Headline, June 05 2024/ ''' TEACHERS -STUDENTS- TEAMSTERS ''' : A.I.

''' TEACHERS -STUDENTS-

 TEAMSTERS ''' : A.I.

ARUNDHATI ROY : '' THIS GODDESS OF SMALL THINGS " : IT IS A GREAT HONOUR AND A SINGULAR PRIVILEGE to nominate esteemed world class journalist, writer, political analyst, activist and a fearless human :

Arundhati Roy - from Mother India, as the global head AND ETHICIST of The World Students Society. Her pointers, her remarks, her criticism, will always remain !WOW!'s very prized and sacrosanct guiding lines.

CAN I USE A.I. TO GRADE MY STUDENTS' PAPERS? : I am a junior-high-school English teacher.  In the past school year, there has been a significant increase in students' cheating on assignments by using artificial intelligence.

Our department feels that 13-year-old students will only become better writers if they practice and learn from the successes and challenges that come with that.

Recently, our department tasked students with writing an argumentative essay, an assignment we supported by breaking down the process into multiple steps. The exercise took several days of class time and homework to complete.

All of our students signed a contract agreeing not to use A.I.assistance, and parents promised to support the agreement by monitoring their children when they worked at home. Yet many students still used A.I.

Some of our staff members uploaded their grading papers rubric into an A.I. assisted platform, and students uploaded their essays for assessment. The program admittedly has some strengths.

Most notable it gives students writing feedback and the opportunity to edit their work before final submission. The papers are graded within minutes and the teachers are able to transfer the A.I. grade into their roll book.

I find this to be hypocritical. I spend many hours grading my students' essays. It's tedious work, but I feel that it's my responsibility - if a student makes an effort to complete the task, they should have my undivided attention during the assessment process.

Here's where I struggle. Should I embrace new technology and use A.I. assisted grading to save time, and my sanity even though I forbid my students from using it?

Is it unethical for teachers to ask students not to use A.I. to assist their writing but then allow an A.I. platform to grade their work?

YOU HAVE A sound rationale for discouraging your students from using A.I. to draft their essays. As with many other skills, writing well and thinking clearly will improve through practice.

By contrast, you already know how to grade papers ; you don't need the practice.

What matters is whether an A.I. assisted platform can reliably appraise and diagnose your students' writing, providing the explanation and guidance these students need to improve.

In theory, such tools - and I see that there are several on the market,  including from major educational publishers  - have certain advantages.

The hope is that they can grade without inconsistency, without getting tired, without being affected by the expectations that surely affect those of us who hand-grade student work.

I notice you haven't raised concerns about whether the platform provides reliable assessments ; you'll have to decide if it does.

[ If it isn't up to snuff, it might become so in a year or two, so your question will persist.]

Provided the platform does a decent job of assessment, though, I don't see why you must do it all yourself. You should review the A.I. - annotated versions of your students' writing, check that you agree with the output, and make notes of issues to bring up in class.

But time saved in evaluating the papers might be better spent on other things - and by '' better, '' I mean better for the students. There are pedagogical functions, after all, that only you can perform.

IN SUM, It's not hypothetical to use A.I.yourself in a way that serves your students well, even as you insist that they don't use it in a way that serves them badly.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on A.I., Education, Students and Ethics continues. The World Students Society thanks Kwame Anthony Appiah.

With most respectful dedication to the Professors, Teachers and Students of the world. See You all  prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless