Edsurge

MAY 27, 2025

Before we usher in the 2025-2026 EdSurge Voices of Change Fellows, we want to reflect on the important themes our recent cohort of fellows wrote about in their personal essays. Hind Haddad, an Arabic language teacher in Columbus, Ohio, experienced many microaggressions as a Muslim educator.

Education 126

Education Essay Culture Math 126

eSchool News

DECEMBER 5, 2024

Concerns about academic dishonesty, loss of critical thinking skills, and inappropriate content creation have sparked discussions about banning AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and others. While AI tools can indeed generate answers or essays, this highlights the need to rethink assessment strategies.

Ethics 332

Ethics Critical Thinking Essay Students 332

Ask a Tech Teacher

MAY 18, 2023

Many students dread IB essays. Read how to draft an IB extended essay below Writing Strategies for an Extended Essay in the International Baccalaureate Program IB is a rigorous two-year project for personal and academic development. One of them is the extended essay. The IB sets criteria and guidelines for the write-up.

Essay 148

Essay Writing Plagiarism Evaluation 148

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 23, 2024

Example: Two Teacher-Led Stations – One Differentiated, One Guided Reading and Discussion Reading Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 The teacher uses guided reading strategies, asking questions that help students focus on basic elements like characters and setting before discussing the moral.

Teaching 395

Teaching Writing Essay Discussions 395

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 25, 2024

Writing Assignments: Writing tasks, whether creative stories, essays, or research papers, require students to think critically, organize their thoughts, write a draft, and revise based on feedback. Learning a Language: Acquiring a new language involves mastering vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural nuances.

Teachers 481

Teachers Art Feedback Writing 481

eSchool News

JANUARY 30, 2023

Learning a new language is challenging, requiring a student to master four basic skills–listening, reading, speaking, and writing–from scratch. Not only do they learn a language but they also have to deal with other school subjects in it. Think of SAT requiring essay writing or IELTS and TOEFL measuring writing abilities.

Writing 286

Writing Skills Essay Languages 286

Ask a Tech Teacher

JANUARY 29, 2025

Communication as a student in a foreign land depends heavily on knowledge of the language. The Ask a Tech Teacher international team has a few broader issues to think about when considering what barriers face students in foreign lands: Language: The Biggest Communication Barrier for Foreign Students? Ive been on the same page also.

Language 134

Language Languages Communication English 134

eSchool News

OCTOBER 23, 2024

revolution to more recent discussions on rights and liberties, there are lesson plans and activities available for whatever unit your students need. I combine the picture books with Gilder Lehrman essays in my classroom. The length is manageable for a classroom setting, and the essays cover a wide variety of topics.

Students 339

Students History Essay High School 339

Edsurge

JUNE 14, 2023

We recently completed an evaluation of an AI-equipped platform through which middle school students could draft, submit and revise argumentative essays in response to pre-curated writing prompts. This yielded a total of 160 teacher-assessed essays, which we could compare directly to the AI-given scores and feedback on those same essays.

Grades 184

Grades Essay Teachers Feedback 184

eSchool News

MAY 22, 2017

Designer Susan Stuart discusses that designing a user interface is a response to “a complete set of ‘what-if’ scenarios.” In addition to the design phase, Schwab highlights the use a mastery of language has in a world being ever-tailored to the masses. Both are relevant to a user’s experience with technology. This is what writers do.

Writing 227

Writing Technology Education Essay 227

Edsurge

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

And listen to a live discussion we hosted on the topic as well. For instance, after subscribing to a service called EssaySoft, you can tell its essay generator to write a paper on, say, “symbolism in the great Gatsby” (or whatever you need for class). They can just have the essay generator do it.”

Academic Integrity 200

Academic Integrity Plagiarism Essay Lecturing 200

Edsurge

DECEMBER 6, 2024

The chatbot could be infused with 10 years of learning sciences literature to help analyze and explain in plain language what a dashboard is showing, he adds. Learning analytics proponents are also using new AI tools to help analyze online discussion boards from courses.

Learning 205

Learning Textbooks Essay Ethics 205

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Last year, an English teacher at my school came to me with an all-too-common concern about an essay a student named Kyle had just turned in. The teacher’s 10th grade class had just finished op-ed essays on a topic of their choice, and Kyle had chosen to examine the economic impact of illegal immigration on the U.S.

Essay 168

Essay Beliefs Languages Language 168

eSchool News

MARCH 11, 2025

Teaching metacognition equips ELLs with the tools needed to navigate not only language acquisition but also the demands of various subject areas, from math and science to history and literature (Flavell, 1979; Schraw & Moshman, 1995). Translating phrases into Spanish helped him connect new terms to his native language.

Essay 166

Essay Ethics Feedback Languages 166

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

AI integration can address diverse learning needs , promote data-driven decision-making , and spur class discussion. I was just worried that my students would use this to write all their essays! This later became a great discussion point with my students. And at first, our school blocked its use. What can we do about that?”

Teachers 207

Teachers Intelligence Essay Social Studies 207

Edsurge

JULY 2, 2024

After all, students quickly spread the word on TikTok and other social media platforms that with a few simple prompts, a chatbot could write an essay or answer a homework assignment in ways that would be hard for teachers to detect. They're being cautious about the language they use to ensure they're not prohibiting the use of AI altogether.

Teachers 217

Teachers Education Instructors Languages 217

Faculty Focus

JUNE 1, 2025

As a TA, I even received rubrics with that language. Because everything was graded complete/incomplete, three-sentence reading responses held the same weight as thousand-word essays, making it unclear how much time I expected them to spend on a given assignment. Students were still demotivated by a lack of clear expectations.

Grades 81

Grades Evaluation Assignments Instructors 81

Edsurge

JULY 24, 2023

As a case in point, Project Topeka featured an automated essay scoring tool that provided grades 6–8 students with individualized line-level feedback on argumentative essays responding to six different prompts. Proficient definition—“The essay introduces a clear claim based on the topic or text(s). See Exhibit 1.)

Writing 148

Writing Essay Teachers Feedback 148

eSchool News

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in participating states are invited to submit a 500-word essay addressing a community issue. A panel of judges will review the essay submissions and the top 20 students will move on to their local competition to show off their civics knowledge. The submission period is open through January 8, 2024.

Math 262

Math Middle School Middle School Essay 262

Edsurge

JULY 10, 2024

Students started to have rich discussions about what the purpose of school should be and tapped into their creativity to find unique ways to represent their ideas through writing, images, audio or video. The project was simple for me because it came with the guidance like a rubric, a model and examples to help with lesson planning.

High School 212

High School High School Interdisciplinary Education 212

eSchool News

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

Flipgrid is the video discussion platform that students use to record a video of themselves reading their persuasive essay. Every student has a voice in the project, no matter if they are in general education, special education, gifted, English as a second language, or early-intervention programs.

Essay 181

Essay Learning Styles Students Elementary School 181

Edsurge

MARCH 28, 2017

The letters in ThinkCERCA represent the building blocks of an essay: claim, evidence, reasoning, counter argument, and audience. Once teachers choose a lesson, the program provides a six-step process to help students analyze the readings and produce a cohesive essay.

Writing 131

Writing Essay Teaching Quizzes 131

Teachers Pay Teachers

JUNE 2, 2025

Students can keep a long-term journal to respond all year long, or they can use journal prompts as a springboard into a class essay or assignment. Inspire students with a walk outside, complete with notebooks, sunshine, and lots of topics for discussion. If you had to start a career today, what career are you most qualified for?

High School 52

High School High School Writing Essay 52

Edsurge

JANUARY 23, 2020

And join us on Tuesday, January 28, for a live online discussion about the issue as part of our EdSurge Live series. Most of his customers did not speak English as their first language, he says, and others seemed to lack the preparation for the work they were being asked to do. But, luckily, I found Edubirdie.com. And no plagiarism!”

Essay 171

Essay Writing Academic Integrity Students 171

Edsurge

APRIL 1, 2020

So instead of just writing an essay, which some of my students can’t do because they don’t have the tactical skills to hold a pencil, or maybe they struggle with language because they have autism or some other cognitive delay, they’re telling digital stories or they’re expressing themselves through simple three-act math movies.

Universal Design 215

Universal Design Students Special Education Languages 215

Ask a Tech Teacher

JUNE 27, 2024

When my friend, Emma, was preparing for finals, she used Trello to organize her study schedule, Quizlet for flashcards, and weekly Google Meet sessions with classmates to discuss tough topics, transforming her test stress into an effective study routine. Why so many digital crutches? Because studying for exams can feel overwhelming.

Exams 158

Exams Study Syllabus Essay 158

Ask a Tech Teacher

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Tie-ins: Use this not only for holidays but any academic class by creating an artistic image of the topic being discussed. It’s equally appropriate for fiction and nonfiction and does a solid job of reinforcing Common Core standards related to writing, literacy, and language. Save, print, share, publish as is customary in your classes.

Activities 172

Activities Learning Art Failure 172

Ask a Tech Teacher

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Tie-ins: Use this not only for holidays but any academic class by creating an artistic image of the topic being discussed. It’s equally appropriate for fiction and nonfiction and does a solid job of reinforcing Common Core standards related to writing, literacy, and language. Save, print, share, publish as is customary in your classes.

Activities 174

Activities Learning Failure Essay 174

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

in the thick of filling out college applications, that might mean putting off writing an admissions essay or sending in a transcript. Having the language to talk about these things and being able to name them is really empowering.” For a student like Andrew Leonard, a senior at East Wake Academy in Zebulon, N.C.

Essay 161

Essay Students Quizzes Writing 161

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

For example, if a student is working on an essay in a language arts class and is way off track, the teacher can pop a message on their screen that says, "Hey, this paragraph looks off-topic, try focusing on." Davis and his Downey colleagues discuss the district's edtech adoption journey. Again, it’s relationship building.

Teachers 199

Teachers Students Special Education History 199

Edsurge

JUNE 16, 2020

Teaching assistants moderated an online discussion forum through Piazza , an online community building and discussion platform, and held recitations, which enabled students to ask questions and ponder ideas. Even more importantly, it develops an understanding of how to communicate with a computer using its language, not our own.

Science 218

Science Education Learning Essay 218

Edsurge

AUGUST 1, 2024

It’s a fair question given the widespread concern in the field about students using AI to write their essays or bots to do their homework for them. As more instructors experiment with using generative AI to make teaching materials, an important question bubbles up. Should they disclose that to students?

Teaching 217

Teaching Education Ethics Instructors 217

Edsurge

OCTOBER 2, 2017

Whether it’s a group of retirees who cluster in the back of your corner coffee shop or the so-called Ponzi schemes of MFA programs like the famed Iowa Writers’ Workshop, assessment comes in the form of peer feedback—marginalia and discussion. For example: Describe in neutral language what the story is trying to accomplish.

Writing 115

Writing Essay Feedback Instructors 115

Ask a Tech Teacher

MAY 25, 2022

Here is a good discussion on the pros and cons of Turnitin as well as options available, from the Ask a Tech Teacher crew: Reliable Turnitin Alternatives for K12. Many institutions still rely on Turnitin, but the professionals who must check dozens of essays on a daily basis know that this expensive service can be way too slow. .

Plagiarism 158

Plagiarism Essay Instructors Peer Review 158

Edsurge

JUNE 5, 2018

In the case of writing, students can love their topic but have no idea how to structure a thoughtful essay around it. Through class discussions, individual conversations with him and close dissection of the work he submitted, I gained insight into his personal background, academic strengths and areas for growth.

Essay 113

Essay Writing Assignments Learning Styles 113

eSchool News

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Translation technologies can be included for students and parents whose native language is not English. With tools such as Wakelet, ELL students can write in their native language and teachers can translate on their own. Instead, she includes prompts such as, “If you threw a dinner party, which character in this book would you invite?”

Schools 246

Schools Languages Language Reading 246

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

Johnny’s discussion partner David moved to the U.S. two years ago and has been developing his English language skills over time, but is repeating the course after struggling through it last year—and his confidence is shattered. We had a good discussion that day, but what happened during that class period isn’t always how it goes.

Writing 168

Writing Assignments English Essay 168