In this conversation, the spotlight shifts from teacher admin to the holy grail of literacy instruction: helping students become better, more confident writers without driving teachers to exhaustion.
Dr. Fiona Aubrey-Smith shares the ways in which she’s observed classroom technology being leveraged to help students improve their own writing, countering the narrative we sometimes see about classroom technology impeding students’ ability to write.
Here’s how it can work.
AI as a Writing Tutor, Not a Ghostwriter
One of the biggest hurdles in student writing isn’t a lack of ideas—it’s the friction between thought and paper. When students hit a wall, they usually raise their hand and wait a while for the teacher to reach their desk. This is where AI can help:
- Instant "0-to-1" Brainstorming & Outlining: Instead of staring at a blinking cursor for half a class period, students can use AI as an ideation partner. They can bounce ideas off of Gemini, and ask it to help provide some fresh angles, or ask for it to prompt their own thinking. It opens the door to new ideas.
- Real-Time Formative Feedback: Before submitting a draft to the teacher, students run their paragraphs through custom AI prompts. The AI can be instructed to act like a writing coach—asking questions like: "Is your claim in paragraph 2 supported by evidence?" or "How could you vary your sentence length here to make it more engaging?" AI can provide immediate, formative feedback during the drafting process, catching structural issues while the student is still in the creative flow.
- Low-Stakes Revision & Vocabulary Expansion: Struggling or multilingual writers can ask AI for alternative phrasing or transition options. It provides a safe, judgement-free sandbox for students to experiment with language before presenting their work to peers or the teacher.
The greatest fear around AI in writing is cheating. However, when scaffolded correctly, AI doesn't do the work for the student; it makes the student work harder. By training students to ask AI for critique, counterarguments, and stylistic suggestions, the writing process becomes an active conversation rather than a passive chore.
Dr. Fiona Aubrey-Smith builds on this example to challenge some of the more binary debate we’re seeing around screens in the classroom: "It's low demand, low-effort use of screens that is causing concern. Actually, low effort use of anything is not something we want in the classroom. By embedding clear pedagogical intent, and a focus on inclusive practice for every learner... digital tools meaningfully enhance learning and teaching. The precision has been the key ingredient of impact.”
Tune in for more insights from Dr. Fiona-Aubrey Smith
