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AI can be a teaching and learning tool -- or a crutch
Bots powered by artificial intelligence are getting smarter and smarter. Will people get dumb and dumber? Rick Hess of the American...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 11, 20233 min read


What works in teaching English (discussion) may not work in teaching math
The most effective use of class time depends on the subject, concludes a study conducted in high-poverty English high schools, reports...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20231 min read


Red, green, yellow, blue: Write a thesis, show it's true
The 3-3-3 paragraph had a thesis sentence with a "subject and attitude," supported by three topic sentences, each of which was supported...

Joanne Jacobs
May 10, 20231 min read


Catching ChatGPT cheaters is tough: Is it bursty?
Open AI's program to catch chatbot cheaters is very unreliable, write Armin Alimardani and Emma A. Jane on The Conversation. The company...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 26, 20232 min read


When the best paper in the class was written by a bot
Professors are changing the way they assess students to make it harder for students to use artificial intelligence to generate essays,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 18, 20231 min read


Teaching with AI: Can the bot be a useful tool?
ChatGPT can be a powerful teaching tool, argues Ben Talsma, who helps teachers use technology, on Chalkbeat. A learning specialist for...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20232 min read


NYC schools ban ChatGPT
Is it real or is it artificial intelligence? ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot that"generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing" has been ...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20231 min read


Back to handwriting?
I don't write much by hand these days, and when I do it's a chore. Even writing a few lines on Christmas cards seems like hard work....

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 2, 20232 min read


The kids can't write
Students are encouraged to express themselves, writes Elizabeth Grace Matthew, who's taught writing at several universities, on The Hill....

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 12, 20221 min read


ChatGPT writes better than most students: What next?
Is writing over? The ability to write clearly and cogently has been seen as "a gatekeeper, a metric for intelligence, a teachable skill,"...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 11, 20222 min read


Colleges drop remedial classes -- but many students are unprepared
California's community colleges will be ordered to stop offering no-credit remedial classes in nearly all cases, if Gov. Gavin Newsom...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 9, 20223 min read


AI doesn't write well, but it's better than some students
Shakespeare it's not. However, a new artificial-intelligence technology called GPT-3, which understands and generates text, could help...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 23, 20222 min read


Thank you, Ms. Lung
Born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, Jamil Jan Kochai started second grade in Sacramento speaking Pashto and Farsi, but very...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 20222 min read


Ask a quirky question ...
Test scores are optional or ignored, grades are inflated -- and essay questions are more important than ever for students applying to...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 7, 20222 min read


Trying is not the same as achieving
Grading students based on effort rather than achievement is spreading from P.E. class to academic classes in high schools, but...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 20, 20222 min read


Dear Sir . . . LMK about WRK
“Professional writing” has vanished from the curriculum, writes Ed Week‘s Sarah D. Sparks. Employers and educators are pushing for...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 9, 20182 min read


Write to think, think to write
Students can do everything asked of them in school, yet fail to meet grade-level standards, charges TNTP’s new Opportunity Myth report....

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 8, 20182 min read


Arguing from ignorance
Argumentation — make a claim and support it with evidence and reasoning — is at the core of Common Core English. Kate Ehrenfeld Gardoqui...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 4, 20181 min read


Why college writing fails
Political indoctrination is destroying the value of college writing courses, argues Stephen Combs, who teaches composition at Florida’s...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20182 min read


How Core kids learn reading, writing
Fordham’s Reading and Writing Instruction in America’s Schools looks at how teaching has changed in the Common Core era. Middle and high...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 25, 20182 min read
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