviews, follow writing prompts, and much more. All while offering fun, humor, and subjects that students finds engaging. All that should mean effortless honing of writing skills while enjoying the tasks.

READ: NoRedInk guide

Best AI-assisted writing program

Writable

Writable offers an AI-assisted option that is aimed at helping tailor learning to students while also delivering one-on-one feedback, grading, and guidance to save on teacher engagement time.

For use with students from grade 3 right up to 12, this adjusts to suit individual abilities and lets teachers customize, based on curriculum or rubric learning, to suit goals and progress.

This offers guided learning for students while allowing teachers to control automated feedback and grading.

READ: Writable guide

Best for AR fun

Catchy Words

When it comes to augmented reality fun, Catchy Words is the ultimate choice for working on word skills to help writing. This is simple to understand and starts off using shorter words, making this a possible option even for younger students.

Letters float about in the air and students need to pop a bubble to access each. Then they move the device to grab the ones they need and move them into floating boxes that ultimately make up the correct word.

It's a simple idea of playing a word game, but in this new augmented reality way, to make it truly engaging. This is an iOS app so is available on both iPhone and iPad devices.

READ: Catchy Words guide

Best for digital literacy

ThinkCERCA

The ThinkCERCA platform is a great way to focus on literacy skills. This offers a wide selection of reading materials that students work with to focus on vocabulary, writing scaffolding, sentence stems, and peer-to-peer debate.

Teachers can use the built-in rubrics to make grading a simple process but individual feedback is also an option within the platform -- in real-time. That makes this helpful for use both in class as well as for homework.

The automated comprehension assessments are also a nice feature here for helping students progress comfortably while saving teachers on time.

READ: ThinkCERCA guide

Best curriculum writing aid

Quill

The Quill offering is a totally free tool that appears like a premium feature-rich writing and reading aid. As such, this has been used by more than 7 million students to create more than 2 billion sentences since it launched.

This platform helps students improve writing but also reading comprehension and language skills. This is all Common Core skills-aligned, and offers differentiation for ELL, AP English, and pre-AP.

Select grade ranges and subject types before setting tasks in which students can follow lessons tailored to them. This uses writing prompts and helps build sentence-writing skills with grammar tools and evidencing features to add depth and mastery.

READ: Quill guide

Best for online community learning

Imagine Forest

Imagine Forest is an online platform in which students can write stories, with images, and publish these for others to read. Since this has built up an online community, it's a great way for students to read the work of others and get ideas before working on their own projects.

This is more than a word processor though as it offers guidance as well as challenges and activities to keep things interesting and engaging. The ability to like and comment makes this really interactive even outside of the writing part. Having a gamification option here that makes this immersive, fun, and guided in a way that should have students coming back for more.

READ: Imagine Forest guide

Best for self-publishing

BoomWriter

The BoomWriter platform is purpose-built to help students learn, not only how to create their own stories, but to experience being published, too. Unlike many other tools, this one leaves students with a printed physical book, which they created -- giving a sense of achievement that's quite unique.

This is a collaborative tool that encourages students to work together to create story ideas. Since teachers can set a first chapter, it offers a friendly way to ease into being creative as students can continue that story as they please. The ability to send notes back to students is a helpful teacher feature, as is the ability to specify certain words that need to be used -- ideal for growing vocabulary mastery.

READ: BoomWriter guide

Best for storytelling

Story Xperiential

The Story Xperiential service is quite unlike any other writing teaching tool. This uses writing and video editing combined to teach the creative process. It does this, crucially, with a team of real-world co-creators who feedback through the stages of story development.

This was created and is run by professional writers, artists, and animators involved in Pixar and Disney movies. So this is very much a skills-focused learning experience that can leave students with real marketable skills in storytelling.

This is an online service so it is easy to access both at school and when at home. That should allow students to really get into this and work on their projects as and when they want. Since this is largely self-paced, it's perfect for that way of working. and supports passion at whatever level it's being felt.

READ: Story Xperiential guide

Best novel writing experience

NaNoWriMo

Every November is the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) event. This sets a challenge, for adults and children alike, to write their own novel in that month. Everyone that participates keeps each other accountable and with group interactions possible this can be a great way to motivate everyone.

Using a word-count based goal, students are guided to craft a first draft of their novel, about anything they want. This nonprofit offers resources for educators including class activities and a helpful chart to find the ideal word count goal based on a student's age and level.

READ: NaNoWriMo guide

Best for grammar

Grammarly

When it comes to working on grammar, there are few tools as advanced as Grammarly. This is an online writing assistant that is able to check both spelling and grammar. It now also uses a generative AI to better offer use-specific writing assistance.

Grammarly can help students to write with an active voice, it can eliminate typos, and even offers helpful explanations. Since this can be installed as a Chrome plug-in, this can be used across a wide variety of writing platforms to fit in with how you and your students work.

Most of this is free but there is also a paid version that checks citation errors, proofreads formatting for bibliography, and highlights incorrect comma use and more.

READ: Grammarly guide

Night Zoo Keeper is all about creating a digital space for children to learn and practice reading and writing.

The name may already ring a bell as this is based on the UK novel series of the same title. And yes, that's where a lot of the characters you see in the images originate. Although there is no need to have read the books to begin getting involved with what's on offer here.

This platform allows children to use the characters from the book series to create their own that have their own adventures. This allows them to work on spelling, grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing skills -- all while having fun.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Night Zoo Keeper for education.

What is Night Zoo Keeper?

Night Zoo Keeper is an online platform that is designed to help children explore creative writing as a way to work on improving basic literacy skills.

While there is a version for parents, there is also one that for teaching and grading specifically. In either case, students are met with the Night Zoo Keeper characters of Will, Sam the Spying Giraffe, and Riya, to defeat the evil Lord of Nulth from destroying creativity.

Aimed at children age 6 to 12, this offers feedback to kids so they can be challenged and grow creatively while reading and writing.

Since the platform is online, it can be accessed easily through a browser, both for the children working on projects and for parents or teachers viewing progress.

How does Night Zoo Keeper work?

Night Zoo Keeper features a selection of word-focused games that help children play through a story while working on their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

Students are able to write their own creative stories, within a helpful guidance framework. They are then given feedback by real-world human tutors, assigned to each student to help guide their progress and improvement.

In the app, students see dialogue boxes as if talking to the characters, which guide them on what to do next. A simple text creation space allows them to create their own writing pieces for submission.

What are the best Night Zoo Keeper features?

Night Zoo Keeper offers teachers a really helpful dashboard that provides feedback on student progress. This makes it simple to get an overview of progress on an individual or class level.

The tutoring team is a really powerful part of this service as it features real human feedback. That's support for the students, but also for the teachers as it shares the work load. Students are given feedback directly, which teachers can also see, allowing them to progress at a rate that works for them.

This is an age-based leveling system so it's important that students are treated as individuals. Since ability levels can vary across ages, this feedback is important as some students may struggle on one section while another progresses with ease.

A wide selection of reading and writing worksheets can be printed for use in class, or to share for students to take home to complete. These are helpfully broken down into sections, including reading, spelling, punctuation, and grammar, writing activities and prompts, writing styles, and lots of sub-sections for each of these.

How much does Night Zoo Keeper cost?

Night Zoo Keeper offers a free seven day trial but ultimately this is a paid for service that is charged.

A few ways to pay are available, including a monthly fee, at £9.99 ($13.24), or if paid quarterly £9.33 ($12.36) totaling £119.88 ($158.85) for the former, or for the latter it's £111.96 ($148.35).

Another way is to pay annually, which works out to £8.33 ($11.04) per month or a total or £99.99 ($132.49) for the year.

Night Zoo Keeper best tips and tricks

Keep track
This is gamified learning fun so keep track of progress in class so students can see how they're doing as a group.

Set a task
Go offline and have students create stories, based on the material, outside of the app for real world creative experiences.

Use the ideas
Take the story writing ideas prompt sheet and work with it in class to build tales and expand into written pieces.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Current generative AI policies around writing are widely inconsistent. I’ve seen departments that discourage the use of any assistive technology for writing, including a Grammarly-style spellcheck. Others have mandated that instructors incorporate AI lessons into their classrooms as they believe use of AI is the future and that it will help students write.

As a writer and writing professor, I don’t believe either approach gets it quite right. On one hand, we need to do a much better job protecting the sanctity of human writing and draw a line in the sand—making sure all students engage with the cognitively beneficial and emotionally rewarding process of really writing. On the other hand, AI writing is here to stay, and there are some tedious aspects of writing that AI can help with, as well as ways in which students can hone their writing skills to better utilize it in their future careers and lives.

To find the right balance between these two approaches, I think writing instruction and assignments could use an upgrade. Here are five steps writing instructors can take to improve writing instruction in the age of AI.

1. Let AI Handle Formatting and Citations

Too much of my time as a student was spent agonizing over whether my citations and endnotes adhered to MLA stylebook, or whichever stylebook my teacher required. As an instructor, too much of time is spent making sure students adhere to various stylebooks required by different disciplines.

Citations and endnotes are something the robot AI writers will do better and quicker than us, and I’m happy to cede this work. Let’s teach students how to use the technology available to format their papers better in less time so they can focus on real writing.

The same might go for finding sources in some cases. Sometimes, conducting your own research and going down your own rabbit holes will be helpful; other times AI might help speed this process.

We also should tell students about potentially more efficient approaches, such as Google Scholar’s new AI summaries of research.

2. Teach How To Use AI For Cover Letters and Other Application Documents

I don’t love focusing writing instruction on career opportunities because, in my eyes, it diminishes writing, which I have always seen as far more important than simply a career skill.

That said, many of the career-oriented lessons we once taught, such as writing résumés, professional emails, and cover letters, might now be better accomplished with the help of AI. These types of documents are often so constrained by guidelines that they tend to be generic anyhow, and tailoring each specifically to a particular job, as is generally best, can make a job hunt even more agonizing.

One recent graduate told me how they used AI to write dozens of personalized cover letters per day and that’s how they ultimately landed a prestigious research position. Many big companies are using AI to scan initial applications anyhow, so I see no problem in helping our students level the playing field.

Of course, students must be taught to critically read their AI cover letters and application materials to ensure these are accurate, truthful, and are not too generic. You don't want to be submitting the same letter dozens of other applicants did because they used AI, too.

3. Prioritize Originality

AI writing tends to be lifeless, cliché-filled, and boring—minus an occasional unintentionally entertaining hallucination.

To combat unwanted AI submissions in our class, we need to encourage writing that is the opposite of that. Let’s stop deducting points for students using the word “I” in their paper and encourage them to share their perspectives in unique and new ways. Let’s grade for originality and design assignments that require them to do things such as conduct new experiments, unearth historic documents, or interview people, and get fresh quotes not found on the internet.

The more real and practical we make our writing assignments, the better these assignments will be overall and the harder it will be for AI to duplicate any. For example, AI can write a decent paper about Juan Soto and how he recently snubbed the Yankees by signing with the Mets, but it can’t interview your school’s history teacher, who used to play minor league baseball and fell in love with history because he had nothing else to do but read during long bus trips.

4. Writing Instruction Should Include Prompt Writing

Like it or not, writing effective AI prompts will be a skill that is important in the future. Writing, English communications, and the liberal arts departments in general should not cede this important modern-world skill to the computer science department.

Instead, these groups should work with the tech department to develop collaborative assignments and AI understanding so students can use the skills they learn in writing class to get the best out of their AI use.

Studying the ways in which AI responds to different prompts can also be a good way to study language and its intricacies. Yes, teaching students to get better at AI use might make them better at cheating on assignments for which you don’t want them to utilize AI. But I don’t think we should let fear of misuse blind us to potential benefits.

I also think we need to push for more effective institutional responses to prohibited AI use in class, so teachers can spend less time weeding out AI and more time teaching traditional writing, and even writing with AI.

5. Remind Everyone of Writing's Cognitive and Emotional Impact All The Time

Sometimes those who are too pro-AI writing sound to me like someone who is questioning why anyone would walk or run to the store when they could drive there much quicker. Sure, the car will get you there and save you the physical exertion, which might be painful at times, but by doing so it will rob you of the health benefits of exercise and--forgive the cliché--the joys of the journey.

Writing is the same, even in those rare instances when AI can do it as well as a human. We need to remind students, administrators, and ourselves that writing isn’t about getting from a blank page to one filled with words. It’s about debating with ourselves and researching and thinking and building our knowledge of a topic while clarifying our thoughts.

Writing has been shown to help us learn, but it does more than that. When we write, we create, and while it isn’t always easy, there is something so profound and satisfying about sharing our inner thoughts. In other words, writing is one of the great joys of being human and I'm not ready for the machines to rob me or my students of that.

• AI Starter Kit for Teachers
• 8 Ways to Create AI-Proof Writing Prompts

Passion in a subject can strike students at any time. Be it science, math, or history, students can find themselves enamored with their class of choice. However, writing can lose its luster early on with students as it is usually associated with busy work. This loss of interest in writing is what Mystery Writing is trying to fix.

Here we speak with Ryan Brusco, Senior Director of Strategy at Discovery Education, about why writing is so important and how a system such as Mystery Writing can help students find more fulfillment in their writing.

Why Writing Programs Are Necessary

From writing your name to completing your first book report, putting pen to paper has been a fundamental way to flesh out ideas, create stories, and communicate universally. But why would writing become such a focus for a dedicated curriculum?

“Most of the folks on our team are former educators,” says Brusco. “We want to make sure that whatever we create is by teachers, for teachers. When we think about what edtech should be, we want to make sure that it saves teachers time and engages students with ‘wow’ content. Those are the two pillars we focus on when we build out a Mystery product.”

But what is the main issue that students face when it comes to writing?

“Confidence,” says Brusco. “We want our students to be confident writers. We want to help them get over the fear of the blank page. We’ve talked with teachers over the last four years. Teachers brought up the fact that they will give a writing assignment, students will sit down to write, teachers will circulate the room, and 30 minutes later they will get to a student who hasn’t written anything. Our goal is to help students develop confidence in their writing.”

How Mystery Writing Develops Confidence in Students and Efficiency in Teachers

It’s true that a blank page can be a daunting task to fill, especially for a student. Pressure to write the right thing can be overwhelming, and this is doubly so when a grade is on the line. So how can a curriculum empower students to overcome the fear that comes with writing in order to become their best selves?

“We started out by making 45-minute lessons at the sentence level that students can do in a short period of time,” says Brusco. “Then we have genre units that are separate from the 45-minute essential skills lessons.”

When asking teachers about what they would like to have in a writing curriculum, the sentiment revolved around how writing was being taught. Most teachers told Brusco that they taught writing in a gradual way, focusing on one particular genre and ending in an overall final project.

In order to help serve teachers while helping students better understand their writing process, practice lessons were also created to parallel the main lesson. This allows students to continuously work on their writing skills without having to go over the same lessons that they have already completed. The beauty of this method is that lessons are set up to be familiar to complete while offering different subject matter to keep writing interesting.

Similar lessons also help teachers who want to keep their curriculums uniform. Simply being able to log into the Mystery Writing service and begin a lesson in minutes allows teachers the ability to use their time more efficiently for other tasks. Many teachers look for ways to help save time during the school day due to the sheer amount of tasks they have to complete. As this service was made using the input of teachers testing it, it was designed with giving teachers back their time in mind.

Mystery Writing was made to help teachers get their students to a more solid understanding of their writing process by demystifying the blank page, as Brusco calls it. With this, we create a future of confident communicators ready to let their voices be heard, even through writing.

I have observed some embarrassing uses of AI without editing and personifying by fellow educational leaders. It’s a seductive trap. AI can produce what appears to be high-quality work, but when we look closer, there are serious red flags.

Educators need to balance harnessing AI's potential while preserving integrity of use to avoid concerns of ethical AI use. At the same time, we play a role in modeling for others how AI can enhance rather than undermine.

Challenges of Unedited AI Responses

Recently, I saw a well-intended email commendation sent by a supervisor to a teacher worthy of praise. The problem? It screamed, “I used AI, and didn’t change it.”

Understand that educational leaders should be embracing AI. I certainly do. Yet its remarkably imperfect productivity has the potential to stage uncomfortable call-outs, such as this example when the teacher approached me and said, “That was nice but weird.” That’s a perfect way to sum up AI production!

The integration of AI technology has revolutionized various aspects of education, from personalized learning tools to administrative efficiencies. However, the ethical use of AI-generated content remains a critical concern, particularly in academic settings where integrity and originality are paramount and where educational leaders should be modeling appropriate use.

Consider:

Educational Impact - Students may inadvertently adopt incorrect or incomplete information if AI responses are directly copied. This hinders their critical thinking and learning development.

Legal and Ethical Implications - Educational institutions must navigate the legal and ethical implications of using AI-generated content. Proper attribution and understanding of fair use policies are crucial to avoid legal repercussions.

Best AI Use Practices for Educational Leaders

In May of every school year, I, like many leaders, get barraged by requests to write letters of recommendation. In almost every case, I want to, but it is labor intensive. One of my first experiences tinkering with AI was when I entered non-identifiable resume content to produce a fast, more personified response.

I’m a fast writer but 10 letters at 20 minutes a pop is too great a cost, pulling me from other important duties and personal time with family. When I use AI and get a suggested letter, I then spend 3-5 minutes going back and fixing several important patterns of AI responses, and personalizing where appropriate.

Ultimately, spending 30-50 minutes for 10 letters versus 200 minutes is well worth the effort before copying, pasting, and sending.

For every input, especially when it’s directed at or about an individual (such as a letter of commendation or recommendation), you should take the time to edit the AI response.

Here are the guidelines I follow to ensure that I balance the efficiency (time saved) and qualitative responsiveness:

1. Use what I call “deliberate feedback” in the AI. One of the first signs that the letter of commendation by the supervisor was exclusively AI generated was that there was nothing in the output that separated out the individual being recognized. It was a generic message acknowledging her achievement. Absent was the “personification” needed in that response. Let’s explore two techniques to ensure personification in the content:

• Old school revision process. We teach students during the writing process how significant editing and revising is. We must follow the same rules with AI. That is, once you get the generated content, go back and manually personalize around the talking points. AI does a good job of organizing content, we must add the personal touch.
• Access deliberate feedback. When I wrote from resume content, I was feeding the AI deliberate information about the individual. This works the same with a method I shared about collecting survey feedback to organize results in a systematic and fast way–I feed the AI the deliberate information and then tell it to use this in the prompt. (“Based on this content, write me a letter of recommendation,” or “Based on these survey feedback responses, identify patterns and trends and make recommendations.”) You can be confident then that the AI response will be very accurate, versus the mistake of saying, “Write me a letter of commendation for a person who presented at a national conference.”

2. Avoid redundancies. AI is designed to please the user. That’s generally great but not when it repeats an explanation over and over again. You will notice this when asking it to respond to a prompt, as the AI will say the same thing, three slightly different ways. We don’t communicate like this in person, so remove the redundancies and stick to the point. Clarity is key.

3. Remove those weird words you don’t use that AI injects. My favorite AI word is “unwavering.” I don’t use that word. It sounds weird coming from my mouth, and there are a bunch of words like this that AI commonly uses. Remember that your voice matters when communicating the message. AI still sounds too mechanical, and even when it can learn your tone, it struggles with strange lexicon. Instead of “unwavering” and “tireless,” of which I have removed dozens of times each, I might simply say, “your dedication to,” or “your hard work.”

While AI offers tremendous benefits in education, its integration must be approached with caution and responsibility. Educational leaders play a major role in fostering a culture of academic integrity and ethical use of AI, and modeling the above matters.

By checking content responses, using deliberate feedback, personifying, and removing redundancies and strange AI wording, we can leverage the power of AI while safeguarding educational integrity, not just for us, but for everyone who looks to us for guidance.

• AI Ethics and Legal Concerns in Classrooms
• The Power and Potential of AI for Professional Development

Not to get too philosophical but I think one beautiful thing about humans is our ability to hold two contrary viewpoints at the same time. It’s one of the aspects that makes human writing so hard for AI to duplicate well — we are creatures of contradiction and nuance, and machines struggle to get that.

All of that is a roundabout way of explaining my feelings when it comes to Grammarly’s AI writing assistant. I’ve used Grammarly’s spellcheck for years and encourage all my students to do the same. So I was intrigued by its launch of an AI assistant in Fall 2023 and finally got around to testing it out myself.

Using the free web version that allows 100 prompts per month, I asked it to critique works of writing I created, asked it for help answering real writing prompts I use with my students, and had it respond to actual examples of student writing.

After doing this, I’m conflicted. When working at its best, Grammarly’s AI assistant comes as close as any tool I’ve used to living up to the potential of generative AI tutoring — providing supportive, thoughtful, and frequently, very good feedback on student work.

Conversely, when it misses the mark, it misses wide, confidently providing inaccurate assurances and worse making it easy to use AI to cheat. I’d argue it could provide a strong temptation to cheat even among students who turned to the tool for help without that intention initially.

Let’s take a closer look at Grammarly's AI writing assistant.

Grammarly’s AI writing assistant: The Good  

Grammarly bills its AI assistant as a tool that will help the writing process by providing assistance with tasks such as brainstorming and ideation. And when it successfully sticks to this type of usage, it is, simply put: awesome.

I took a story I wrote for another publication that I felt was pretty close to being ready to submit and put it in Grammarly's web-based document editor. I then asked the Grammarly assistant to make suggestions by clicking on the "assistant" and "generative AI" options on the menu. It provided several good suggestions and pointed out one real weakness in the story I was ignoring — I had not provided enough specific background info on two companies mentioned.

I also submitted parts of two real student papers written for that assignment (both submissions were partial and free of any information that could identify the students). I would have scored one of these submissions in the high 90s, and the other in the 70s. In both cases, Grammarly provided encouraging and helpful feedback. Particularly with the weaker paper, it pointed out several of the missing elements that I or another instructor would likely note when grading.

Grammarly’s AI also initially impressed me with its honesty when it couldn’t help. For instance, I asked it if it could make sure that my story was written in accordance with Associated Press-style guidelines. It politely said it could not.

This is great because the sign of a smart AI tutor — or person — is one that admits it doesn’t know everything. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always so honest about what it could and could not do.

The Bad

When I asked Grammarly’s AI assistant to confirm that I had spelled a person’s name correctly and consistently throughout the story, the AI confidently assured me I had — even though I hadn’t. I’m not sure if this was a true hallucination or if it just couldn’t quite figure out the question. Either way it wasn’t good.

More significantly, when I put in a prompt used for one of my classes and asked for help writing an essay based on this, it provided an “example” by writing the essay for me. While getting an example of an essay based upon a prompt could be helpful, this was more or less writing the essay for the student, which is exactly what ChatGPT and other AI tools do for students. I had hoped Grammarly’s AI assistant would avoid this.

Furthermore, it’s easy to imagine how a student who put in a prompt asking for help and got a complete essay instead might be tempted to just submit that essay.

The Ugly

The more I looked into these negatives, the worse it got.

Grammarly’s AI assistant insisted I had spelled one source’s name correctly even when I specifically asked it to check for the misspelling that I had intentionally placed in the story.

And in an unsettling and somewhat humbling turn of events, after putting my prompt into Grammarly’s AI assistant, I realized that my worries about some of its features were not hypothetical. For example, this week (I'm teaching a course this summer) I’m near certain that at least two of my students generated entire essays using Grammarly AI. I also believe it’s likely that many of the cases of AI-submitted work in the past that I have seen in my classes have been generated with Grammarly’s AI assistant. This is particularly unsettling as I had advised all students to use Grammarly. Did I inadvertently push them to the dark side?

To be sure, some of these problems are surmountable. For school accounts, perhaps Grammarly’s AI assistant could send copies of the examples generated for students to instructors. Or better yet, it could be programmed not to generate examples of full essays. AI engineers could work more closely with writing instructors to help address common needs and avoid hallucinations.

Other Grammarly features have long impressed me, so I am confident Grammarly will make improvements going forward. I hope this happens soon because if you eliminate this tool’s problematic features, you'd be left with something that really lives up to the educational promise of generative AI.

• What is Grammarly and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
• 10 Ways to Detect AI Writing Without Technology

Writable is an AI-powered teaching tool that specializes in teaching writing using a scaffolded program, complete with feedback and grading. All that is available to free up more teacher time that can be spent one-on-one with students who need extra help or guidance.

This web-based writing program is well used, with more than 2 billion words written by its 15.1 million student writing submissions across 16,287 schools and districts.

Aimed at grades 3 to 12, this can be tailored to suit various levels and targets by schools or districts. Usefully, this offers feedback via teachers that can be scaled to find the right balance of automation and interaction.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Writable for use in your school or district.

What is Writable?

Writable is a web-based program that teaches writing to students. It does this using feedback across writing genres with varying assignment options to suit abilities across grades.

While there is a helpful peer review feedback system in place, that works anonymously and via a teacher, the system now also offers a lot of AI tools that helps to automate the process of grading.

The software lets teachers customize curriculum or rubric learning to suit goals and progression targets. Teachers can provide feedback, live, to help guide students with a certain level of automation to keep that process from being too time-consuming.

Integration with current setups, such as six traits instructions, is also supported here to help make the transition to this tool as easy as possible.

How does Writable work?

Writable offers a free trial that allows you to give the system a go before paying for anything longer term. Sign-up, using email, and you can begin.

Sync your class roster using Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and more, or share with students using a class code. It's then a simple process of exploring the premade options and working from there.

From short articles and videos to specific lesson prompts as well as SEL-focused options, there is plenty from which to pick. Copy prompts to assignments, amend as needed with options to play with the prompt, rubrics, or supports, and then assign to students.

The dashboard offers a single space for teachers to monitor progress and interact as needed, both via the software or in the classroom. Usefully, students who need extra help are flagged for the teacher so it's easy to keep track.

What are the best Writable features?

Writable now incorporates AI, which offers a host of helpful extra features. These include suggested comments and even grading when responding to student submissions. This helps to automate the process while still keeping the teacher involved -- saving time while guidance is individually tailored to each student's needs and goals.

As mentioned, the dashboard is a super valuable addition that allows teachers to show class-wide and individual student information at a glance. You can also drill down into more details and go through skills, standards, categories, rubrics, and checklists.

The way this tool scaffolds learning is very powerful with writing, revision, and feedback all tailored to suit student goals. The process is arranged by the software and then offered to teachers for monitoring, removing a lot of work from the process.

The fact that students are also reviewers of the work of others, as part of the learning process, is a brilliant addition. This helps facilitate mastery of learned skills while also streamlining the process for teachers.

How much does Writable cost?

Writable offers a free trial so you can give the service a go before paying, however, to get the full system it does require a subscription.

Pricing is managed using a quote system so as to offer school and district-wide pricing that is tailored to suit needs.

The company points out that pricing starts as low as $1/student/month.

Writable best tips and tricks

Review together
Carry out a peer review as a group to ensure everyone understands how it works and knows it is all anonomized.

Team-up
Work together as teachers at grade-level teams to align assignments across writing levels.

Be accessible
Use the accessibility features including audio instructions, additional scaffolds, and pre-filled graphic organizers.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Steve Graham believes AI can help students learn to write but he doesn't want it to replace the writing process.

“Writing can be a powerful tool, and we have evidence that it will help you understand the material better and remember it better,” says Graham, a professor at Arizona State University, who has studied effective writing instruction and how AI does in writing assessments.

But that only happens if students actually write. “If we move to a point where something like chat GPT is writing for us, then we lose the advantage of thinking about the material we're writing about, which can increase our understanding," he says.

Reconciling these two goals -- having AI help students learn to write more efficiently without hijacking the cognitive benefits of writing -- should be a key goal of educators. Finding the ideal balance will require more work from both researchers and classroom educators, but Graham shares some initial tips for doing this currently.

1. Have Students Brainstrom Without AI  

Many talk about how they use AI as a brainstorming partner and to generate ideas. Graham isn’t certain that’s the best use for students, at least not initially.

Instead he’d like to see the students get their ideas down on paper before working with AI. “You're still thinking about it, then you're bringing in other ideas,” he says.

2.  Have Students Write A First Draft Without AI

Once a student has the ideas for a paper, Graham advises having them write a first draft. “Then the polishing of the material may be a great place for AI to help us,” he says. This might include sentence construction, changes to tone, and other aspects of writing improvement that are generally separate from the part of writing involved in thinking about a topic.

3. Have Students Go Deeper Than The First AI Response

AI tends to offer advice so confidently students might be tempted to take it whether it improves their writing or not. To overcome this, Graham suggests writing a sentence and then having AI suggest multiple versions of that sentence, and then rewriting it with the class making it clear why the final sentence you chose is the best.

“Just as we might teach students how to form more complex sentences from simpler sentences with something like sentence combining, we can have activities where we help students make those kinds of decisions so that they use the feedback from AI to improve their sentence skills and make informed decisions,” Graham says.

4. Emphasize Thinking In All AI Writing Tasks  

Graham says that teachers want to have students focus on the idea that “thinking” goes along with writing as they explore utilizing AI for writing help. Even parts of the revision process should be centered on student thinking. Bolstering digital citizenship is also important in reducing the use of AI to cheat and shortchange learning.

“We want to be sure that at each point that we use this where you could potentially take thinking out of the mix, that we make sure that we structure the situation so that that's not going to happen,” he says. “We want to really emphasize ownership of what's written and responsibility. Ultimately, if AI helps you in some way, you need to be transparent about that. And if there's errors, they're your errors, because it's your responsibility to check on that.”

• Scientists Compared ChatGPT Writing Assessments to Human Assessments. Here’s What They Found
• The Biggest Edtech Companies Are Going All In on AI. Here's Why

AudioPen AI is, as the name suggests, an artificially intelligent tool that can be used to replace writing a note by speaking it. That means you can talk and this AI will do the work of turning your words into written text.

Unlike some other transcription options out there, such as dictation notes on Google Docs for example, this isn't just an audio-to-text tool, it's an AI system. The difference here is that it will intelligently clean up your notes to provide a finished version with grammar and proper breaks, too.

For teachers and students, this offers a great way to take notes in class, preparing notes, listening at an event, and beyond. The idea is that any thought can be captured in the moment, hands-free, ready for you to use or share when you need.

This guide aims to show you all you need to know about AudioPen to see if it could work well for your educational needs.

What is AudioPen?

AudioPen is a web-app based software tool that uses the smarts of OpenAI to intelligently transcribe your voice into written notes. That means an ability to use nearly any device to record and then output as text to be used or shared as needed.

Since this is AI-powered, it will intelligently remove any pauses or stumbling in your words. Consquently, you can speak freely and rely on the notes still coming out with a clear and finished quality that uses grammar correctly so you shouldn't have to do much, or indeed any, editing.

Support for multiple languages, writing styles, outputs, and the ability to save all that, add up to a powerful tool inside a very easy-to-use setup that offers lots for free.

How does AudioPen work?

AudioPen works as a web app so it can be run within a browser. This is a good thing in that it works on most devices and takes up very few resources. It's less good in that you need to have a stable internet connection and must allow microphone access on your device each time you use it.

Sign up and, for free, you can start using the offerings to record your audio and transcribe to text, even saving or sharing as needed. You don't have to sign up to try this but you do get the save feature by doing so. Even more features are unlocked when you use the paid version, but more on that in the next section.

Once the AI has worked on transcribing, which takes anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute, you can see your finished text. You are then able to copy and paste, share via various apps, or output an image of the text to save or share that way.

What are the best AudioPen features?

AudioPen as a free version is helpful for transcribing up to three minutes of audio, and offers the ability to store ten notes on the app.

Among the more premium features is a helpful ability to change the output, condensing into a shorter summary, in which the AI will re-write to suit the length you require. You can also pick the output style, from email or text to bullets, or even your own style, based on writing you input to train the platform.

Languages are well supported since this uses OpenAI. You can select both the input and the output, speaking in one language and having it come out written in another, for example.

An option is available to upload an audio file and have the app work its magic on that -- a really useful feature if you've recorded a speech when offline, for example, and want to have it transcribed later when you're connected to a stable internet connection.

How much does AudioPen cost?

AudioPen offers a free and premium version with lots more features added when you pay.

The Free plan gets you up to three-minute recording transcriptions and the ability to store ten of these on the app per month.

Go Premium at $60/year or $120/lifetime, and you get the ability to record up to 15 minutes per note and can store an unlimited amount. You also have the ability to upload up to 30 audio files per month for transcription, plus you can assign tags for easier organization. Multiple language support, summarization options, quick export, shareable image summaries, cleaned-up recording format, better note search, and the ability to pause are all added, too.

AudioPen best tips and tricks

Record a presentation
Have students present to the class and record it so you can provide them a written transcription to reflect on how they spoke, and share feedback with the class.

Make notes on the go
Either transcribe live using the app when travelling, or make audio recordings to upload later so you don't lose an idea as it arrives.

Teach the class
Spend time showing the class how to use the app and have them submit work with it to show how it can save them time in the future.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

AI writing is everywhere these days. I see it in student papers, in some of their emails, in Instagram posts from local restaurants, in newsletters I quickly unsubscribe to, and at the risk of sounding paranoid, even in some text messages.

The good news is that all this AI writing has helped me, like many others, get good at recognizing it. The biggest AI tell for me these days is that the writing just feels flat and lifeless with a lot of words strung together that don’t really convey meaning.

When I break this down, this is often about overuse of clichés and annoying tendencies such as rhetorical questions, short sentences, and the dreaded “It’s not x, it’s y.” construction.

Keeping an eye out for this in student work has helped me develop some techniques for honing my AI radar. In conversations with teaching colleagues, I’ve learned I’m not alone in using many of these strategies in the modern classroom.

Before we get to these strategies, however, it’s important to remember that suspected AI use isn’t immediate grounds for disciplinary action. These cases should be used as conversation starters with students and even – forgive the cliché – as a teachable moment to explain the problems with using AI-generated work.

To that end, I’ve written previously about how I handled these suspected AI cases, the troubling limitations and discriminatory tendencies of existing AI detectors, and about what happens when educators incorrectly accuse students of using AI.

With those caveats firmly in place, here are the signs I look for to detect AI use from my students.

1. How to Detect AI Writing: The Submission is Too Long 

When an assignment asks students for one paragraph and a student turns in more than a page, my spidey sense goes off.

Almost every class does have one overachieving student who will do this without AI, but that student usually sends 14 emails the first week and submits every assignment early, and most importantly, while too long, their assignment is often truly well-written. A student who suddenly overproduces raises a red flag.

2. “It’s Not X, It’s Y…”

It’s not just a bad way of writing, it’s a mind virus infecting society. That’s pretty much the extent to which I’ve come to loathe the "It’s not X, it’s Y" construction that AI is such a fan of using.

If you haven’t noticed this already, give it a little time, you’re start to see it everywhere. I asked Gemini to explain why it’s so annoying using the "It’s Not X, It’s Y" construction. Here are some of the not-so-great gems it gave me:

• It is not a mark of clever writing; it is a shortcut for a tired brain.
• It’s not a stylistic choice; it’s a structural crutch
• It is not an elegant tool for persuasion; it is just a lazy way to pick a fight with a strawman.

Also common are its variations, including the escalating negation. Or what Gemini described to in the following way: “It’s not just lazy, it's not just uninspired, it's not even technically flawed—it's actively insulting to the audience.”

3. Several Short Sentences That Should Really Be One Sentence

Keep it short. This is a piece of writing advice I often give students, but AI takes this to an extreme by spitting our short declarative sentences in an often misguided attempt at dramatic writing. This can most easily be seen in items in a series.

The example my editor kindly provided for this story is perfect: “AI is dumb. AI is lazy. AI is more human than humans.” Rather than how a human would write it as, “AI is dumb, lazy, and more human than humans.”

I’ve never seen a person actually write a sentence the first way, but AI sets things up like that all the time.

4. Cliché Overuse

It’s always a dark and stormy night when it comes to AI writing. No matter how much better these may have gotten at writing over the years, AI tools are all addicted to clichés. In fact, you might say that their cliché use is on steroids and that it has not learned to avoid clichés like the plague.

This contributes to AI’s flat and emotionless vibe, which is something that that has remained an important sign of AI use since ChatGPT was first launched. I feel like the writing is a form of verbal musak: maybe it’s fine in the background, but it’s trite and annoying if you actually focus on it.

5. The Assignment Is Submitted Early

I don’t want to cast aspersions on those true overachievers who get their suitcases packed a week before vacation starts, finish winter holiday shopping in July, and have already started saving for retirement, but an early submission may be the first signal that I’m about to read some robot writing.

For example, several students this semester submitted an assignment the moment it became available. That is unusual, and in all of these cases, their writing also exhibited other stylistic points consistent with AI writing.

Warning: Use this tip with caution as it is also true that many of my best students have submitted assignments early over the years.

6. Excessive Use of Lists and Bullet Points  

Here are some reasons that I suspect students are using AI if their papers have many lists or bullet points:

1. ChatGPT and other AI generators frequently present information in list form even though human authors generally know that’s not an effective way to write an essay.

2. Most human writers will not inherently write this way, especially new writers who often struggle with organizing information.

3. While lists can be a good way to organize information, presenting more complex ideas in this manner can be .…

4 … annoying.

5. Do you see what I mean?

6. (Yes, I know, it's ironic that I'm complaining about this here given that this story is also a list.)

7. It’s Mistake-Free 

I’ve criticized ChatGPT’s writing here yet in fairness it does produce very clean prose that is, on average, more error-free than what is submitted by many of my students. Even experienced writers miss commas, have long and awkward sentences, and make little mistakes – which is why we have editors. ChatGPT’s writing isn’t too “perfect” but it’s too clean.

8. The Writing Doesn’t Match The Student’s Other Work  

Writing instructors know this inherently and have long been on the lookout for changes in voice that could be an indicator that a student is plagiarizing work.

AI writing doesn't really change that. When a student submits new work that is wildly different from previous work, or when their discussion board comments are riddled with errors not found in their formal assignments, it's time to take a closer look.

9. Repeating Patterns

My oldest child is obsessed with a Sesame Street song that includes the chorus, “Patterns repeat, they go over and over . . . .”

This song has been seared on my soul, but it also is a good reminder for spotting student-generated AI writing. Sometimes one assignment will yield a number of papers that are eerily similar. While these are rarely actually identical, AI tends to have patterns when responding to similar prompts, so if you see a few students answering the same question in a way that sounds really similar, AI might be to blame. This can also be a helpful way to tackle AI without accusing a student of using AI because it can fall under the category of traditional plagiarism.

10. Something Is Just . . . Off 

The boundaries between these different AI writing tells blur together and sometimes it's a combination of a few things that gets me to suspect a piece of writing. Other times it’s harder to tell what is off about the writing, and I just get the sense that a human didn’t do the work in front of me.

I’ve learned to trust these gut instincts to a point. When confronted with these more subtle cases, I will often ask a fellow instructor or my department chair to take a quick look (I eliminate identifying student information when necessary). Getting a second opinion helps ensure I’ve not gone down a paranoid “my students are all robots and nothing I read is real” rabbit hole. Once a colleague agrees something is likely up, I’m comfortable going forward with my AI hypothesis based on suspicion alone, in part, because as mentioned previously, I use suspected cases of AI as conversation starters rather than to make accusations.

Again, it is difficult to prove students are using AI and accusing them of doing so is problematic. Even ChatGPT knows that. When I asked it why it is bad to accuse students of using AI to write papers, the chatbot answered: “Accusing students of using AI without proper evidence or understanding can be problematic for several reasons.”

Then it launched into a list.

NoRedInk is a web-based platform that's designed to help teach students about good writing practices, including grammar, by doing and experiencing.

The tool is aimed at grades three to twelve and works alongside a curriculum to offer the best possible progression for students. Since it's all web-based and self-explanatory, it is easy to get going both for teachers and students.

The idea here, as the name suggests, is to place task delegation and marking all in one digital space. As such, this can be setup, monitored, and adjusted by teachers to ensure students are individually on the right trajectory.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about NoRedInk to see how it could work in your class.

What is NoRedInk?

NoRedInk is an ELA site and resource space to help students and teachers work together to most effectively improve writing skills.

By offering a wide variety of content, tailored to each student's likes, this is able to keep even less-focused students engaged with the learning.

Usefully, this tool has developed over time, so it offers a student-focused selection of features that have developed based on student and teacher requests. It works to offer tailored suggestions to students to help them progress through their learning.

Thanks to a teacher dashboard it is possible to set work, see results, create feedback, and plan longer term, all within one space.

How does NoRedInk work?

NoRedInk can be setup by a teacher before adding students to the class roster. Then, groups can be made in which specific skills to focus on are assigned to individual students, or the entire group, to build mastery. They are then able to login and begin their tasks set in front of them, right from within the browser on their device of choice.

Since this is tailored to the needs of each student, it can be used for for anything from introducing new skills to reinforcing one for mastery. Crucially, it can allow students to work at their own pace and with challenges to grow and progress without feeling overwhelmed.

What are the best NoRedInk features?

NoRedInk allows for a great level of personalization so it can be humorous, engaging, and genuine fun for students to use. From including their favorite celebrities, shows, or sports teams, to adding the names of friends and pets, this is very adaptive and ideal for personalized learning.

A wide variety of activity options keeps this fresh. From restructuring sentences and manipulating multi-paragraph sentences to following writing prompts, completing scaffolded essays, and doing guided reviews, or even editing work -- there is plenty of opportunity to practice skills in action.

The diagnostics are helpful to focus work to suit students needs as well as to inform in-lesson teaching. Plus, the quiz tool helps to make assessing progress an easy process.

Go for the paid version and you get the helpful curriculum-based set of tools for students to work toward a well-aligned experience. This includes extra help with revision and writing practices.

How much does NoRedInk cost?

NoRedInk offers free and premium tiers to pick from with lots covered in the basic version but some extras that can make paying worthwhile.

The Free version gets you personalized content for students, a teacher dashboard, quiz activities, and lots of styles of written learning content that is scalable and works with the curriculum.

Go for the Premium version and you get full access to thousands of skills exercises, writing prompts, guided composition tools and reporting features. In addition, there are prompts and rubrics from ACT, SAT, AP, state tests and more. Standards-aligned benchmark assessments, evaluated tracking and dynamic usage reports for admins are also included.

NoRedInk best tips and tricks

Class-wide
Start by performing a task as a class so everyone understands how it works before setting individually adapted tasks.

Group targets
Tailor work to individuals but tailor goals for groups so you can address these in class without needing to see each student separately.

Revision
Use this tool as a part of revision, with exam and project goals in mind, as targets for learning outcomes.

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Despite all the discussion, I suspect the impact in some subjects of ChatGPT and other similar generative AI tools has been minimal. But for me as a college writing instructor, these AI tools have had a huge impact on my day-to-day work -- and not a positive one. I am regularly dealing with AI-generated papers submitted in my class and, like a character in a Philip K. Dick novel, I regularly have the unsettling experience of suspecting human-generated writing was actually machine-written. 

I still share enthusiasts' belief that there is potential for using AI in education, from individualized tutoring to research and teaching assistance, and I agree banning it is not the answer. But I do think more has to be done to protect the integrity of human-generated writing in schools and that the conversation around AI should always address this. 

As we continue to figure out how generative AI fits into our curriculums and the world as a whole, here are some things I wish the pro-AI crowd would consider and address in their talks and writing on the subject.  

1. Students Are Using AI to Submit Papers For Almost Every Written Assignment 

The problems posed by AI are here and real and occurring in classrooms every day. A recent survey of college students and their AI use found that 37% of students use ChatGGPT, and of those students, 96% use ChatGPT for school work, 69% percent use it for help with writing, and 29% percent use it to generate entire papers. 

Using AI to help study and be organized is great, using it to generate entire papers not so much. In my undergraduate classes, I have noticed the rate of AI submissions to be trending up. In a class of 20 students, I now expect to see at least three AI-generated papers per assignment. 

2. Reading AI Papers Is Demoralizing  

Until it happens to you, it can be difficult to fully grasp how unsettling and demoralizing it is to come across AI-generated work in your classes. When you suspect a paper is AI-generated but can’t prove it, you have to spend time grading inauthentic work and pretending this feedback matters to the student. 

AI submissions can also infect a whole batch of papers, making you wonder unfairly about ones that were actually generated by humans. It’s a new kind of stress that just wasn’t part of the job a year ago. 

3. Preventing Students From Submitting AI Papers is Hard

I’ve written about how instructors can rework their writing prompts to make these as AI-proof as possible. However, doing this requires extra time and is placing an undo burden on individual instructors. And at best, even AI-resistant prompts only limit the amount of AI-generated papers submitted. 

Suggesting that the problem of AI papers is overblown or requires just minor tweaks to prompts is underselling the scope of the problem and gaslighting those of us dealing with it on a regular basis. Schools and universities need to stop leaving this challenge to individual teachers, and we need stronger institutional responses overall to the problem of AI writing. Those dismissing concerns should remember this.  

4. Writing Isn't Drudgery

When I interviewed Anurag Acharya, one of the founders of Google Scholar, he told me that using a Google Scholar function or a similar tool to generate citations made sense. Essentially — in my words not his — students had better ways to use their time than look up archaic rules that a computer could generate instantly. 

I agree when it comes to citations, however, I vehemently disagree with those who suggest that the same applies to writing itself. Writing isn’t always fun but it's very rarely drudgery. It’s an ancient practice that has been inherently linked to how we interact with and understand the world for thousands of years.  

5. Writing is Linked to Cognition

Others are more qualified to talk about the link between human cognition and writing, but I know that writing about the world helps me understand it. And that when I consider a topic or a question or an argument and take the time to solidify my thoughts in paper, I understand that subject better and more deeply. 

I know writing doesn’t come as easily to everyone and different people process the world differently, except our students deserve a chance to develop this ability that can serve them in so many ways beyond the scope of what seems to be a short writing assignment. 

In other words, this conversation around AI and writing isn’t about writing at all, it’s about thinking and making sure we continue to facilitate the type of thinking writing supports.  

• 8 Ways to Create AI-Proof Writing Prompts
• 7 Ways to Detect AI Writing Without Technology

New research highlights that when it comes to writing instruction for middle and high school students, it’s important to get it, well, right.

“It does matter what you do when you teach writing because some things don't appear to work so well,” says Steve Graham, lead author of a new analysis of writing interventions (or “treatments”) for students in grades 6-12. 

The meta-analysis was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology and used data from 406 previous experiments involving 52,529 students. While no interventions studied in this analysis had a negative effect on writing outcomes, some interventions didn’t have significant positive effects. For instance, “Just simply increasing how much students write in middle school or high school does not improve their writing,” Graham says.

On the bright side, however, many interventions did help students improve their writing, and writing practice paired with enhanced instruction could make a significant difference. 

In their analysis, Graham and his co-authors identified 16 categories of writing interventions that had a positive impact on student writing and can serve as a guide to writing instructors. However, Graham cautions even though analysis of this kind provides teachers with tools that have a proven track record, there are no guarantees these strategies will work in all instances. 

“Just because a writing practice worked in eight other teachers' classrooms and had a positive effect, it does not mean that it is for certain going to work in your classroom,” he says. “Because the conditions under which research studies are conducted are different from the ones that may exist in an individual teachers’ classroom.” 

That’s why Graham advises instructors to use these 16 writing interventions as inspiration and to keep monitoring and adjusting their own practices based on what is and isn’t working for their students. 

Note: This study, like most education studies, measured effect sizes in standard deviation, which is the average deviation from the mean score for a group of students studied. In education research, effect sizes are notoriously small, so anything approaching a standard deviation of 1 is significant. For instance, a student with a 1.5 below the mean would require significant intervention.

1. Comprehensive Writing Programs  

Standard deviation: 0.47

These programs include those based on the process approach to writing, or what is sometimes called a writers’ workshop. Graham and his co-authors note this includes “extended opportunities for writing; writing for real audiences; engaging in cycles of planning, translating, and reviewing; personal responsibility and ownership of writing projects; high levels of student interactions and creation of a supportive writing environment; self-reflection and evaluation; personalized individual assistance and instruction; and, in some instances, systematic instruction.” 

2. Strategy Instruction  

Standard deviation: 0.76

This method of writing instruction involves explicitly teaching strategies for planning, revising, self-assessing, and/or editing text, the study authors note. Writing strategies range from processes, such as semantic webs to strategies designed for specific types of writing, such as stories. 

3. Digital Writing Tools  

Standard Deviation: 0.31

When students moved from using pen and paper to writing with the help of a traditional word processor over time, there was a marked improvement, Graham says. “The reasons for that are fairly obvious,” he adds. It’s easier to self-edit and move words around, and grammar and spellcheckers also help with the process. An even greater improvement was seen among students who had access to more advanced word processors, which might include the ability to add images and sound, or have gamified elements to help students learn to write. 

4. Transcription Instruction  

Standard deviation: 0.71

This positive effect was seen in lessons that included teaching spelling, handwriting, or keyboard use.

5. Computer-Assisted Instruction  

Standard deviation: 0.32

This included teaching writing, spelling, and other lessons with the help of a computer program as well as technology provided personalized instruction. However, computer-generated feedback on writing, in and of itself, did not provide a benefit, Graham says. This research predated the rapid advances in generative AI over the past year, so computer-assisted benefits and limitations will need to be updated in the future. 

6. Teaching Critical/Creative Thinking Skills for Writing  

Standard deviation: 0.27 

Teaching students critical thinking strategies improved writing as did teaching them how to add more creativity to their work. “Creativity could be exemplified in a study in which students were taught how to use metaphors, similes, etc., and critical thinking could be shown in a study in which students are analyzing their texts using questions that help them think critically about the veracity and value of the content they're looking at,” Graham says. 

7. Emulating Good Models of Writing

Standard deviation: 0.46

Graham and his co-authors defined this as, “Examining one or more examples of model texts or models for carrying out writing processes and attempting to emulate these models when writing.” This is something many professional writers do intuitively, so it makes sense that it would help with student writers. 

8. Feedback  

Standard deviation: 0.34

“We found feedback makes a difference,” Graham says. This included instructor feedback as well as peer and group feedback but notably not self-assessment/feedback or computer-generated feedback, at least in the studies looked at for this analysis. 

9. Goal Setting  

Standard deviation: 0.44

Whether teacher-assigned or based on students’ own goals for for writing or learning writing skills and processes, goal setting seemed to have a measurable impact on writing success. 

10. Prewriting Activities

Standard deviation: 0.49

“If you engage students in prewriting activities to gather or organize information – so it might involve discussion, or using some kind of organizer to generate and organize your ideas – writing gets better,” Graham says. 

11. Grammar Instruction 

Standard deviation: 0.77 

This positive association was much stronger than in some previous research into grammar’s impact on writing, including work Graham has been involved in. He says the change is likely due to better methodology that eliminated less well-designed grammar interventions as well as other factors. Most of the studies involve teaching grammar in context, he adds. So it was not the old form of grammar instruction that involved fill-in-the-blanks exercises and decontextualized practice around specific contexts. 

12. Sentence Instruction  

Standard deviation: 0.73

“We found that teaching students how to create more complex sentences had a positive effect on students’ writing,” he says. “When you write a lot of your cognitive efforts and resources are engaged in taking your ideas, images, etc, and translating them into an acceptable sentence that conveys your intended meaning, and is going to be understandable to the reader. So when you teach kids to be more facile with construction, then there's a positive effect on your writing.”  

13. Inquiry  

Standard deviation: 0.92

“We don't have as much data on this, but the idea behind inquiry is that you're gathering information that you're analyzing, that will help you in terms of your writing assignments,” Graham says. The study notes this could include comparing and contrasting cases or collecting and evaluating evidence.

14. Observing Writers/Readers, Peer Assistance  

Standard deviation: 0.41

Simply observing other writers, readers of writing, or teachers/peers as they model how to go about a writing process or skill, can also improve writing outcomes. 

15. Summarization Instruction

Standard deviation: 0.49

This can take the form of either sharing summarization strategies or direct instruction in which you present a summary, you discuss it, your students practice, and you get feedback, Graham says.

16. Text Structure Instruction  

Standard deviation: 0.39

Graham and his co-authors defined this as strategies in which teachers explicitly teach students knowledge about the purpose and/or structure of specific types of text, such as stories or persuasive texts. Once again, few writing instructors will be surprised this is an effective method. 

• Khanmigo’s Academic Essay Feedback Tool Can Help Make Writing Instruction More Accessible, Sal Khan says
• 4 Tips for STEM Writing

StoryJumper is a digital story creation tool that also lets you publish your stories in physical book format.

The idea is to offer a tool for creating stories digitally, complete with words and images. While that's fun and educational in and of itself, the fact you can publish the works adds to the excitement and learning experience.

The platform has a library of already-created books that allow students to get reading and to search for inspiration before working on their own creations. Selling published works is also an option that could be appealing for parents.

StoryJumper has lots of other teaching uses, all of which are explored in this guide.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
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What is StoryJumper?

StoryJumper is a digital story creation tool that allows students to write, illustrate, and arrange stories into book format. These can be shared digitally or published in physical books that can be purchased through the platform's library.

StoryJumper is easy to use with a library of images, a selection of fonts, and colors that can easily be arranged by students of a wide range of ages -- from around grade 1 and up.

The option is available to output to a digital format to share and read, or to pay for publishing of the book in physical form. For teachers there are helpful templates, teaching plans, and plenty of integration with the likes of Google Classroom, all making it a viable teaching tool.

How does StoryJumper work?

StoryJumper offers a free-to-use service that allows teachers to sign-up for an account to get a dashboard, which makes distributing and managing works of the class an organized process.

Add students and you can set work tasks for individuals or groups to get creating their own stories. It can help to take the class through some guidance at first so they know how to use the tool -- but it is all quite simple.

Many useful templates are available to guide students, rather than simply setting them loose on blank pages -- which might be a little overwhelming for younger kids. It's also possible to create your own templates, which can be helpful when teaching something specific.

Once completed, students can share their work, have it printed, or leave it in the library for others to access publicly. 

Usefully, this saves as you work so students won't need to worry about losing their creations. Also, since it is web-based, they can jump between devices to continue their project in class or at home on various devices.

What are the best StoryJumper features?

StoryJumper is simple to use when starting from scratch, and especially so when using templates to build stories.

Since images and text boxes are drag-and-drop, it makes the process intuitive and works across devices, including iPads. Since students can pick images from a library of options it can help to change how story creation comes about. Often the images may help inspire turns in the story that would not have come about from writing alone.

Google Classroom integration is helpful as that, combined with the dashboard, makes setting and accessing student work far easier for teachers. Lesson plans are also useful to get ideas on inspiring the class to start writing.

Students can add background music or even record voice-overs, which can make for more engaging multimedia projects. They can also insert their own images and artwork, opening the platform to further creativity as students become more adept as using the setup.

The Write-a-thon school fundraiser project is another useful tool that lets families and friends sponsor writing projects that can ultimately end up with a published winner.

How much does StoryJumper cost?

StoryJumper is free to use with no ads or tracking up front. If you want to publish the works, or access them in various downloaded digital formats you will need to pay.

A hardcover book, at 11.5-by-8.5 inches, is charged at $26.99 for up to 16 pages then its $0.66 per extra page.

Go for paperback book, at 8-by-6 inches, and it's $13.99 for 16 pages and $0.40 per page after that.

A video book download, in MP4 format limited to one hour, is charged at $7.99 per 16 pages and is $0.20 per extra page.

A PDF download is $2.99 for 16 pages and $0.20 per page more.

Go for an audio book at 16 pages and it's $2.99 plus that $0.20 per page over.

StoryJumper best tips and tricks

Work with templates
Set tasks using pre-built templates, and build your own if you want specific results from a certain project.

Hold a competition
Hold a Write-a-thon to see who can create the best story and have the winner published, all while raising funds for the school.

Start from words or images
Have students write a story or doodle images to inspire the other format, then swap order for another story and see which they found preferable. 

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Scrible is an online tool that makes researching and creating collections of work from various sources a more straightforward process.

It works as a Chrome browser extension and a website to combine features that allow teachers and students to more easily save research. This can mean highlighting online text or working with documents. Crucially, it can all be done easily and is saved to the cloud, which makes access and collaborating far simpler. 

Scrible can also offer a helpful way to track how students use research and work -- allowing teachers to work with them to improve how they go through that process. Since this is simple to use, and offers a depth of features, it's great for younger students as well as adults. 

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know about Scrible for education.

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• New Teacher Starter Kit

What is Scrible?

Scrible is a tool that was developed to help with online research but has evolved into an education-specific system that's helpful for teachers and students alike.

Scrible breaks down into two parts: a Chrome browser extension and a webpage. The extension works to give you more controls over webpages, so you can mark-up, highlight, add comments, and more. The webpage offers a similar function, but for documents, allowing you to upload and work with PDFs in the cloud, for example.

In both cases you can organize your research with highlight colors, tags, and more. This can be shared with others to make for collaboration. Or teachers can use it to see, in real-time, how students have been going about their research.

It also makes for a helpful citation tool, taking the admin time out of work, so that teachers and students can focus more on the learning itself. 

How does Scrible work?

Scrible offers accounts that are specifically designed for education, which can be accessed for free. This features 500MB of cloud-based storage, but you can pay for more in the subscription plans -- more on that below. 

Once signed up, you can install the Chrome extension and start using the tool right away on any webpage. Simply tap the extension icon and begin to annotate the webpage as if it were a saved document.

Thanks to collaboration options it's possible for groups of students to work on one website, or document, each making highlights and comments to share with the others. Teachers can see this to assess how research is going and if they're on the right track. 

This works for teachers researching topics too, allowing for a single spot where all information can be collected from research, ideal for creating a document, for example. 

You can bookmark websites, make highlights of text in various colors, save pages for later, organize your library with tags, and more. And thanks to this being a Google partner, it's possible to integrate this with Google Classroom very easily.

What are the best Scrible features?

Scrible is very easy to use and not only lets you highlight and annotate text but also organize citations. This will automatically create citations that you can drag and drop to create references in the correct formatted style, potentially saving lots of time.

Scrible integrates well with Google Docs, allowing you to drag and drop highlighted text right into whatever you're working on. So, for example, you can create a selection of organized quotes that you can access and drop into your essay as you need -- with citations already done for you.

For teachers there are helpful metrics pages that allow you to easily see how many quotes students have used and, crucially, from which sources. It also lets teachers see how students are organizing their information with tags and notes in order to assess if they could be helped to improve this process. 

The ability to highlight and annotate a webpage directly and then share it is ideal for teaching as it can mean going over the pertinent parts only. This can be done in class or shared, for students to explore using their devices as they see fit.

How much does Scrible cost?

Scrible offers a free plan but also delivers more premium features in its paid-tier options.

The Basic free plan gets you 500MB of storage space, a single library space, sources of web pages, PDFs, and other file types plus bookmarks, as well as sharing options, four highlight and comment colors, plus Google Docs Add-on.

The Edu plan, free for K12 users, gets you above plus one-click citations, one-click bibliographies, various citation styles, Google Classroom Sync, and Class Structure support.

Separate Edu Student and Edu Teacher accounts are available, charged at $35/year and $120/year respectively. These offer more but are very similar, with 1GB of storage for students, and five lots of 500MB for teachers, more than 9,000 citation styles, plenty of annotation controls, 32 highlight colors, more sources including books and print, library sharing, multi-tag filtering, annotation view and, in the case of teachers, analytics. 

Scrible best tips and tricks

Show how
Carry out research, annotations, comments, and citations live in class using the big screen and devices to show students how this all works.

Set a project
Have students research a project, without the write-up, to show how they go about this part of the work -- allowing you to help fine-tune this in class.

Work on citations
Have students work with you on how citations are done manually, before showing them how quick and easy it can be using the Scrible system.

• Best Tools for Teachers
• New Teacher Starter Kit

When it comes to ChatGPT and similar AI tools, Jane Rosenzweig has a simple question: To what problem is ChatGPT the solution? 

That question is the focus of a course that Rosenzweig, the director of the Harvard College Writing Center, is teaching this semester. “I imagine there will be many wonderful uses for AI in the future and some tutoring interfaces will be created that will have great value,” she says. 

However, she adds, “Given all we know about the limitations of generative AI that we have right now, it's hard for me to see that the tutoring models that I'm seeing are actually solving a problem that has been identified.” 

While many educators have touted the tutoring potential of GPT technology and encouraged students to explore ways in which ChatGPT can provide writing advice, Rosenzweig is not convinced, at least not yet. She see limitations in this technology for teaching writing and literature, though she stresses these are her personal opinions and do not reflect any policy or position from Harvard. 

Is AI A Reliable Tutor?  

Proponents of AI tutors point out the potential to provide more individualized learning and immersive experiences for students. One such AI tutor is Khangmigo, a GPT-4 powered interactive tutor released to select schools by Khan Academy. In a TED Talk about Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s founder Sal Khan, who I have interviewed several times this year, shared an example of how Khanmigo can allow a student to interview a historical figure such as Albert Einstein or even a character from literature. In the example, a student asks an AI Jay Gatsby why he stares at the green light. AI Gatsby answers: “I gaze at it longingly as it represents my yearning for the past and my hope to reunite with Daisy, the love of my life.” 

The problem, Rosenzweig wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) with the exchange is, “That, of course, does not sound like Gatsby. It sounds like an AP exam answer written in the first person.” She added, “It would be great to meet and talk to historical and literary figures! But this seems more like having a puppet read Wikipedia to us. What problems are solved by offering students the chance to talk to an Einstein puppet?” 

Getting flashcard-type answers from digital animatronics is not how Rosenzweig wants her students to “interact with literature,” she says. But more important than her opinion on the tool is that she wants educators to think critically about this technology and its uses. “Maybe there's a great answer for why I want my student to get their answers from Jay Gatsby instead of from a class discussion,” she says. 

ChatGPT’s Editing Advice  

Many AI advocates say ChatGPT and similar tools can serve as an editor of student work, offering helpful tips the same way a human might. However, when Rosenzweig put a piece of her writing with intentional errors into ChagGPT, the tool not only didn’t fix them, it sometimes made suggestions that made things worse.

“Sometimes the feedback wasn't very good, and I knew that because I'm a writer and I teach writing,” she says. “But if my students, or anyone's students, were to go through that process, have they learned the things that they would need to know in order to assess that feedback?” 

She notes that proponents of AI might counter that her prompts weren’t good if she received poor feedback. “I'm not convinced that's the case, but that raises the same question, right? How would our students know what kind of editing advice to ask for?"

Ultimately, Rosenzweig says, educators should avoid using AI simply because it is there and should instead base its use on that question at the heart of her thinking about ChatGPT and AI: To what teaching problems is ChatGPT the solution?  

“'What are our learning goals? And how do we want to get there?' should be applied to thinking about these new technologies as carefully and thoughtfully as we make those decisions in other contexts,” she says. She adds that if you are using it in the classroom it should be because you have a pedagogical reason to do so and not because it is the “shiny new thing.” 

• My Student Was Submitting AI Papers. Here's What I did. 
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Help me write is a new AI writing tool that Google recently began rolling out for select users. It is fully integrated into Google Docs, and is powered by Google’s Duet AI platform. 

I gained access to Help me write a few months ago and have been experimenting with it ever since. Help me write works much the same way as existing tools such as ChatGPT or Bard, but it is not quite as skilled a writer as ChatGPT in my estimation. 

That said, Help me write’s seamless integration into one of the most popular platforms for writing marks a new step in the evolution of AI. Here’s everything educators need to know about Help me write and Google Docs. 

What is Help me write?  

Help me write is an AI writing assistant that is currently available to some Google Docs users. The tool is powered by Duet AI, Google’s new AI assistant that works across Google’s Workspace and is also integrated into Gmail, Sheets, and Slides. 

Help me write allows Google Doc users who have access to click a pen-shaped icon on the left of the screen and generate story outlines, templates, and more. If you like what is generated, you select it and the text will appear inside your document. You can also discard or revise the text that was generated by asking Help me write to make the language more or less formal, and longer or shorter. 

You can also ask Help me write to format any text generated in list or bullet-point form.

Who Has Access to Help me write?  

Currently, Help me write is only available to those who have signed up for access to Google’s Workspace Labs or businesses that pay for a $30 per month, per user fee.  The feature is only available in English and only in select countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, but not Canada. 

Signing up for the free version on a personal account is easy. After completing a brief form with my name and email, I was granted access a few days after my request. 

What Are The Implications of Help me write for Teachers?  

Help me write and Duet AI have many of the same benefits and pitfalls of other AI tools with which educators are no doubt already familiar. It can quickly generate human-like writing that trends toward the generic. Even so, it is easy to see how it would have potential to help students and educators with brainstorming and outlining. 

What sets Help me write apart from better-known AI tools is that it is integrated into a word processor many students and educators are already using, which makes it easier to use for ethical educational purposes, as well as to cheat. 

While it’s not clear if the tool will ultimately be rolled out to all Gooogle Doc users, if it is, its widespread availability will be yet another reason teachers should rework their writing prompts to be AI proof, and engage in open discussions with students about ethical use of the technology. 

Bottom Line: What Impact Will Help me write Have?

Help me write is just another AI tool among many today, so it’s not exactly a game-changer. That said, it’s automatic integration into Google Docs could bring this AI to educators and students who might not otherwise take the time to seek out an AI tool. Of course, this could have both good and bad implications. 

Merely as a writing tool, I didn’t personally find it very helpful, although it could certainly generate some basic responses to writing prompts that a student might be tempted to use. Potentially more disruptive, however, are Duet AI’s integrations with other Google tools, including Gmail, Sheets, and Slides. It can help draft emails, provide spreadsheet templates, and even generate images for slideshows, all with a few clicks. 

Even so, there are limitations. I wrote to it and asked: “I’m writing a story about Google’s Help me write. Can you write it?” 

The response: “We’re still learning, and can’t help with that. Try another request.” 

The bad news is that I had to actually do my job and write this story. The good news is my job is safe from the machines. At least for now. 

• 12 AI Tools Beyond ChatGPT That Can Save Teachers Time
• ChatGPT Plus vs. Google’s Bard

Writing about STEM is vital to help spread new scientific ideas and discoveries to students, experts, and the public at large. The problem, Brandon R. Brown says, is many STEM experts have never studied the craft of writing and communicating their work to the world. 

“Most of us in scientific and engineering training get so little coursework related to communications,” says Brown, an author and professor of Physics and Astronomy, Arts and Sciences at the University of San Francisco. 

After they graduate, many scientists are surprised by how much writing they have to do. “One of the sad consequences is we have a template for a lot of scientific writing that comes from lab reports,” Brown says. “You start with an introduction, and it's dry and historical, and then you get into methods, and then you get into your data. And then you get into so-called discussion and conclusions.” 

Students pick up on these conventions and are often trained either directly or indirectly to write about science in this dry-as-the-desert manner. Brown seeks to reinvigorate scientific prose by providing professors, scientists, researchers, students, and others an alternative model for STEM writing in Sharing Our Science: How to Write and Speak STEM, which was published in August by MIT Press. 

While his advice is aimed at professional scientists, educators can use his suggestions for conveying STEM subject matter to students and start encouraging their students to write about STEM in a more interesting way. 

1) STEM Writing: Think Like a Fiction Writer

“I'm not preaching, having people hanging from cliffs or have loaded guns on the mantel,” Brown says. But when writing about science, more scientists and educators could use the storytelling techniques of fiction writers to enhance their work. 

“It’s nothing revolutionary, but just taking concepts from fiction such as, 'Why on earth would anyone want to read past the first paragraph?' – keeping that reader in mind as a human being,” he says. “I think a lot of science and engineering communication assumes great interest on the part of the audience. And some domain experts will have to be interested. But there's a way we can surface our critical questions, or [explain] why the work is important that can help motivate the reader and make it a more engaging read.” 

2) Use Subheadings 

Sometimes making STEM writing more engaging is an easy matter of adding some subheadings between different sections to help tell the story of the research being discussed. 

“In today's world, people scan documents really quickly between meetings,” Brown says. “If they just see ‘introduction,’ ‘methods,’ and ‘discussion,’ that tells them nothing. The world, even in research journals, welcomes more descriptive subheadings that help tell a story at first glance.” 

3) Use Better Sentences 

In the book, Brown spends time stressing the importance of good sentence structure in writing rather than the long-winded, passive, prepositional phrases that constitute so much STEM writing today. 

“I joke with scientists about how would you invite one another to lunch?” Brown says. “If you were doing it like you were writing a research paper it would take 10 minutes and be in passive voice and be very confusing.” 

To avoid this type of confusing-speak, Brown recommends taking the advice of Francine Prose, an acclaimed novelist and writing guru, who urges writers to read what they write out loud and ask themselves if they would ever say something that way. If the answer is, “No,” then it’s time to re-write. 

4) Highlight Narrative Tension

“One great professor I had, said, ‘Every plot boils down to something or someone having a goal and running into obstacles,'” Brown says. “I think scientific and engineering readers love the story of, ‘What obstacles did you come up with and how did you get around them?’” 

Brown urges those writing about STEM to start with those obstacles. “'Here's what we want to do and here's why it's difficult.' Setting that so-called narrative tension up top can be great,” he says. “A lot of scientific writing and technical communication has that story in it, but submerged a little bit like at the end of the first two pages, or at the beginning of the second section of the paper. And I don't think it hurts anyone's format to surface that.” 

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BoomWriter comes to the aid of educators, families, and students as a book-publishing solution. That means guidance from writing, right up to publishing a finished book.

While this is a useful tool to help students with creative writing, and the process involved, it also serves as a result creation tool. At the end of the process, students are left with a real final product to show all the hard work they've put in.

That said, this is very much a digital system that works over the internet so it's accessible and supports collaborative writing -- which is at its core -- while also making the process simple.

This can be used in class, at home, by students and teachers alike. So how can BoomWriter work for you?

What is BoomWriter?

BoomWriter is a digital storytelling tool designed to help guide young potential writers in creating their own stories, collaboratively.

The front end is friendly to younger users and the guidance follows that simplified theme. So while the end result could be a complex and impressive novel, getting there is kept as straightforward as possible with useful guidance.

Unlike some tools, this one is all about collaboration so it's possible for the entire class to create a book, a chapter at a time, during which everyone gets to play a part in bringing about the end result.

At the end of the process BoomWriter will handle the publication process so students, and anyone else who wants it, can own physical printed copies of the book.

How does BoomWriter work?

BoomWriter requires you to sign up initially, as a teacher, or sign in with a code as a student or parent. This can be done via a web browser meaning it can work across laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, and more.

Teachers can begin a new project for the class with a story start they create for students to work from. This is essentially a first chapter, from which students can then write the next one.

Each chapter effort is shared in the group in which everyone can vote on their favorite. The winner is then selected to be used in the book. This process repeats for each chapter until the book is done. Crucially, the writer of each chapter is kept hidden so it's about the story itself and not individuals.

Teachers can send work back to students, with notes, allowing for revision as the work progresses.

While the above is the main Story Book mode, there are also two other modes, but more on that in the next section.

What are the best BoomWriter features?

BoomWriter comes with three modes: Story Book, Student Journal, and Other.

Story Book mode, as described above, is all about collaboratively creating a book one chapter at a time.

Student Journal is a more open-ended option that allows students to keep submitting articles more regularly. By keeping this open teachers can use this to let students submit their own stories, work on their own books, or even as a way to keep track of progress in another subject.

The third mode, Other, does as the name suggests and allows teachers to use it to create an assignment for any other subject. This could be a good way to have students submit work, or work on their own ideas, without it affecting the main Story Book mode.

Usefully, teachers are able to select works from a vocabulary list that must be included in a chapter, helping students focus on improving in certain areas as needed.

The national Writing Bee competition can be a useful target for students, or the class, to work toward with a view to seeing how they compare on a wider scale.

The Boomer avatar characters help to draw students into the process, and there are even Boomer Bucks credits that can be earned by students to spend on personalizing their avatars in a gamified way.

How much does BoomWriter cost?

BoomWriter is free to sign-up to and get started with. This allows teachers to create an account and add a class to get working. When you come to publish the work, there is a free class copy. Also available for free are student author certificates, bookmarks, and more to download and print.

If you wish to buy more copies, or parents want to use a code to buy a copy, that is an option also. Depending on how you buy in terms of copies and style, that will vary the price.

BoomWriter best tips and tricks

Go beyond
Use this in other subjects, such as history, to explore an event or figure in a story-based way as students write the tale.

Group up
Create a few books, with smaller groups, to ensure everyone gets a chance to win a vote and feature a chapter.

Collaborate further
Enter the class in the Writing Bee competition to give them a chance to collaborate with other writers and even professionals.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

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Quill was created as a free tool designed to be used in education and at home as a way to work on reading, writing, and comprehension skills.

You might think that being free this is lacking in some areas. But right from the premium website build quality to the layout that's clearly had a lot of thought put into it, this is a top tool when it comes to language building.

This nonprofit aims to help a wide variety of kids, from elementary thru middle and right up to high school. That means a selection of OER content right across the curriculum that can help students of varying ages and abilities.

As a result, Quill has been used by more than seven million students to write a massive two billion sentences. Here's all you need to know about Quill.

What is Quill?

Quill is a digital website-based tool that is designed to work alongside the curriculum to help improve student reading comprehension, writing, and language skills.

This is designed for use by students directly, via teachers, administrators, or guardians -- which can help tailor this to even younger students or those that might struggle working alone.

The tool focuses on grammar and writing in order to help students develop. This is done using a selection of area specific tools, all of which are tailored to Common Core skills and even offer differentiation for the likes of ELL, AP English, and pre-AP too.

Crucially, this will all work in a way that can be tailored to the individual needs of each student. So you can work to specific targets to achieve results that are tangible and help in student progress through the year.

How does Quill work?

Quill is very simple to use, initially letting you select which user you are: Student, Teacher, Admin, or Guardian. You can then sign up with your details or use Google or Facebook for quick sign-in to get started right away. You are then able to select the grade ranges you will teach as well as the subjects required including English, Math, Science, History, and more.

You are able to create a class and add students, which is very easily integrated if your institution already uses Google Classroom. You can let students create their own accounts or make ones for them using their names. You then have the option to download a PDF with usernames and passwords listed for all the students, making access for them simple.

It is possible to assign activities to students or the class as a whole. Usefully, there is a diagnostic tool that can be used to assess student ability, so you know which projects will be a good fit for them to work on that are suited to their skills and needs.

Select lessons to get started with options such as Compound Objects and Predicates for grade 7 and above in which students learn to combine sentences by using compound objects and predicates. 

The basic breakdown of tools is Diagnostics, Lessons, Connect, Grammar, and Proofreader. More on these in the next section.

Teachers and guardians then have a dashboard through which progress can be monitored and new work assigned as needed.

What are the best Quill features?

Quill has some very powerful tools that are tailored to ability, which allows students to progress at a rate that is challenging but without being off-putting.

Quill Diagnostic is a super helpful way to assess a student's skill level, which then helps them to be guided toward what it is that they should be doing to make improvements in the areas they need it.

The Quill Lessons are for larger groups, or the class as a whole. These offer writing prompts as well as discussion topics to allow for creative writing as a group or independently.

Quill Connect is a helpful tool that focuses on sentence writing. This aims to build sentence-writing skills to create a more complex end result in which the students know the building blocks used to get to that end result.

The Grammar tool is another helpful addition that offers more writing activities, only this time, as you may have guessed, with a grammar focus.

The new Reading for Evidence tool offers non-fiction texts with AI-powered writing prompts that use the text for evidence for students as they write out their work.

Finally, the Proofreader tool offers students certain passages of text with mistakes, which need to be spotted and fixed in order to progress.

How much does Quill cost?

Quill is primarily free to use although there is the option to go for a Premium upgrade to get more detailed reporting. For the free access you are required to sign-up using an email address, although students don't need to do this if you don't want that.

The Teacher Premium option, charged at $80 per teacher per year, can be tailored for free for 30 days before you decide if you could benefit from the extra features. These include more data reports including activity scores report, concepts report, standards report, and data export capabilities. 

A School and District Premium option is available, at $1,800 per school per year, which gets you all the above plus monthly usage reports and an admin dashboard, plus Clever Secure sync, unlimited teacher licenses, priority technical support, and Quill Academy access.

Quill best tips and tricks

Start as a class
Teach a lesson in the room so students can get to grips with how the platform works, before letting them progress individually or outside of school time.

Use the lights
Student mastery is shown in red, orange, or green so teachers can assess at-a-glance using the dashboard, helping flag when students need help or perhaps could be challenged more.

Proofread
Use the Quill Proofreader tool as a class to work through errors in the text and feedback what happened at each point so everyone can learn as a group.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

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Plagiarism is an age-old problem. 

The word, derived from the Latin plagiarius ("kidnapper"), dates back to 17th-century English. Much earlier than that, in the first century, the Roman poet Martial used “plagiarius” to castigate another poet whom he accused of appropriating his words. 

In our modern world, however, the ability of students to find and copy others’ work is greater than ever before. While there are a number of in-depth and effective paid solutions that allow educators to verify the originality of student work, there are only a few free solutions that are worth trying.  

We have compiled the best free online plagiarism checkers. Several share a very similar interface and ad profile, suggesting a common parent company. Regardless, all were able to reliably identify the plagiarized passages and identify a source.  

Best Free Plagiarism Checking Sites for Teachers 

SearchEngineReports.net Plagiarism Detector
No account is required to quickly upload documents or paste text (up to 1,000 words) in Search Engine Reports. Paid accounts from $10 to $60 monthly provide premium features and allow word counts of 35,000 to 210,000. 

Check Plagiarism
Check for plagiarism efficiently with this user-friendly site. Whether you want to scan a text or upload a file, this tool will search for any plagiarized content. Sign up for a free account to access a comprehensive report that includes sources and exact matches. Educators can run up to 200 plagiarism queries and receive grammar and SEO feedback. For additional features and unlimited checks, users can upgrade to a paid account.  

Dupli Checker
Dupli Checker furnishes a hassle-free plagiarism-checking experience. With no account needed, users can check for plagiarism once daily. To access unlimited plagiarism checks and additional features such as downloading Word or PDF plagiarism reports, create a free account. In addition to its plagiarism checking tools, Dupli Checker also provides a set of free, entertaining, and useful text and image tools such as the reverse text generator, favicon generator, and MD5 generator.

PapersOwl
While PapersOwl focuses mainly on essay writing, it also offers a free plagiarism-checking tool. Users can simply paste their essays or website content into the tool, or upload supported files such as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, and .odt files. Although the website allows students to pay for essays, it's worth noting that their plagiarism checker is genuinely free and can be used to validate the originality of any submitted work.

Plagiarism detector
Easily check for plagiarism without creating an account, then download the pdf report file at no charge. The site accommodates multiple languages, while allowing unlimited free checks of text up to 1,000 words. Flexible premium accounts are available on a weekly, month or yearly basis. 

Plagium
A fairly simple site in which users paste text of up to 1,000 characters and receive free Quick Search results. Easy to use and no account is required. Click on your results to see the matching text conveniently highlighted and presented side by side. Flexible paid plans range from $1 to $100, and support deeper searching and analysis. 

QueText
With a clean, well-designed interface, it’s a pleasure to use Quetext. After the first free search, you’ll need to create a free account. Unlike many other plagiarism sites, Quetext makes it easy to compare the free and pro offerings -- free accounts allow 2,500 words monthly, while the paid Pro account allows 100,000 words, plus deeper search capability. 

Small SEO Tools
Teachers can check for plagiarism in texts up to 1,000 words without creating an account. Accepted file types include: .tex, .txt, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, and .rtf. This platform offers an array of other useful text tools, from word counter to text-to-speech generator to image-to-text generator. One of the most unusual is the English-to-English translation tool, which helps users convert American English to British English and vice-versa. Could come in handy if a friend says, “It’s brass monkeys out there, and now I need to spend a penny. Cor blimey, this day turned into a damp squib!”
 

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To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

Written Out Loud is a writing and storytelling program that works with schools and students outside of schools to teach writing and empathy skills through collaborative storytelling practices. The education program was founded by Joshua Shelov, a filmmaker and screenwriter who wrote Green Street Hooligans, starring Elijah Wood, and co-wrote and directed The Best and The Brightest, starring Neil Patrick Harris. He has also produced multiple ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries. 

The  Written Out Loud program is dedicated to teaching writing and storytelling in a collaborative manner that avoids the traditional solitude of writing, and builds on ancient storytelling traditions and modern practices in Hollywood writing rooms. 

Shelov and Duane Smith, an educator whose school has made Written Out Loud part of its curriculum, explain Written Out Loud and how it works for schools and students. 

What is Written Out Loud and How Did it Start?  

Written Out Loud, quite fittingly, has a good origin story. Once upon a time, there was a struggling screenwriter named Joshua Shelov. Although he had written several scripts, he was getting nowhere. Then he had something of an epiphany. 

“I changed my writing technique to actually telling the story of that screenplay out loud to other people, instead of just typing it in a typical writer’s hermetically sealed environment,” he says. “I really believe as a result of telling the story out loud and paying attention to whether or not people were bored or confused, and those moments when I actually had them in the palm of my hand, the writing that came out of that actually spoke to people.” 

That screenplay was for Green Street Hooligans, the first script Shelov sold. “Not only did that screenplay change my life, and get me to being a professional, with an agent, and meetings in Hollywood, and a real career, but it changed the way that I thought about writing. Now I really think of writing as essentially being a vehicle for this kind of ancient and really magical craft of out loud storytelling.”

He realized that this real-time, human-to-human storytelling was part of the movie business' DNA. “The craft of out loud storytelling is actually just as sacred in Hollywood, as it was to me personally," he says. “When I would now get invited into studio meetings to come and pitch a story or a take on a book, what they really wanted was for me to sit down in a chair opposite them and tell them a story out loud, just like I was sitting around a campfire 2,000 years ago.” 

Shelov began sharing this process with students, first at Yale University where he is an adjunct professor, and then with younger students. Inspired by the film School of Rock and the true story it is based on, Shelov decided to create what he calls a School of Rock-type program for Marvel or Harry Potter fans. He envisioned kids writing in groups exactly the way a TV show writer's room would operate. Once they completed the program, students would leave with a physical book they had published together. 

To make this dream a reality, Shelov recruited Yale drama students to lead Written Out Loud classes. Shelov and his team also train educators who want to implement the program in their curriculum. 

What Written Out Loud Looks Like in Practice  

Written Out Loud has a core 16-hour curriculum that immerses children in storytelling conventions such as the hero’s journey. These 16 hours can be broken up over a variety of ways and can be delivered by a Written Out Loud instructor in-person or via video conference.  

“It can be an intensive two-week period, which we offer in the summer as a day camp, where you make two hours a day, four days a week for two weeks, or it can be spaced out once a week after school as an enrichment program,” Shelov says. 

Written Out Loud can also train K-12 educators. Byram Hills Central School District in Armonk, New York, has built Written Out Loud teaching strategies into its ELA curriculum for eighth graders after running a successful pilot program. 

“We liked that the students worked in collaborative teams to write, we thought that was an interesting element of it,” says Duane Smith, the English Department chairperson. “The fact that they all received a published copy of a book by the end of it was just so appealing. We've been looking for ways to celebrate student writing over the years.” 

The students have responded to this interactive form of storytelling. “There's a lot less pressure when I say to the students, ‘Sit down in a group of four. I need you guys to start coming up with some ideas for a story. And all you have to do is talk about them. Who are your main characters? What is the major conflict that's going to drive the story? You don't have to do any writing,'” Smith says. “So for the students, it becomes somewhat freeing, in that they can open up their creativity without feeling the pressure of having to put words down on the page.” 

The collaborative process also helps students learn to give and receive feedback. “I've seen these sessions in the class where a group of three or four students will get up in front of the class, and they'll pitch their story idea, and the class will ask them questions, point out little inaccuracies if they see any,” Smith says. “It turns into another lesson on how to give good feedback, how to actually help somebody write a better story. If you think about the traditional way, we give feedback, it is comments on a paper, it's not nearly as in the moment.” 

How Much Does Written Out Loud Cost?

Written Out Loud ranges in price from $59 to $429 per student, depending on whether the program taught in school as an ELA unit (by classroom teachers) or as an enrichment program or summer camp and taught by Written Out Loud teachers. 

Written Out Loud also runs cohorts for kids and adults online that students or educators can sign up for outside of school. 

Writing Lessons and Beyond  

Smith says one of the keys to teaching reluctant writers is to get students to start thinking of themselves as authors. “The students I have who are reluctant writers, or reluctant readers, sometimes don't see themselves in that way,” he says. “So just reframing their own thoughts about who they are as a writer and saying, ‘Look, I'm capable. I can do this. I can write.’” 

Shelov says writing also helps teach empathy and prepare students for various careers. “If you're a social worker, if you're an attorney, if you're a doctor, if you are a parent, being able to actually listen to the opinions of those around you, and synthesize a single narrative that follows the hero's journey [is important],” he says. “This requires not only an understanding of what the hero's journey is, but it takes a real sense of empathy and courage.” 

He adds, “Believe very strongly that whatever path a child walks in life, having a mastery of the craft of storytelling is going to elevate that.” 

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ChatGPT is the most advanced AI language generator and chatbot ever made widely available to the public. Since November 2022 when ChatGPT went live to the public, more than a million people have used the free tool and the website servers have frequently been overloaded during peak times. 

For educators, teaching with ChatGPT is something of a double-edged sword. As a writer and writing professor, I’m very conscious of both these edges. I recently wrote about the ways in which AI writing tools such as ChatGPT could be used by students to cheat. The technology is good enough that by simply typing in a few quick prompts, a student can use ChatGPT to churn out complete or nearly complete essays and papers in minutes. 

On the other hand, teaching with ChatGPT offers educators many opportunities. The technology can be used to help students outline or organize their papers, and at its best, can serve as a powerful, fun-to-use digital tutor that works like an improved version of Google. 

The tool, and I admit this somewhat begrudgingly, can also be fun to use. While I remain wary of its potential for abuse, right now it’s a modern tech marvel and seeing its response sometimes feels like watching the tech world’s equivalent of a magic show. 

What Is ChatGPT? 

ChatGPT was designed by the Microsoft-backed OpenAI, an AI research company. The GPT stands for generative, pre-trained, transformer. 

OpenAI previously released GPT-3, which did eye-catching things such as write an op-ed for The Guardian and was even used by some to try and recreate the speech patterns of deceased loved ones. ChatGPT builds on GPT-3 technology with the ability to answer questions in a more sophisticated manner. In this way, the model works like an improved version of digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa and as a more efficient Google. 

Though much like a traditional search engine, what you learn from it isn’t always accurate.  You can also prompt it to write passages on certain topics in certain styles. 

What Are Some Ways to Teach With ChatGPT?  

Use ChatGPT as a Digital Tutor

Because of its quick ability to answer questions, ChatGPT is a fun tool for inquiry. Jeremy Howard, an AI researcher, recently shared with The New York Times how his 7-year-old daughter used ChatGPT as a digital tutor, asking it questions and getting solid answers about what trigonometry is good for and where black holes come from as well as why chickens incubate their eggs. 

Many students will likely start using the tool in this way whether their teacher tells them to or not, so addressing this use can be a good proactive teaching practice. 

When the January semester begins, I plan on reminding my students that right now ChatGPT is a little like a fairy in an old tale--any gift it offers likely comes with a catch. For example, its responses are not always accurate and while its creators note that there are restrictions in place to limit abuse, ChatGPT might still “occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content.”

Use ChatGPT to Provide a Writing Prompt

One of the biggest hurdles for many students (or anyone really) when it comes to writing is just facing the horror of the blank page and getting started. Using ChatGPT as a prompt can be helpful as long as students can resist the temptation to copy and paste what they find. 

Use ChatGPT To Teach Writing Styles 

Teaching students to recognize different genres and styles of writing is often an important part of writing class. ChatGPT can be a fun way to help with this because you can ask it to emulate the writing style of an author whose work you are reading for class. Then students can then examine in what spots it misses the mark. For instance, when I asked it to describe snow in the style of Ernest Hemingway, it failed to emulate the short and direct sentences for which the author is known. 

Discuss the Moral Implication of the Technology 

One of the best teaching opportunities with ChatGPT might be to really dig into its ethical implications and potential problems. Having students critically fact-check its responses can be valuable. As can examining the larger dangers of this technology. Why is using ChatGPT to generate school assignments wrong? Is it wrong? These are the types of questions that I suspect students and society as a whole will be grappling with for years to come and it can’t hurt for students to get a head start in thinking about them. 

This sample ChatGPT lesson plan is designed to implement the tool into instruction.

How Do You Sign up for a ChatGPT Account?  

Signing up for free access to ChatGPT requires sharing an email address and phone number. It only takes a few minutes to verify your email and phone number, but educators should check with their IT or technology department before encouraging students to do this. 

Educators can also avoid most potential issues with student privacy by exploring ChatGPT as a class using only the teacher's account.  

What ChatGPT Says about Teaching With ChatGPT?  

I was unsure how to finish this article, so I asked ChatGPT, “What are some ways educators can use ChatGPT to teach?" The response was: 

ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI, and it is not intended to be used as an educational tool. ChatGPT is a large language model trained to generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It can be used to generate creative writing prompts, to have interesting conversations with, or simply to provide entertainment. However, it is not designed to be used for teaching purposes.

Sam Altman CEO of OpenAI also recently cautioned against relying on ChatGPT just yet. “ChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness,” he tweeted. “It's a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now. it’s a preview of progress; we have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness.” 

Regardless of what ChatGPT or Altman say, I suspect it’s a question of ”when” not “if” most students will start using ChatGPT or similar technology as part of their schoolwork. In other words, teaching with ChatGPT is something we’re probably going to have to do as educators, whether we want to or not, or that is its intended use or not. 

Or at least that’s the opinion of this very human writer. 

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Stanford professors Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, and Jeremy M. Weinstein are sounding the alarm on a new method for student cheating: AI-generated papers. 

AI writing tools, such as the recently made public ChatGPT, have improved rapidly in recent years, and even months, and free programs are regularly advertised to students in targeted ads, making this an issue that might already have impacted many educators’ classrooms, whether they know it or not. 

“The astounding pace of progress has far outpaced any capacity for regulation to meaningfully keep pace,” Reich says. “[This] has put educators in an unbelievably difficult position.” 

What Should Teachers Know About AI Writing Tools?  

AI (artificial intelligence) writing programs have become good enough that detecting whether a student uses one is often impossible for a teacher. However, teachers can still discuss the technology with their students and explain that using AI writing tools is a serious form of cheating. 

For the first time, Reich, Sahami, and Weinstein are addressing the potential misuse of the technology with students for the course they teach together, Ethics of Technological Disruption. “We feel that we need to add language in the syllabus that signals for our students our expectations about them not using these tools, to either write code for the technical assignment, or to draft their philosophy papers or policy memos,” Weinstein says. “[Using these] will be met by the same kinds of standards with respect to the honor code at Stanford as any other form of plagiarism. But of course, we don't ourselves have the ability to detect the use of these tools.” 

“It’s an honor system,” Reich adds. 

Teachers can also structure assignments in such a way that the AI writing models can’t mimic currently. For instance, a student could be required to show an outline and other work documenting how an assignment progressed. Or teachers might structure assignments in the form of a dialogue, forcing each student to respond to inputs from another student. 

However, Reich, Sahami, and Weinstein believe this places the emphasis on teachers when the tech companies that create and release this technology should do more to safeguard against its misuse. 

In a recent op-ed in The Guardian, Reich, Sahami, and Weinstein put forth several potential ways that tech companies could safeguard against the misuse of AI writing models. For example, one method would be to have all text generated by commercial AI language moderators placed in an independent repository so papers could be checked for plagiarism. Age restrictions and age-verification systems could also limit the potential for student misuse. 

Why This Technology is Different  

An AI writing program called GPT-3 has made headlines and sometimes produces writing that is almost indistinguishable from human writing. Reich, Sahami, and Weinstein used it to write a small part of their book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. That was published in September 2021, and in little more than a year, more powerful AI language models have emerged, including ChatGPT. 

Now that these tools are more widely available, teachers need to educate students and the public about what makes these different from other student-friendly technology, such as a grammar check or even a calculator. “It challenges us as educators to say, ‘Well, what is the line between this and the word suggestions that Google offers students when they're writing to complete a sentence?'” Weinstein says. 

The answer for Weinstein and his colleagues is that these tools create a shortcut that doesn’t just help a human complete task, it essentially eliminates the human role in the task. It’s one thing for professional writers or adults to utilize an AI writing tool to save time, but quite another for students to skip out on learning a fundamental mode of human communication. 

“I don't think that the parallel to the calculator makes a lot of sense here,” Weinstein says. “These are fundamental tasks about being human, connecting with others, and engaging in deliberation. The ability to develop writing skills is central to that.” 

What Does AI-Generated Text Looks Like  

To better understand how quick and effective AI writing tools are, I asked ChatGPT the following question: Why is it wrong for students to use AI language generators for assignments? Here is the response: 

It is generally not considered ethical for students to use AI language generators for assignments because doing so would involve submitting work that is not their own and that has not been properly cited. This is a form of academic dishonesty, which is taken very seriously by schools and can result in penalties such as failing grades or even expulsion. Additionally, using AI language generators for assignments deprives students of the opportunity to learn and develop their own writing and critical thinking skills.

As you can see, it may not win a Pulitzer but it's probably good enough to get a good grade. 

Update 12/14/22: This story was updated to include direct mention of ChatGPT and to include a sample of its writing abilities. 

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Grammarly is a popular writing tool that checks for spelling and grammar errors, offers additional advice to improve writing, and features a new generative AI writing assistant.

As a professional writer, I find it serves as a helpful “second pair of eyes,” frequently catching wrong or poor word choices and awkward phrasings in my work. I also recommend it for my writing students because I think it can help them improve their writing – though as with any tech-based writing assistant, it’s not perfect and will miss mistakes, or on rare occasions, provide recommendations that I don’t agree with from a stylistic perspective. That’s also true of its AI features, which are dazzling when working well but can also provide inaccurate information and sometimes offers to do the writing for a student, which is obviously not ideal.

Grammarly has a robust free version available as well as education-specific plans.

Here’s everything you need to know about Grammarly.

What is Grammarly?  

Grammarly is a cloud-based AI-powered writing assistant. It checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, as well as writing clarity and delivery mistakes. Users can also customize their Grammarly tool to account for their desired style and tone. Grammarly also has a generative AI tool that can help make writing suggestions and offer more advanced rewrites.

Grammarly is available to download for desktops, as a browser extension, and a keyboard plugin. It is available as an MS Office Plug-in and a Google Docs browser extension, and as an ios app for iPhones and iPads.

Grammarly was founded in 2009 in Ukraine by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lider, and though much of its operations are now based in North America, it has maintained an office in Kyiv and has donated millions to the ongoing Ukrainian defense.

What’s New With Grammarly?

The biggest new edition to Grammarly is its generative AI writing assistant. If you open the Grammarly app, this assistant will provide detailed writing suggestions on first drafts, help with brainstorming, and more.

I recently reviewed this feature in-depth and found it really impressive at times — it is capable of offering detailed and caring feedback that is similar to what I or another instructor might offer. However, it also has some issues with accuracy, and has a tendency to provide examples of what a student could write that some students might be tempted to copy and paste. So use this feature with your students with caution, stressing the importance of using it as a tool to help you write, not one to write for you.

Less recently, but still relatively new, is Grammarly’s ability to generate automated citations. I know some instructors will disagree with this, but I’m happy to outsource the minutiae of citation generation to Grammarly, and happy for my students to do that as well.

What Are Grammarly’s Best Features?  

I have found Grammarly to be better at catching homophones than other spell-checkers. For instance, Grammarly almost always finds there/their or are/our typos.

Grammarly can help remind students to write in an active voice, and offers quick but helpful explanations of the changes it has made. Additionally, Grammarly’s Google plug-in automatically checks everything you write, helping eliminate potentially embarrassing typos or mistakes in emails, on web forms, etc.

Recent upgrades to Grammarly are geared toward students. The paid version of the tool, now checks for common citation formatting errors, instantly proofreading the formatting of in-line and bibliography citations and highlighting incorrect use of commas, parentheses, and ampersands.

All Grammarly users now have the option to use an automatic citation creation tool, which allows students to create a one-click citation from tens of millions of articles.

Grammarly’s new AI feature can also provide students with helpful writing tips if they ask it to read their work and make suggestions. While I have some complaints with this tool overall, this feature provides some of the best examples of helpful generative AI education assistance I’ve seen.

How Much Does Grammarly Cost?  

Grammarly has a robust free program that offers advanced grammar and spell-checking, plus allows for 100 prompts with the AI assistant.

Premium subscription plans are $12 per month if you pay with a year’s subscription, or $30 per month if you pay monthly. Premium plans offer additional features such as plagiarism-checking and the ability to have Grammarly’s AI rewrite full sentences. Users also get up to 1,000 AI prompts per month.

In addition, Grammarly offers education-specific plans, but school administrators need to contact Grammarly directly for price quotes.

Grammarly Tips & Tricks  

Have Students Log Words They Commonly Get Wrong

Grammarly can be a great tool to help encourage students to look critically at their work. Ask them to write a list of all the words Grammarly highlighted in the initial draft of their paper, which can help raise awareness of their common mistakes with words and phrases.

Remind Students That It’s Okay to Disagree with Grammarly

Tools such as Grammarly have been criticized for pushing conformity in writing. I like to discuss style and unique voice with my students and encourage them to “know the rules, so they can learn when they intentionally want to break them.” Encouraging students to discuss why they ignored certain Grammarly advice can be a good teachable moment.

Utilize Grammarly’s Explanations

Grammarly’s blog is loaded with great writing resources and explanations about grammar. The simple-to-follow conversational tone can be more enjoyable for students to read and easier for them to understand than an explanation you might find in a textbook. I’ll frequently assign these short blog posts and will also recommend specific posts to specific writers when I’m reading their work. For instance, if a student is struggling with comma usage, I might put this link in a comment on their work.

Experiment With Grammarly’s AI

Like many AI tools, Grammarly’s AI tool offers better feedback with better prompts. So play around with the tool to see what type of language gets the best results. I found that getting as specific as possible can be helpful. I used phrases such as: “Can you read this paper and make sure it accomplishes X and Y?”

Experimenting can also be a good AI literacy lesson. What does Grammarly’s AI do well? What needs work?

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Correction: 9/20/22

The original version of this story incorrectly implied that Grammarly Editor was only available in paid versions of the tool.

The Week Junior is a weekly news magazine that focuses on current events but filtered for readers between 8 and 14 years old.

That makes this unique as the only publication for children of that age that covers weekly news including science, nature, tech, and culture. It does all that with the goal of fostering the love of reading in children while also working directly with kids and empowering them to understand the facts behind what is happening in the world.

The magazine works with guiding principles that include Respect, Clarity, Balance, Trust, and Accuracy. 

In the words of Editor-In-Chief Andrea Barbalich: “Children are aware of what's happening in the world, possibly more so than they’ve been given credit for in the past. This generation is informed, engaged, and involved. Many children have told us, ‘We want to know what the adults know.'"

So how can this work in education?

What is The Week Junior?

The Week Junior is a magazine publication aimed at 8 to 14 year old readers that covers news, science, tech, nature, and culture on a weekly basis. It is available in print form, giving children a chance to read current events without the need for more screen time.

In a government study it was found that 83% of kids found it important to learn about the world around them while 75% believed their actions could make the world a better place. Since Gen Alpha also said that access to education is a top issue (along with protecting the planet and ensuring everyone is fed), the content in The Week Junior is more relevant now than ever before.

The magazine is available both as a companion to kids while also working as a partner for parents and educators helping those children to learn and grow. While this is all in print, there is also a digital side that allows for engagement from readers, but more on that below.

How does The Week Junior work?

The Week Junior is a subscription-based magazine that is released on a weekly basis.

It is a great non-fiction source, which is appealing for teachers who find it hard to find a non-fiction source that kids will enjoy reading.  

Like any other magazine, everything is laid out clearly and, in this case, beautifully, with vibrant colors, rich imagery, and well-spaced text. All that makes for an easy-to-read magazine that is appealing to younger children, helping them learn magazine layouts and setting them up for other news-reading options in the future.

Everything is sectionalized so readers can jump to the parts they want or work their way through. Puzzle sections allow let kids to get involved and test their learning skills. Plus, there is the email section in which kids can make contact and even see their own words, potentially, in print in the next edition of the magazine.

What are the best The Week Junior features?

The Week Junior reports on current events in a safe and trusted way for children.  The magazine gets students talking about events happening in the world, and provides them with facts that help develop their own opinions.

The big story, usually on page two, is the most complex, so it is followed by a series of questions and answers to help make it more easily digestible. Smaller stories follow with local U.S. news, which is then accompanied by features such as the Word of the Week to build vocabulary. 

Silliest Headlines is another nice section that adds brevity and humor to the reading and aims to make reading enjoyable for kids.

The image-led Around The World section is great for learning from 10 short stories that are dotted about a world map. Children learn about what's happening in the world while also discovering or reinforcing their understanding of where those places are.

The Big Debate is a superb section that encourages opinion and sharing with green and orange boxes to show points for the two sides, in which readers can then vote and get involved.

Other sections include the arts, how to, quiz of the week, and more, all designed to keep children coming back throughout the week to this valuable educational tool.

Another great feature is the weekly teacher guide. It's a free, easy-to-use lesson plan developed by educators that help teachers plan each week (since the magazine is current events, they will not know what will be featured until the magazine arrives that week).

How much does The Week Junior cost?

Educators can request a free sample magazine to review with your faculty and administrators, visit theweekjunior.com/schoolsample.

Educators can subscribe for their classrooms for just $1.29 per copy, a savings of more than 78% off the single copy price of $5.99 (includes access to both the Print & Digital edition). Also included is a weekly Teacher Guide to help you get the most out of each issue.  Subscriptions are flexible, teachers can subscribe for a semester or the full school year.

The Week Junior offers classroom bulk subscriptions that are delivered directly to schools.  Magazines arrive fresh-off-the-press every Monday.

The Week Junior best tips and tricks

Get quizzical
At the end of each issue is a quiz that can be used by teachers to check reading comprehension and see how well students are integrating what they're reading.

Review
Pick an article to review and discuss in the class once it's been read. See who has an opinion and who needs more encouragement to join in.

Extend
Use the magazine's lesson extension ideas to seek out more from beyond the magazine to add more depth to what the students have already read.

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Adobe Creative Cloud Express, formerly Adobe Spark, is one of the best ways to find creative freedom when forming digital artwork. That's what makes it ideal for education and, as such, there is an education-specific package for schools.

For all intents and purposes this is a direct replacement for Spark so you get all the features it offered and more. That means you can quickly and easily create flyers, visual art, posters, and more.

Crucially, this is Adobe smart, so you have all the company's decades of experience in image editing that have been distilled into some super simple-to-use tools. That makes this ideal for even younger students to use, helping them build confidence and find new ways to express themselves digitally.

Could you make use of Adobe Creative Cloud Express in your place of education?

What is Adobe Creative Cloud Express?

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is an online image creation and editing tool that works across computers and apps for smartphones and tablets – all storing the work in the cloud so you can jump between devices.

Since this app is also built to help create Instagram images and YouTube thumbnails for sharing, it can be an immediately attractive tool for students on social media. But for presentation graphics, worksheets, book covers, posters, and plenty more, there are lots of template-based options to work from.

That's the key here, everything is template-based, which makes it very easy to use even for younger or less digitally savvy students and teachers alike. Since Adobe offers a vast array of media available for use in creation it also makes hunting source material and worrying about rights issues a thing of the past.

How does Adobe Creative Cloud Express work?

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is easy to sign into as an individual using email or various accounts such as Gmail or Facebook. But there is also an education account that allows teachers and students to sign in. This can be done from a web browser or from the iOS or Android apps, making it super accessible across devices.

Since everything is cloud-based, a student can sign in and begin working on a project in the class and then continue where they left off when away from the building, using their own smartphone, tablet, laptop, and so on.

A useful search option to hunt through the huge selection of templates is available but students can also scroll though categories such as Posters, Wallpapers, Flyers, Resumes, Cards, Facebook posts, and more – all image-led so it's clear what you're going to get. They then select "Remix this template" to get started.

The options are simple but offer just enough variety with the ability to change colors, add animations, mix up the layout, add branding, resize -- or add more -- such as shapes, backgrounds, text, and photos. It's all very intuitive and automated for ease.

Everything is saved as you work so nothing can be lost and the ability to pop back into a project or jump between several is very easy to do. You can also download to output as a PNG, JPG, PDF, or PNG for use in any way that is required. Some features are only available in the paid version, however, but more on that below.

What are the best Adobe Creative Cloud Express features?

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is easy to use -- that is the best feature because it makes what could be complex actually really fun and the end results are confidence-building, which is ideal for younger students.

Sensei is Adobe's AI tech that makes drag-and-drop ways of working super simple and accessible. The thousands of high-quality templates, design layouts, and styles all make for an openly creative environment for students to work within. For example, a student can create something for one platform but then effortlessly resize it for another format with ease.

Design Layouts will change the layout of the page to suit the content being selected to load in -- a super clever way to jump between potential ideas as you work toward building an end result. Or click Style and jump through color schemes that can work well with what you're doing. Imagine the image filters on camera apps, except way more smart and complex, and you have the idea.

In all there are more than 20,000 fonts and 175 million images to pick from in the Adobe Stock library, which the premium version has access to, while the free model tops out at "millions of images and fonts."

Basic filters, enhancements and blur effects, and the ability to easily remove backgrounds are all really helpful and powerful tools that make creating a professional looking end result easy. Conversion of video to GIF is another nice tool that students love.

How much does Adobe Creative Cloud Express cost?

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is free to use for the basic version, which could be enough for many students. This gets access to the many templates, tools and millions of fonts and images. That said, for K-12 classes, at time of publishing, the premium version of the app is also available for free.

That Premium account is charged at $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year, with a three-month free trial. This gets you a lot more content to choose from including images, fonts, refine cutout, resize and graphics groups, plan and scheduling of social media publishing, adding branding and logos in one tap, plus conversion and export from PDFs and other file types.

Adobe Creative Cloud Express best tips and tricks

Create a brand
Have students come up with their own branding and logo to represent them, getting creative and having something of their personality they can inject into future projects.

Poster the class
Create visually striking posters for otherwise basic class-based posters such as health and safety, to show students how visuals can enhance content effectively. 

Get social
Don't be afraid to incorporate social media post creations into the class to help get students interested. Just be cautious they don't get too carried away and go off task.

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Hypothes.is is a tool to make annotating the internet as easy as possible. While that's useful for teachers and students in education, the goal behind this tool is further reaching.

Hypothes.is was created as a community project with the goal of helping to make it easier for everyone to use and share educational resources. The lofty ideas behind what the internet could be are very much a real driving force for those who created and now help maintain Hypothes.is.

Quite simply, this lets you take any website and add annotations that can then be saved or shared with others.

So could Hypothes.is be of use to you?

What is Hypothes.is?

Hypothes.is is a tool that allows you to annotate anything on the internet using a helpful browser extension. It is aimed at grades six and higher but can be used by anybody in a wide range of situations from college to work.

Hypothes.is is setup as a website but the reality is you simply use that to sign-up. The real tool is in the form of a browser extension that allows you to overlay annotations on whatever webpage you visit.

You can use this to help work on a text that is online-based but can also, as a teacher, help to add more context to a website that can then be shared with students. 

The idea is to help avoid the ownership issue of the web that can otherwise hinder the proper use of information available. This lets teachers and students use that information in a way that is helpful for learning, sharing, and progressing. Crucially, it does all that while remaining free and available for all to use.

How does Hypothes.is work?

Hypothes.is can be downloaded as a browser extension and then you can sign up for a free account by giving just your name and email address. Once installed and pinned, you can tap the icon at the top to access the tool. When available it will appear along the right side of the screen, folded down and available to pop out as you need.

Highlight text to get started and a small pop-up will hover next to the highlight with options to pick from in a pair of annotation types.

These annotations fall into two categories of Annotate and Highlight. Annotate allows you to write about the text whereas Highlight simply marks that section on the page.

Usefully, there is rich text formatting so you can use features such as bold or italics to add clarity to the point you are making about the text. You can even create a space with images, videos, and an option to have questions placed. You can also tag anything before posting it publicly or sharing it privately as needed.

What are the best Hypothes.is features?

Hypothes.is is so simple to use, it makes for a great tool for students of a wide range of ages and abilities. But it's also readily available so teachers can pop it into action in their own time, when they spot something that could be of use for class.

For teachers this is fantastic as it allows for a forum-style space right there overlaid on the content. So, for example, you can post a question about a highlight for students to answer. The ability to integrate images and videos allows this experience to be even richer – making the highlight a starting point for further exploration.

The dedicated education page of the company's website is full of great ideas to help teachers get started using the tool effectively. The ability to create groups and send a link to that class is valuable for teachers looking to sectionalize learning within a class or across a grade group.

By creating groups teachers are more easily able to monitor student activity as replies to questions are made, for example.

How much does Hypothes.is cost?

Hypothes.is was created as a way to enable the freedom of information on the internet with a view to helping it grow freely. As such this was created to be used totally for free.

Aside from providing your name and a verifiable email address, there is nothing else required from you to get started using this powerful tool. There aren't even any ads to worry about.

Hypothes.is best tips and tricks

Prep text
Pre-highlight text so students can pay particular attention to areas you will discuss in class.

Share live
Use current events and share with contextual annotations so students can learn to think more broadly and have something to bring on that to the lesson.

Get visual
Have students share images and videos to associate with text as a way of communicating beyond text alone.

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Yellowdig is touted as a way to get students more engaged in their courses while also helping to keep them better informed of what's ahead. It is essentially a social network for students and teachers.

By working with existing LMS options, the Yellowdig system is built to be easily integrated for admins and tutors alike. It is aimed at higher ed institutions typically and so is built to work with those LMS choices.

This can be found in over 60 of the biggest learning institutions with more than 250,000 learners engaging on the platform, from before enrollment right to beyond graduation.

Can this higher ed social network work for you?

What is Yellowdig?

Yellowdig is a social network, of sorts, which integrates with higher ed LMS options to help keep students engaged and informed on their courses throughout their time in school. The idea is to have everything in one place to make the process clear and simple for both students and tutors alike.

The tools help to build and maintain digital learning communities. This can be difficult enough when in the room with others so to have a constant digital place for students to feel a part of seems like an important offering.

Of course this also works as a way to keep students informed, making sure they know the plan for the course ahead. Crucially, this can also adapt to show any changes that may be planned, or happen last minute, and keep students updated. It also offers a space to work out any issues from fallout from changes, helping students support one another.

All in all this is proven to improve course participation, engagement, and retention for students across courses.

How does Yellowdig work?

Yellowdig is very much like many social media platforms that have gone before it. As such, it is recognizable, easy to use, and offers plenty of flexibility to be creative in allowing the communities that grow here to help shape how it is used.

Yellowdig lets institutions sign up so that they can share community spaces with the relevant groups, classes, and individual students. Since this is a system that is installed to integrate with the existing LMS, it will pull in data automatically.

As a result, students can check to see their course plans as well as their grades. Instructors are also able to see the input grades and results all in one place. But there is also a communal forum in place so that anything around grades or set work can also be discussed as a group or privately. The former is helpful as a question answered by one student can be seen by others, potentially saving instructors time by answering just once. 

What are the best Yellowdig features?

Yellowdig offers a very intuitive forum-style system that has plenty of deeper level features available. It's this blend of simplicity and functionality that makes it ideally suited for education.

Students and instructors can easily post comments, questions, or answers in the community space. These can be searched through using helpful filters based on what the post is tagged with, allowing for easy organization across groups, classes, courses, and more.

Easy access to "My Grades" and "My Participation" are useful as these allow students to dip in and check progress without diving into the discussions going on, if they prefer. As with social media, they may come to check one thing such as a grade and end up learning more as they see other posts – ideal for keeping up on what's planned.

Individuals can message one another directly if they need, making for useful for collaboration and teacher-student communication. This works well with Canvas for easy communication since the company chose Yellowdig as a partner rather than developing their own tool.

A helpful "Activity" section is available that lays out what is going on, separate to the forum threads under the "Community" section heading. Again, this lets students see what is happening that is pertinent to them without spending too long getting into more detailed discussions.

How much does Yellowdig cost?

Yellowdig is a proprietary platform that is built to integrate with an LMS of a specific institution. As such it is priced based on the individual needs of that educational institution. 

There is an option to request a demo so that this product can be tested before deciding if it is for you. This gets you free access at no cost for the length of the upcoming academic term.

Yellowdig best tips and tricks

Check grades are read
Only post grades using the Yellowdig system and check in with students to make sure they've got theirs and are using the system alright.

Start a discussion
Build a community by creating discussion forums in which students can feel they have a place to ask questions and be supported.

Open chats
Message each student individually so they feel they can contact you directly if needed, perhaps with something they don't want to share publicly.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

TeachingBooks is a website that collates lots of useful resources related to specific books and authors, that's available for use by students and teachers.

The site offers a one-stop-shop spot for book-based research. So beyond the books themselves there are more resources to help add depth to the study of that book or author, including lesson plans, author interviews, and more.

The database comprises both fiction and nonfiction books, with resources available to further study the authors as well as offer introductory lessons on their work and areas of content.

So how can you best use TeachingBooks?

What is TeachingBooks?

TeachingBooks is a website that compiles resources on authors and their books for use by students and teachers looking to broaden knowledge and understanding around a particular subject area.

By using this online database students and teachers can further explore the books being taught and help to diversify content in class. Useful features such as book trailers can help to entice potential readers into the books, even if they're not big fans of reading.

The site offers more resources for teachers including being able to access and share what students have seen or may want to. This deeper level of control requires a subscription but there is plenty available for free. More on that below.

How does TeachingBooks work?

TeachingBooks starts with a search bar that allows teachers or students to skip right to a specific book, author, or subject area. They can then see all the various resources associated with it that are available online.

There is also the option to browse the content library by searching genre, grade level, media type, and more. This can help to make discovery of new content and authors a possibility for inquisitive students who may not have a specific search in mind.

The material aligns with Common Core standards and Lexile levels, which can help to find the right material for the right student, so that everyone is challenged without being put off by it being too difficult. 

A useful snapshot is provided for each book page, so it is easy to decide if this is the right fit when searching through all that is on offer.

What are the best TeachingBooks features?

TeachingBooks offers a very helpful Diverse Books search that is a great way to find books from varying cultures or regions which may be of interest to an individual or the class as a whole.

Another tool, called Meet-the-Author, offers movies and book trailers, which can help to give context to the literature beyond the words. This can be useful to narrow down the search too as there is a wealth of materials on offer, which may be overwhelming if these tools aren't used.

Thanks to a very simple layout this is super intuitive, making it ideal for students to go off and work with at their leisure without guidance needed. There is also a barcode scanning feature that can be very helpful if you have the physical book and want more resources related to it.

A Google Classroom functionality is also available, which makes it particularly simple to share with the class, or individual students, using this platform.

How much does TeachingBooks cost?

TeachingBooks has a Basic plan that is free and includes unlimited book, author, and award information exploration, credited access to 295,278 resources, chapter and previews, author name pronunciations, state reading lists, daily features, reading levels and book metadata, book annotations, puzzles and games, plus a Chrome extension.

Go for the Personal subscription at $125 per year and you get all that plus unlimited resource access, reader's advisory, custom reading lists, diverse books toolkit, teaching ideas, literacy and standards connections, library programming toolkit, and read-along audiobook performances, plus a text complexity toolkit.

A School tier costs $550 per year and gets the Personal features plus unlimited users and use, student and family access, sharing of resources, Google Classroom and LTI integration, homework help, book promotion tools, bookmarks to send home, stats reports, customized training, and unlimited support, plus Home Edition for families. 

Finally there is the District level at a custom pricing that gets everything in School plus equitable access district wide, resources aligned to district reading programs, Clever, ClassLink, and Google SSO integrations, IP authentication, trainings for families, and collection analysis, plus widget for district websites.

TeachingBooks best tips and tricks

Link the author
Set a text and have students find another by that author that is linked via genre or subject you are exploring.

Set intro videos
Lay out a selection of intro videos for students to watch and have them pick a book based on their interest in that teaser.

Use teacher lists
There are teacher-created book lists worth using if you want to follow-up on a title or area as someone may already have done the work for you.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

OER Commons is a freely available set of resources specifically tailored for use by educators. This digital library can be accessed by anybody from nearly any device.

The idea behind this platform is, as the website says, to uphold the "human right to access high quality education." As such, this is a place where resources are pooled with easy-to-search functionality to edit, use, and share as needed.

Rather than using a search engine to scour the entire internet for the resources you need as a teacher, these can be found more efficiently in this space in which everything has been helpfully collated. From images and videos to teaching plans, lessons, and more -- there is plenty from which to choose.

So how can OER Commons be useful for you?

What is OER Commons?

OER Commons uses the Open Education Resources, and collates these all in one place for easy access. Everything is freely available and falls under the Creative Commons licensing rules so you can make use of, change, and share freely without the worry of incurring any rights issues.

The site offers original content created and shared by teachers but also other third-party offerings, which can open in a new tab window taking you to that site where that is hosted. For example, a search for physics resources may take you to the Phet website at which you can access what you need.

The site also has a host of media such as imagery and video resources that can be downloaded for use in projects. Creating presentations with specific content, where you don't have to scour the web and hope it's rights free, is made far easier using this tool.

How does OER Commons work?

OER Commons leads with an intuitive search setup so you can navigate to the website and begin searching immediately -- without the need to provide any personal details at all. Imagine a search engine with extra education-focused parameters. That's what you get for a faster and free search that is done with peace of mind about rights.

OER Commons is created in such a way as to make it easy for educators to use. You can search by subject and narrow down what you need by selecting categories, or type into a search engine for more direct requests.

You can also click through other criteria to discover resources you may not have thought about looking for. Go into Discover and select the Collections option, for example, and you're met with resources such as a Shakespeare library, arts integration, game-based learning, and more -- all comprising sub-sections with lots of resources.

Ultimately when you find what you want, you'll likely be taken off the site, in a new tab window, in which you can access the resource for use as needed.

What are the best OER Commons features?

OER Commons is a place where anything shared has very few ownership rights, which is a good thing as it means the free use, editing, and sharing of anything there all with the peace of mind that you are doing so legally. Something which may not be the case of the wider web.

There is an Open Author tool that allows teachers to create documents, such as lessons, which can then be shared. This means other teachers are able to use these lessons too, freely editing their own versions as they need and then also leaving them for others to use. So, as you can imagine, this is a constantly growing platform of useful resources.

A wide number of resources are available, including multimedia, textbooks, research-based practices, lessons, and plenty more. The fact that all of this is free, available from nearly any device and easy to edit and share, all adds up to a very valuable platform indeed.

Users also can create a Hub, which is a customizable, branded resource center for a group to create and share collections, administer groups, and share news and events associated with a project or organization. For example, a district can organize a list of resources that have been vetted and approved for use.

How much does OER Commons cost?

OER Commons is totally free. There are no ads and you don't even have to sign up with your name or email address. You just open the website and begin using what you need.

Some resources, from third-party websites, may limit access in a few instances in which case you may need to sign-up but this should be quite rare as OER is all about freely available content by and large.

OER Commons best tips and tricks

Pay a lesson forward
Find a lesson that closely resembles what you need, edit this to suit your class perfectly. Then be sure to share it for others to use in future.

Use your system
Lessons can be shared through Google Classroom or Schoology so use these to make easier access for students if they already use them for work tasks.

Research team
Have your students get into groups and use the OER resources to find information on a topic which they can summarize and present back to the class.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

Blackbird is a programming tool that aims to help teach middle school-aged students JavaScript coding through a browser.

While the tool itself is useful, it also offers a one-day program of training for educators to help ensure the best possible teaching of this system is taken advantage of.

Unlike some of the competition out there, which generally teaches the more simple Scratch coding to this age of students, Blackbird dives right in with full coding. The idea is that by doing so, students will be able to use this in the real-world and have  a valuable skill.

So is Blackbird for you?

What is Blackbird?

Blackbird is a code teaching platform designed specifically for use in education with the support of teachers working with K-12 students who want to learn real coding they can use in the world and -- more specifically -- workplace.

With the need to fill more than 3.5 million STEM jobs expected by 2025, this tool helps students explore the possibility of working with something such as coding as a future career prospect.

Everything is browser-based so it can be accessed across devices -- from a classroom desktop or laptop to a student's personal smartphone or tablet. Consequently, what is started in class can be continued at home, or even on the bus, allowing students the chance to be immersed in their building projects while learning more complex code as they go.

This platform also allows for the submission of projects to an educator, so that teaching and learning can progress in a monitored way that helps both student and teacher.

How does Blackbird work?

Blackbird lets you sign up with an email address or a Google account easily. There is a choice to sign up as a teacher, parent, or individual with tailored options to suit each -- including that ability to manage the class progress as a teacher.

There are lessons, which teach specific skills to students by carrying out set tasks. A workshop section allows students to go beyond the lessons and build guided projects that push beyond the basics. 

Usefully, there is a Show Me option that will show the student the correct line of code needed for a section, allowing them to progress when struggling, even without the support of a teacher on hand.

Instructions for students are written concisely in number points that are easy to follow. But these still leave enough room to require understanding on the part of the student so as to ensure they learn and progress. A Deep Dive drop-down can be opened to give a more detailed guide on how to navigate the process, ensuring students progress on their own even if they're struggling with the basics. 

What are the best Blackbird features?

Blackbird does teach JavaScript, however, rather than dive in with all the details of this complex coding language, it tailors everything to education, feeding students the essentials to grow without being overwhelmed by the more complex functions that can be learned at a later stage.

When entering code there is a helpful Check button that will immediately provide feedback if what has been entered is correct or not. There's then more guidance to clarify how changes need to be made, helping students think, to better learn and progress. 

Lessons are divided into units with sub-sections called stages, so everything along the path of progress is clear and can be previewed. This is also helpful to educators who can see how students are progressing with all that data laid out for at-a-glance clarity on the teachers' hub page. which is, effectively, a built-in LMS.

Usefully all this coding is curricular-specific so students can learn within the context of math, science, and so on. A lesson can be delivered as is, however, teachers can also edit it to better tailor it to the students or class as needed.

How much does Blackbird cost?

Blackbird begins with a free offering that allows anyone to try the platform before committing to paying anything. This goes up a few stages but then, once you get to stage four, you'll need to start paying to go any further.

There is an individual payment option that is charged at $10 per month.

The education-specific pricing is tailored on a case-by-case basis, which varies based on the number of students or institutions signing up for use.

Blackbird best tips and tricks

Award work
There is an option to use "feathers" to award students who do well, which is a useful way to give encouragement within the platform to those that need or deserve it. 

Personalize feedback
Use the teacher LMS to offer specific feedback to students so they can progress effectively but also to know you're seeing how they're doing well as well as how they're struggling.

Use friends
Get the friends option working to have students collaborate in groups on specific tasks -- a great way to teach about working as a team, which will be needed for a career in coding.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

Knight Lab Projects is a collaborative effort from the community at Northwestern University in Chicago and San Francisco. It comprises a team of designers, developers, students, and educators, all of whom work together to create digital storytelling tools.

The idea is to develop new ways to communicate digitally as a means to enhance journalism and its ever-changing development in the digital age. As such, this lab produces new tools regularly to help tell stories in different ways.

From a map that lets you move location to learn more about the area, to an audio embed that allows you to hear an actual crowd as you're reading about a protest, these and more tools are all freely available to use.

So can you use Knight Lab Projects in education?

What is Knight Lab Projects?

Knight Lab Projects is designed to help push journalism forward yet it is a very useful tool, or set of tools, for educators and students too. Since these are developed to be easy to use and intuitive, even younger students can get involved via nearly any device with a web browser.

Telling stories in a new way can allow students to change how they think and become more engaged in the subjects they are covering. Since this is a very open set of platforms, it can be applied to many subjects, from English and social studies to history and STEM.

The work is ongoing and community-based so expect there to be more tools to be added. But equally, you may find some glitches along the way so it's always a good idea to test these out before use in class, and even to then work with students to make sure it's all clear and they're able to use the tools.

How does Knight Lab Projects work?

Knight Lab Projects is made up of a selection of tools you can use via a web browser. Each one can be selected to take you onto a page that explains what it is and how it works. There is then a big "Make" button in green that allows you and your students to start using the tool to build you own creations.

For example, the StoryMap (above) allows you to pull in media from a variety of sources to tell stories that are geographically focused. Perhaps a class could tell a story of the U.S. westward expansion, setting separate sections for each student or group.

There are other tools including: 

- SceneVR, which incorporates 360-degree photos and annotations to tell stories;
- Soundcite, which lets you put audio into text as it's read;
- Timeline, to make a timeline look great;
- StoryLine, to use numbers as a base to build stories from;
- and Juxtapose, to show two images side by side telling the change.

These are the basics but there are also more in beta and prototype, but more on those next.

What are the best Knight Lab Projects features?

Knight Lab Projects offers lots of helpful tools but for in-class use something such as SceneVR might be a bit difficult to navigate without a dedicated 360-degree camera. But most of the other tools should be easy to use by students right there from their own or the class device.

The selection of tools is a great part of this offering as it allows students to choose which is best for the story they want to tell. There are also projects in beta or at the prototype phases, allowing students to try early and feel they're doing something totally new.

For example, the SnapMap prototype allows you to collate photos you've taken in a way that populates a map – a great way to describe a travel blog or a school trip perhaps.

BookRx is another useful prototype that uses the person's Twitter account. Based on data in there, it is able to make intelligent predictions of books you're going to want to read.

Soundcite could be a very useful tool in music, allowing students to add musical parts into text describing what is happening as they work.

How much does Knight Lab Projects cost?

Knight Lab Projects is a free community-based system that is funded by Northwestern University. All the tools it has created so far are available freely to use online, with no ads. You don't even have to give any personal info such as a name or email to get started using these tools.

Knight Lab Projects best tips and tricks

Map the holidays
Have students keep a timeline-based diary of the holidays, not necessarily to turn in, but as a way to get them using the tool and perhaps expressing themselves in a digital journal too.

Storymap a trip
Have students document a trip they've been on, with school or otherwise, and upload using the mapping tool to help make it a visual experience.

Use Storyline in history and math
The Storyline tool puts numbers front and center with words as annotations. Have students tell the story of their numbers -- be it math, physics, chemistry, or beyond -- using this system.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

Pixton is a comic book creator that lets students make their own avatar characters and bring them to life digitally. This is designed for use in education, with teachers and students in mind.

The idea is to offer an easy-to-use platform that allows students to get creative with their storytelling. Thanks to the ability to create avatars that look like the student, it can also offer a space for them to express themselves.

Teachers can use these avatar characters to offer virtual alternatives to class time, even using them to create a group class photo that's purely digital.

But this isn't free and there are some design details that might not suit all, so is Pixton for you?

What is Pixton?

Pixton is an online-based comic book story creation tool as well as a space to create avatars that can be used in those stories. Crucially, it's very easy to use and can be accessed from nearly any device with a web browser.

While most older children will be able to use the self-explanatory interface with ease, it is recommended for years twelve and above. However, since it is easy to use, some younger students may also be able to work with this tool.

The ability to create avatars, which is part of the free offering, is a great way for students to build digital representations of themselves. But it's the ability to then bring thee to life with other characters, in stories, that allows for more expression.

This is designed to be used as is, but it can be incorporated into various subjects as a way of telling stories, from English and history to social studies and even math.

How does Pixton work?

Pixton starts with an easy login process for students as they can use their Google or Hotmail accounts to auto sign-up and get going. Alternatively, teachers can create a unique sign-in code to share with students so they get up and running that way.

Once logged in it's possible to create avatar characters for which lots of details can be varied, from hair type and color to body shape, gender, facial features, and more. To be clear, these aren't drawn from scratch but rather selected from a host of options. In all likelihood students have probably used similar tools on their smartphones and social media accounts already, so it may come very naturally.

To build comic book stories students can select multiple characters and animate them. This can be a slow process so helpfully there are also shortcuts to actions that can be searched for. Then it's a case of adding in speech bubbles and text to bring the stories to life.

These can be exported as PNG files, allowing teachers and students to easily share  or print these for use in the classroom.

What are the best Pixton features?

Pixton is very easy to use, which is great for getting started. But a lack of more freedom to personalize creatively, perhaps by drawing, may be a little limiting for some. That said, it's not designed for that and will do a fine job of telling a story as is.

The avatars are decent and the ability to have class photos, for events specifically, is a great way to build the digital investment in their class characters.

Searching for emotions or movements when creating a story is invaluable. Rather than organize the features of the avatar, a student can simply type "run" and the character is ready in that position to be inserted into the box.

Add-ons are also a useful feature as these make integrating avatars into other tools very simple. These are available for the likes of Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint and Canva.

Useful teacher-specific tools are available, such as favorites, which lets you collate the best examples from students all in one place. An age-appropriate content filter is also a useful addition especially when working with younger students. Pixton will mark a comic as read once you've read it, which as a teacher can make working through submissions more automated and easier.

Pixton even offers specific bundles for characters to help teach, such as a period-style dress option with clothes and backgrounds that can help tell a history story more accurately and in an immersive manner.

You can also add in images from a smartphone, allowing students to create real-world backgrounds. Or for a teacher to build a scene in the classroom. This was a little glitchy and cropped to a square only but it's still a nice idea.

Story Starters and the interactive rubric are designed to get students creating quickly and then practice self-evaluation using the rubric. For teachers, Comic School offers a variety of modules about how to teach with comics. 

How much does Pixton cost?

Pixton offer a basic free service that allows you to create avatars but this doesn't go much further than that. You can also trial the full service, in which you get to build comics, however, this tops out at seven days of use.

For educators, there are three tiers of plan. No Students Monthly is $9.99 per month and this get teacher access only with more than 200 theme packs, more than 4,000 backgrounds, outfits, props, poses, and expressions, lesson ideas and templates, printing and downloading, plug-in use plus in-class printable materials.

Go for the Classroom Monthly plan at $24.99 per month and you get all the above plus access for unlimited students, unlimited classrooms, class photos, content filters, and the ability to review student comics.

The Classroom Yearly plan is the same but charged at $99 per year to get you a 67% discount worth $200.

Pixton best tips and tricks

Set a specific story
Have students tell a story about something they need to be accurate on, such as how Egypt treated its pharaohs, for example.

Group up
Have students collaborate on a comic with their avatars interacting to show what they like to do outside of class. This can be with each other or a made up example.

Use favorites
Save the very best comics in favorites and then print or screen share these with students so everyone can see what is possible.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

Imagine Forest is an online-based writing platform that's designed to help promote writing proficiency. While this isn't specifically aimed at one age group, it is self-explanatory enough to work for most student age groups including those only just starting to write.

The idea is to offer a community of writers who create and upload their words for others to enjoy, comment on, and share. However, this isn't just a word processor --it features lots of guidance, challenges, and activities to get would-be writers motivated.

A useful tool for teaching writing yet one that can also be used in other subject areas as a way to communicate ideas. So is Imagine Forest for you?

What is Imagine Forest?

Imagine Forest is an online writing publication platform that allows anyone to create a story, with images, and publish it for others to read.

At its most basic, this tool gives you a blank sheet with boxes you can drag and drop to add text, images, and more, all in a way that can be output as a chaptered book. It also offers options to have assistance and prompts to help guide the writer to create a story.

The addition of activities and challenges are a helpful combination for students who might not know where to start. This gamifies the process of writing, even awarding points for challenges completed. 

There is also a community feel with the ability to like and comment on stories, which can help the writer but also helps to organize stories for easier browsing of the popular ones, for example.

How does Imagine Forest work?

Imagine Forest is free to sign-up for and use, and only requires a verified email address and name to get you up and running right away. You will need a device with a browser, which makes this easily available to most students.

Get started by diving into writing a story and select the Story Builder for step-by-step guidance, Basic Creator to do it all yourself, Chapter Book for chapter-based layout, Picture Book for image-led stories, or Poem/Poster for simple layouts. You can then get writing immediately and everything is auto saved as you go.

Alternatively there is a Challenges section that offers tasks for writers to complete for points. From writing a haiku about dolphins to creating a detailed character profile, there are many options to pick from here.

The Activities section allows you to unlock sections on a map by completing tasks, such as a goal of coming up with three headlines for a story, for example.

What are the best Imagine Forest features?

Imagine Forest offers a lovely balance between freedom to create from scratch or guidance and challenges to help keep you focused and driven. That makes it ideal for students of a wide range of ages and abilities. Crucially, they can decide what they need, making this a potential longer term tool for many.

While the ability to like and comment is useful, it doesn't appear to be that well engaged with at the time of writing. However, it could be used by the class to provide one another constructive feedback on work or even share ideas and collaborate to help the worlds created by others to grow.

The gamification of writing challenges, with points rewarded, is a great way to get even students who might not be that into writing interested in this wordy world. 

The ability to fill in the blanks to create a story is a useful addition that can help students feel less overwhelmed by the idea of creating an entire story from scratch. Students can publish publicly, privately, or to certain groups.

Plenty of resources on how to create stories, characters, worlds, and more are available. Usefully, these pop up when as you go, so you can read up or around a subject before beginning to write. Helpful for those students outside of the classroom who want to continue to work on writing and progressing.

How much does Imagine Forest cost?

Imagine Forest is totally free to use. You simply need to sign-up by giving a name and email address which then needs to be verified by clicking the link that is sent. 

At that point all the services can be used and it is possible to write and publish stories.

Imagine Forest best tips and tricks

Challenge the class
Use one of the already available challenges and have the class all work on it before sharing results to see how differently everyone took on the task.

Share personally
Have students write a story about their own emotional experiences to allow for greater openness with the group and foster social-emotional learning -- just be sure not to force them to share.

Story sessions
Create a lesson in a story format so that students can see how to layout a narrative and get an idea of how the platform works before setting them tasks to try themselves.

• What is Padlet and How Does it Work?
• Best Digital Tools for Teachers

Storillo

Cooperative tool provides accountability to group writing projects

Pros: Enables unpredictable and imaginative group writing projects.

Cons: Dependent on pre-work and may present challenges for heterogeneous skill levels.

Bottom Line: Storillo is engaging and provides useful structure for students, but teachers may prefer something more broadly applicable like Google Docs.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

 After brainstorming ways to peer coach, two virtual charter school teachers use their affinity for distance learning tech and podcasting to reach fellow educators around the country.  

Who: Michael Hernandez, Film/Broadcast Journalism/Photography Teacher (Grades 9-12)

Where: Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach, CA

What: Getting a Read on Students through Digital Storytelling

I first started dabbling with ebooks in my cinema class a few years ago the kids were like, "Why are we making books when this is a film class?" I would explain, this is film production, what we're really here to do is tell stories and find unique ways to do so. I had them create experimental videos as part of the unit and put them together to create their own book. They had to think of a collection of these videos and how they would pull together to make a story that was cohesive and more interactive, offering a little bit different way for the audience to connect with the story. 

One student had taken a creative writing class so he had been writing poetry. He used his poetry as a voiceover in his experimental video. So within the book, he had text and some of the text had links to the video he created. It made it really dynamic for his readers and got the kids to really think differently about how they tell stories. I saw it not only as enhancing the final product but a challenge to how they think about my curriculum. 

Positive Results

This sort of storytelling made them brainstorm unique ways they can convey their knowledge and information. It's something I think is missing in some classrooms -- giving kids opportunities to show what they know in ways that might suit them best. Not everyone is good at tests, not everyone is good at writing essays. While those are important things to know, it’s nice that we offer opportunities for students to create authentic projects they can share with the world. When I see what they create, the way they express their thoughts, it tells the story of the students themselves. I am reading the student and their experience in a way I don’t often get to while sitting in the classroom.

The Biggest Challenge

A lot of school districts use Chrome books, but that restricts to students to…basically typing. It kind of defeats the purpose of tech in the classroom. You have to pay extra to do anything. Pay extra for video editing, extra for a video camera. People making buying decisions don't think about those the wealth of free tech they are missing out on when they opt for Chrome. With all of the myths that are out there about the evils of screen time, perhaps we miss the tech benefits in being openminded about embracing their phones and using them for good. It behooves all of us as educators to embrace these tools that are already in their hands, so we can teach kids how to use them properly and productively.  

Finding Funding

I don't get funding directly from the school, all of our tech works from parent donations. But most high school kids have smart phones and there is a lot of free software. Teachers shouldn’t be dissuaded based on budget, most of our students have iPhones -- you can use iMovie and it's free. You can use Adobe Spark or Pages, it's free.

Pro Tips

Consider the value in not only the content and knowledge exhibition, but in how that proof of learning is shared. One of the big things that I get to teach are real world projects. My kids make projects that impact them and their peers. Projects that make them think and feel differently. They don't make dumpster projects that go in the trash once they get the grade.

Tech Tools

• iMac 
• Macs
• iPhones
• Apples Suite
• Finalcut Pro
• Pages
• Adobe Rush
• Adobe Spark Post
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Book Creator- Chrome

Connect with Me

The newscast my students produce is seen by audience members around the world. You can see their work by following them on Instagram @mustangmorningnews 

Grammaropolis

Animated parts-of-speech app enlivens grammar lessons

Pros: There's a good deal of quality and depth in the information on each part of speech and concept.

Cons: Isolated grammar instruction doesn't always transfer into writing.

Bottom Line: It's a cute concept that makes sense out of sometimes hard-to-understand grammar concepts.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

I still remember the storybooks I created when I was younger. They were made by stapling or gluing construction paper over notebook paper and illustrating the pages with crayons and marker. Students still enjoy creating physical storybooks, but now their stories can be preserved digitally forever with free web tools and apps. The tools and apps below make it easy for students to illustrate, animate, and share their stories with friends, family, and a wider audience. Not only can students create stories about any topic, but they also have the opportunity to be published authors which motivates many to continue reading and writing.

Tips and Ideas

The following are tips and ideas for further supporting students through the process:

• Students can create their own storybooks, work in pairs, or contribute to a class storybook.
• Provide students with templates, checklists, and rubrics.
• Read, Write, Think has several interactives that walk students through the story creation process- Story Map, Literary Elements, Flip Books, the Hero’s Journey, Story Cube, and Fractured Fairy Tales.
• Walk students through the self and peer editing process.
• Students can create stories that retell history, portray themselves as superheroes, set in the future, highlight different cultures, or to teach others math, the alphabet, or to be better citizens. The choice of topics is endless!

Tools and Apps for Creating Digital Storybooks

• Book Creator– Web, iOS and Android app to create and publish digital books with personal photos, audio, video, and more.
• Elementari– Create a free class account for up to 30 students. Students use the web tool to create a storybook with sounds, animations, shapes, and more.
• Buncee– Web tool and iOS app to create and publish a digital storybook with free library of animations, stickers, templates, frames, stock photos, video, audio, and more.
• Storybird– Web tool that is easy to create a written storybook.  Students choose art created by professional artists and add their words and ideas.
• My Storybook– This web tool requires no registration and is simple to use with very young learners and elementary students. Children create a storybook with drawings, images, characters, and more.
• Storyjumper– Choose characters and backgrounds to visualize a written story. Not able to embed.
• BoomWriter– Create collaborative class storybooks. Features include peer editing and a voting process.
• Google Slides and Docs are also great free options. Students can easily search and insert images, add video clips, and more! Student collaboration is easy and students have access to accessibility features and translation tools. Publish as PDFs or embed as a slideshow.

To thank you for your sharing, friendship and support over the years I am sharing free tips, learning resources, web tools and apps for 25 days in my Digital December STEM Advent Calendar. Just click on the calendar below and a post will appear for that day. NOTE! The post will not appear until that day. If you enjoy these resources, then take one of my fully accredited continuing education and graduate online courses or check out my latest book, Hacking Digital Learning Strategies with EdTech Missions!

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is a Technology and Computer teacher, education consultant, and author of books including Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.

Tis’ the season for students to express gratitude and care for others by creating and sending greetings. Students can craft messages for their peers, family members, teachers, and school staff. Students can also participate in digital greeting exchanges with students in other cities or countries. Another idea is to connect with local organizations that will deliver greetings to vets, deployed troops, hospital patients, first responders, homeless shelters, or firefighters. Creating and sending greetings teaches students kindness and compassion as well as enhances their writing skills. Students also enhance their knowledge of using a digital tool to layout, design, edit, and publish a personalized creation. Check out the free web tools and apps below to discover free web tools, apps, and resources to get students started!

Tools, Apps, and Resources to Create and Send Greetings

• Buncee (web/iOS)- Teachers can create a free account for 30 days and create logins and passwords for each student. Students can create and send incredible digital greetings or print them.  To save time students can edit one of the several templates or create their own from scratch by choosing from a free library of stickers, animations, stock images, videos, backgrounds, fonts, frames and more. Students can also participate in the project, Holiday Hugs from Buncee, and create Buncees for children who will be spending their holidays in a hospital. Buncee has partnered with children’s hospitals from around the world.
• Canva (web/iOS/Android)- Register for free and access several greeting card templates, beautiful fonts, stickers and icons. Several of the images, stickers and frames need to be purchased, but students can upload images for free.
• Pic-Collage (iOS/Android/Microsoft)- Students can choose from festive backgrounds and add photos, text, and stickers.
• Sincerely Ink (web/iOS/Android)- Students choose from professional greeting card templates, can upload their own photos, and add text.
• Chatterpix for Kids (iOS)-Students will have a ton of fun uploading an image and making it talk. Students record an audio greeting then decorate the image with holiday stickers and frames.
• Magisto (iOS/Android)- Students create an animated video greeting with uploaded photos and can choose music from their library. Students can also work from one of the holiday templates.
• Design Wizard-a simple online graphic design tool for creating digital greetings with templates.

To thank you for your sharing, friendship and support over the years I am sharing free  resources, web tools and apps for 25 days in my Digital December STEM Advent Calendar. Just click on the calendar below and a post will appear for that day. NOTE! The post will not appear until that day. 

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is a Technology and Computer teacher, education consultant, and author of books including Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.

A few years back I created a Google Slides template for "Build a Snowman". Since then I have had fun making other similar templates including "Build a Jack-O-Lantern" and "One Fish Two Fish" and more. With the holidays fast approaching I decided to make a similar activity for decorating a Christmas tree.

You can do this project with this fun, and educational, Google Slides activity. This is a great way for students to be creative and to work on their writing skills by describing or writing about their holiday traditions, plans, or memories.

Here’s how:

• Make a copy of the Google Slides “Decorate a Christmas Tree” template, found further down in the blog post.
• The template has a blank tree and slides full of items to add to your tree including bulbs, lights, bells, stars, and more.
• Copy and paste the items to decorate your tree.
• If you need different pictures, you can search for more.
• You can even add or draw your own shapes as needed.
• When done decorating your tree, write about your holiday traditions, a favorite memory, your best present, what you want this year, what you are thankful for, or such.
• When all done you can download a picture of your tree and writing to share with others.

See below to get your own copy of the template, as well as more detailed directions on how to do the activity.

Get a copy of the template

This activity is created with Google Slides. To get your own copy of the template simple click the link below.

“Decorate a Christmas Tree” template - Google Slides link

Your students can click this link to get their own copy, or you can use Google Classroom to push out a copy of the template to each of your students.

What’s in the template

The Google Slide template has multiple parts for the activity. These include:

Slide 1 - The title slide

Slide 2 and 3 - A brief set of directions

Slide 4 - The blank tree. This is where you will decorate your tree and where you will write about the holidays.

Slides 5 and 6 - Items for decorating your tree. These slides contain images that you can copy and paste onto your blank tree.

The ornaments include bulbs with each letter of the alphabet, so students can also create a message right on their tree by spelling out words.

Decorating your tree

To decorate your tree, simply copy and paste images from the items slides onto your blank tree. You can copy and paste in several ways.

To copy an item:

• Click on the picture and press “Ctrl” and “C”
• Or click on the picture and click “Edit” then “Copy” in the top menu bar.
• Or right-click on the picture and choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu.

To paste an item, go to the tree slide and:

• Press “Ctrl” and “V”
• Or click “Edit” then “Paste” in the top menu bar.
• Or right-click and choose “Paste” from the pop-up menu.

Once your item has been pasted in you can adjust it in many ways:

• Drag and drop it to move it around.
• Press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it around.
• Hold down the “Shift” key and press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it one pixel at a time.
• Click and drag the blue circle on top of the image to rotate the image if needed.
• Click “Arrange” in the top menu bar, then “Rotate” and “Flip horizontally” or “Flip vertically” if needed.
• Click and drag the corners of the image to change its size if desired.
• Click “Format options” in the top menu bar, and then “Recolor” to adjust the color (works better for lighter colors).

Adding other images

Although the template provides a large variety of items to use for your tree, you may still want to add some more of your own. You can add more images as follows:

• Click “Insert” in the top menu bar, then click “Image” then "Search the web".
• This will open a panel on the right where you can type in a search term to find the images you want.
• You may want to add "clipart" or "png" in the search box to limit your results to clip art style pictures.
• When you find an image you want, click on the image to select it, then click "Insert" at the bottom of the panel.

Creating your own images

You can also create your own ornaments for your tree by using the "Shape" tool in Slides.

• Click "Insert" then "Shape".
• Choose shapes from the "Shapes" menu or stars from the "Callouts" menu.
• After you make your shape you can color it with the "Fill color" button (paint can button).

Writing about your holidays

When you are done decorating your tree, now you will want to write about your holidays. You can type in the textbox to the right of your tree to enter your own writing. This could include:

• Your holiday traditions
• A favorite memory
• Your best present
• What you want this year
• What you are thankful for
• Or other holiday related topics
• Be sure to include your name at the bottom of your writing.

Downloading your Tree

When you are completely done, you can download a picture of your tree and your writing as follows:

• Make sure you are on the slide that has your completed tree and your writing.
• Click “File” in the top menu bar.
• Choose “Download as” from the drop-down menu.
• Choose “PNG image” from the sub-menu.
• This will download an image of just the slide you are on and not any of the rest of the slideshow.

You can now share your image in several ways:

• Email it to someone.
• Turn it in through Google Classroom.
• Post it on your class website.
• Share it through social media.
• Combine it with others to make a new slideshow with everyone’s creations.

Conclusion

The “Decorate a Christmas Tree” Google Slides activity can be a great way to let kids be creative and to improve their writing at the same time. One of the great things about creativity, is you never know what students will come up with. Feel free to email me images of your students’ creations. I would love to see what they make and will be glad to share some examples here to inspire others.

And for even more wintertime activities, see my earlier post on "6 Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids"

cross posted at www.controlaltachieve.com

Eric Curts is an education trainer and consultant with over 20 years' experience throughout the U.S. He is an authorized Google Education Trainer and a Google Certified Innovator. Read his blog at www.controlaltachieve.com and follow him on Google+ and @ericcurts on Twitter.

Scribble Press - Creative Book Maker for Kids

Terrific book creator encourages self-expression for all young writers

Pros: More than 500 drawing and writing tools with digital stickers, characters, backgrounds, and music, plus flexible publishing options.

Cons: No kid-friendly guide on the app about protecting personal information in public publishing.

Bottom Line: A quality way for kids to explore storytelling, illustrating, and publishing.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Global Oneness Project

Dynamic multimedia resources explore life experiences around the world

Pros: There's a variety of media from photo essays to films to VR experiences. Everything is aligned to national standards, and cross-curricular content means all teachers can find something useful.

Cons: Not every story has a lesson to go with it, and some lessons require extra scaffolding or differentiation for different levels and abilities.

Bottom Line: Teachers looking to enrich their curriculum with high-quality, thought-provoking videos and photos will find plenty of inspiration, but may need to create or fine-tune some lessons.

[Puzzle Game Teaches Native American Culture]

Read more

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

By Common Sense Education

Storybird

[A Home for Young Writers Seeking Real Audience]

Social storytelling fun; artwork inspires, but limits creative freedom 

Pros: A huge collection of curated art provides kid-authors with distinct and inspiring illustrations.

Cons: Students can't add their own art to stories, which limits creativity a bit.

Bottom Line: For anyone interested in kid-authored storybooks, this is a great resource.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

 By Common Sense Education