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Some might worry that the introduction of AI tools in the English classroom will simply lead to more cheating and even worse literacy rates, leaving students unprepared for college and careers that demand strong writing and communication skills.
While there are scary aspects of students using AI in school, there are many more benefits, tipping the scale toward learning to use AI appropriately rather than banning it.
The following three use cases are designed to improve students’ literacy skills through the use of AI, which can be helpful for English teachers as well as in other content areas where literacy is a focus.
Thought partner for ideas
Most people still use ChatGPT and other AI tools like they would use Google. However, these tools are much more robust in that they can fill specific roles teachers and peers have traditionally played in classrooms. Much of a student’s schooling is spent learning ways to formulate and polish ideas, but AI can offer a researched and responsive thought partner for students as they consider complex ideas. Rather than having AI write an essay, the tools can offer support in a more complex fashion than just searching the internet. This means that we can create far more rigorous assignments without a ton more lesson planning and delivery.
For example, students might be tasked with writing an essay based on a scientific argument they learned about in class. Using AI, they can generate several justifications and rebuttals to support their claims. AI can provide considerations for the debate that students can then use to write their rationale to support one side of an argument or another. Perplexity, for example, will provide students with links to the available resources, which students will have to determine as credible or not–another very important skill when using the internet for information.
Editing and structural support
As with many skills, using models can be helpful to see what excellence looks like to be able to replicate certain aspects of the model and alter others. The same can be said for students having access to an editor while they shape ideas. We all love when students arrive at a clever notion or personal breakthrough, but even more powerful than that is when they are able to articulate their ideas to others and engage in deep reflection. AI can be used as a tool in the classroom to support students by giving them feedback and guidance on how well they’re communicating what they are learning.
This approach requires coaching from educators on how to help students leverage a tool rather than simply request an output. Students can take what they’re writing and ask AI tools to critique it for clarity and consistency in both language and structure. To some, this may sound like a version of “cheating,” but we would compare it to the use of a calculator in a mathematics classroom. To ignore AI as a tool of the future only hinders students by encouraging them to use AI in undesirable ways, missing out on the opportunity to develop AI-aligned skills that can be used in both academics and professional settings.
Voice to text and more
One of the most significant ways AI-powered tools support literacy is to lower the barrier between a student’s thoughts and their ability to express themselves. For many of our most struggling and diverse learners, the challenge of expression is not a lack of thoughtful ideas but the difficulty in putting those ideas into words. Voice-to-text tools powered by AI can create new entry points for reading and writing by allowing students to speak their ideas aloud and see them transformed into text that can then be molded and shaped more easily. This capability frees students to focus on developing their thinking without being hampered by spelling, handwriting, or keyboarding skills.
Transcription supported by AI is just the beginning; tools now extend beyond simple dictation features. This means that students can have an active thought partner who provides vocabulary suggestions, pronunciation guidance, and real-time feedback. For example, a student working on a science project might dictate the experimental design and procedure and use AI for help refining technical terms, highlighting words that could be clarified for an audience, or even suggesting synonyms that better match the intended tone. These tools amplify the student’s voice and make them more clear to their intended audience.
AI tools are especially powerful for diverse learners. English language learners can hear back their spoken words pronounced clearly, practice fluency, and receive feedback on their accuracy with a clear and consistent personalized AI tool. Students with learning differences, such as those with dyslexia, can leverage dictation as a way to capture and convey ideas without the anxiety of spelling and writing obstacles. This allows students to focus on concepts, themes, and ideas in one setting and then focusing on strengthening other literacy skills in another. This helps students experience creative expression without boundaries that too often prevent them from doing either task well–thinking or communication.
Conclusion
There are clearly questions raised about where to draw lines around when and how students should use AI tools; however, the reality is that the tools are here and students are using them. As educators, we have to act fast to intervene and coach students on effective and acceptable uses of AI that enhance learning, and we must seize the moment. The first step, though, is to provide teachers with time to experiment and engage with AI on their own so that they can identify the ways in which these technologies can best support learning in their classroom.
Dr. T.J. Vari, MaiaLearning & Thomas O’Brien, Winward Academy
Dr. T.J. Vari is the Senior Director of Product Strategy at MaiaLearning, with a focus on postsecondary planning for students worldwide. Dr. Vari is a former deputy superintendent, middle school assistant principal and principal, and high school English teacher. He’s the cofounder of TheSchoolHouse302, a leadership development firm, and the coauthor of seven books on educational leadership, which are the basis for his speaking engagements, coaching, and leadership development institutes.
Thomas O’Brien is the Vice President of Success & Engagement at Winward Academy, where he supports hundreds of schools, districts, and after-school programs across the country in achieving their college and career readiness goals. Prior to joining Winward Academy, Mr. O’Brien served as a nationally recognized high school principal and award-winning math teacher, leading innovative efforts to improve student achievement and access. He writes a blog about math instruction, education technology, and school leadership. His forthcoming book will be released this summer.
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