Never Say Never: Using AI for Student Feedback

 Giving student feedback is something I pride myself in. I would spend hours pouring over student assignments, giving constructive and positive feedback to each individual about his/her/their work. When I heard educators saying they would use AI to give student feedback, I was baffled. I remember saying I would never do that because I did not want to lose my personal touch or connection with students by using AI for this purpose. However, I should have known better and the common cliche, never say never, sticks here. 

I began exploring AI for my educator learning goal this year. Today I sat down and delved into Magic School AI’s Student Work Feedback tool that gives students comments on areas of strength and growth. When I read this I paused, because this aligns with how I prepare students for their student led conferences. I am always asking them to think about their strengths and areas of growth. So I decided to give this a whirl, and I am so glad I did. In about a half hour my entire class had rich feedback based on their narrative writing they have done thus far. Alice Keeler once said giving feedback at the end of an assignment is too late and that has always resonated with me. Students need constant feedback as they go but how do educators keep up with it all? Now we have an answer!

The form to fill out on Magic School AI is user friendly. I added some information about the project I was doing with students and then copied and pasted their work into the last box. 

What I got was eye opening. The feedback was broken up into areas of strength, areas for growth, and mechanics. It also gave each student a positive comment at the end about his/her/their writing. I was able to personalize the feedback before copying and pasting it into a comment box in Google Docs. The feedback was concise and gave students something to think about as they continue writing. Here is what I got using the tool before I revised it:

I loved how it was organized and how each student got an in depth comment to help guide him/her/them on his/her/their writing journey. I did not lose my personal touch or connection because I revised the feedback to include my voice. This is just another benefit of using AI to support students, and I surprised myself when I used it. I suggest other educators try this tool out to give students feedback. You might surprise yourself too and save so much time in the process.