Since our founding in 2009, Grammarly has helped students improve their communication skills and produce original, mistake-free content. That’s why Arizona State, the University of Pennsylvania, Clemson University, and more than 3,000 other academic institutions trust Grammarly to help students and faculty become more capable communicators. 

In the last few years, AI advances have changed communication in educational and professional spaces. Grammarly has always leveraged AI throughout our product to empower students to grow the communication skills they need in school and at work. However, the rise in AI-based tools over the last 18 months has caused understandable concerns over AI plagiarism and the changing academic integrity landscape.  

There may be a temptation to draw a straight line from using AI-powered writing tools to academic integrity violations. Still, this reaction oversimplifies how these tools can—and will—be used in academic and professional settings. And this oversimplification does a disservice to both schools and students. Functionality and context are critical when using AI-powered tools in educational settings, defining academic integrity, and investigating potential misuse. 

How students can use Grammarly as an AI-powered writing partner

Grammarly’s writing support features use a combination of machine learning, natural language processing, and training from human linguists to deliver the best writing suggestions on the market. These suggestions help students improve spelling, grammatical correctness, clarity, concision, and tone. They do not change the substance of the writing. Instead, they become a critical educational tool that helps students improve their writing. Alan Campbell, a graduate student in North Carolina, shares: “This is the best writing tool I have ever used. I found it back in 2014 during undergrad, and it has improved my writing over time substantially, along with saving my GPA ever since.”

Grammarly also offers optional generative AI features, introduced in 2023. These features are available for students on free and Premium licenses to support all communication phases, from brainstorming to real-time feedback to revision to comprehension. They can generate content and, if not used responsibly, can meaningfully change writing. Such use is more likely to fall into an academic integrity gray area, making it all the more important for institutions and faculty to help students navigate how and when it’s appropriate to use these features.

Grammarly encourages the responsible use of generative AI, and we’ve invested in building features accordingly. When students prompt Grammarly to compose text, AI guidelines redirect them to academic integrity policies and suggest using generative AI to help them brainstorm. We also make it easy for students to cite their use of generative AI through one-click “Acknowledge Grammarly Gen AI use” prompts. Finally, we offer an AI for Students course, which guides students under any license to use generative AI responsibly, whether it be Grammarly or another tool.  

Even with these resources, students are ultimately looking to schools to communicate when using generative AI features is appropriate and when it’s not. Institutions with Grammarly for Education licenses can control whether generative AI features are turned on or off. We partner with our Grammarly for Education customers to determine the best approach for specific schools and departments.

How to define academic integrity in the age of AI

With or without AI-based tools, students will always need faculty support to help develop the writing, critical thinking, rhetorical, and evaluative skills required to become effective communicators. Institutions will benefit from developing a clear and sophisticated definition of academic integrity to honor the student-faculty dynamic in the age of AI. 

This definition must leave room for nuance: What are the appropriate ways AI can support student writing? When should generative AI be used to drive efficiency for faculty and students? When is it inappropriate? 

Context also matters when assessing whether or not a student has used AI appropriately. Investigating when and how AI may have been used on a particular assignment is complicated. There is no single source of truth for determining whether a student has violated policies. 

While AI plagiarism checkers may play a role here, they are intended to be used as a flag that prompts further investigation. They can produce false positives on any written text. As such, they should be considered a single data point in a disciplinary process that assumes innocence and gathers evidence from multiple sources. Approaching the use of AI and academic integrity in this way fosters a transparent and trustworthy dialogue between faculty and students. 

How AI writing assistants prepare students for work

Schools want to prepare students for future careers, and students want to become fluent in the tools they will use for work. AI-powered products will soon be a norm in the workplace. Over 70,000 teams, including a third of Fortune 500 companies, trust Grammarly to help move work forward. Now is the time for colleges to embrace these tools and teach students to use them appropriately. 

And many of Grammarly’s partner schools are already taking this step: Dr. Sarah Moore, associate professor of instruction and director of Business Communication Program and Center at the University of Texas at Dallas, has made Grammarly’s generative AI features available to the entire business school: “To me, it boiled down to creating equity for our students so they can be equally prepared for the workforce.” 

Matthew Nimeth, director of instructional technology at Colorado Christian University, also recognizes the value of Grammarly in preparing students for work: “These are tools that are just accepted in the workplace. Now more than ever, students need to know how to use Grammarly as they emerge with their college degrees.” 

Thanks to Grammarly, students become familiar with AI-powered writing assistance in the workplace and ultimately prepare themselves for success at work. And, 100% of students using Grammarly report that it helped them secure an internship or first job. Grammarly is committed to empowering students to use AI responsibly and in compliance with their school’s academic integrity policies. We are partners in equipping them with the skills and knowledge they need to do their best work at school and beyond. 

The post Rethinking Academic Integrity Policies in the AI Era appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

Work and school have become increasingly global, remote, and asynchronous, and technology trying to boost productivity in this environment has resulted in an overload of apps, docs, and messages—leading to siloed or missed information, constant context switching, and compromised work quality for teams.

A 2022 Harvard Business Review study found that up to five weeks, or 9% of professionals’ time at work annually, is lost to workers reorienting themselves after toggling between apps. It’s likely just as high, if not higher, for students, who spend much of their time working on long-form writing assignments that require them to context switch between different websites, databases, and writing surfaces.

For example, sending a simple meeting follow-up email involves a multi-app process: composing the email, toggling to other tabs and apps to link in the correct document, linking to schedule a follow-up meeting, navigating to a project management tool to create the related project task, adding the link to the email, and finally hitting send.

Professionals and students are frustrated by the disruption in focus and time wasted by context switching. App actions fix that.

How do app actions work?

App actions centralize the workflows of your faculty, staff, and students by bringing the functionality of their essential apps directly into Grammarly. Now they can get their most important work done faster without distractions from context switching as they perform the many small but important tasks on their to-do lists.

From wherever they are writing, users can open up Grammarly and select the app action they need to take the next step in their workflow. Whether it’s “Find a file in Google Drive” or “Find or add an image from Unsplash,” app actions bring the functionality of their essential tools directly into Grammarly.

Grammarly’s first app actions are available on Grammarly for Chrome and Grammarly for Windows and Mac. Giphy and Unsplash app actions are available for all users. For Grammarly Premium, Teams, and Grammarly for Education users, Grammarly also offers Asana, Jira, monday.com, Wrike, Smartsheet, Google Drive, Confluence, Microsoft 365, Calendly, and HubSpot integrations.

To enable your Grammarly for Education institution to start using app actions, admins can turn this new feature on in their admin panel. Each of the following apps has its own listing in the admin panel and can be turned on individually for institutions.

Seamless file sharing

Users can quickly access the file or page they need without the swirl of switching tabs and searching by using app actions for Google Drive, Microsoft 365, and Confluence to search for and link to organization files and pages.

Quickly insert images from wherever you’re working

Users can bring their writing to life by using Giphy and Unsplash app actions to search and insert GIFs and high-quality images from the apps’ extensive content libraries.

Work management at your fingertips

Administrative staff and faculty can manage their work faster by using app actions for Asana, Jira, Wrike, monday.com, or Smartsheet to create new project management tasks or search and link to existing ones from wherever they use Grammarly.

Scheduling and CRM management with ease

Professionals working in admissions and fundraising departments can quickly create HubSpot contacts or search for and link to existing ones with the HubSpot app action. Last but not least, they can easily share their availability via Calendly from wherever they use Grammarly.

Connecting workplace tools for increased productivity

Grammarly works where faculty, staff, and students work—across more than 500,000 applications and websites—and now it brings the functionality of crucial workplace apps to them.

Grammarly customer Stacey Roshan, Ed Tech Consultant at Databricks, says, “Grammarly’s app actions help me stay in the zone and churn out good work by putting everything I need at my fingertips so I can stay in the flow and not get lost in other tabs. I can stay on the page where I’m writing while instantly locating a file from Google Drive, inserting the ideal GIF or image, and more.”

Asana, one of Grammarly’s first app actions partners, recently published a report titled “The State of Collaboration Technology: Research-Backed Insights for Decoding Digital Clutter and Resetting Your Tech Stack,” which concludes that organizations can help teams regain efficiency by “craft[ing] a tech ecosystem that truly amplifies productivity.”

David Shackelford, Head of Product Management, Enterprise at Asana says, ”Teams around the globe are plagued by inefficient collaboration, time-consuming meetings and status updates, and the tedium of tracking down information across disparate tools. With the automation that app actions provide, teams can reduce busywork, collaborate more efficiently, and ultimately drive more impact for their organization.”

Secure as ever

App actions combine third-party capabilities with Grammarly’s 14-plus years of best-in-class AI communication assistance—trusted by over 70,000 professional teams—to make communication at work more fluid, effective, and intuitive than ever.

Grammarly’s enterprise-grade security holds true with app actions. Grammarly for Education admins have full control over which app actions are enabled for their team. Grammarly never retains search terms, inputs, and data, and we enforce the highest and most restrictive content safety settings for our third-party partners. Please review our related support article for more information on app actions data sharing.

The post Stay Focused By Connecting Your Institution’s Essential Apps With Grammarly appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

The post Making Next Now: How Rasmussen University is Addressing Generative AI to Advance Learning and Teaching appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

In late August, Grammarly launched a series of generative AI features intended to support students in their responsible and effective use of AI while writing. When enabled by Grammarly for Education institutional admins, these features support students throughout the writing process, from initial assignment comprehension to brainstorming to real-time feedback to revision before submission. But what does this AI-assisted writing look like in practice? How can students ensure that they use generative capabilities to write more efficiently while also leveling up their critical and creative thinking?    

This blog post will walk through a single writing assignment on disruptive innovation from the perspective of an undergraduate business major. Each of the videos below is part of the same assignment, split into specific phases of writing that show how students can use Grammarly’s generative writing assistance to create the best possible submission while adhering to course and institution guidelines.

Step 1: Brainstorming a topic

The hardest part of a writing assignment can be getting started. The paralysis that ensues when grappling with what topic to write about, what to research, and how to overcome the fear of the blank page is very real for students and professionals alike. Because Grammarly’s AI assistance is available everywhere a student writes (Google Docs, Microsoft Word, the Grammarly App, and more), students can easily turn to Grammarly’s gen AI for help getting started. In the clip below, the student uses Grammarly to help brainstorm potential topics based on the professor’s assignment parameters on disruptive innovation. Grammarly returns several options that help the student narrow their topic and begin taking notes that will build confidence and momentum in their research process. 

Step 2: Building a research plan and outline

Once students have narrowed their topic, researching is the next step. Grammarly helps students understand what research is needed to write a persuasive, informed essay on the selected topic. In the below clip, the student uses Grammarly’s pre-selected prompt, “Give me a research plan” to start building their own outline, then asks Grammarly to “Draft an outline” based on the research plan. The result is that the student is well positioned to research their topic more efficiently than they otherwise would have and can go into their research and drafting phase confidently. 

Step 3: Developing a strong thesis statement

Crafting a solid thesis statement to ground a piece of writing is challenging, particularly in an era in which academic writing must showcase personal conviction, experience, and creativity. Grammarly’s research plan and outline help students draft their thesis statements more quickly and can then help students evaluate the strength of their thesis statements using pre-populated prompts. In this clip, the student drafts a thesis on how Uber and Lyft disrupted the taxi industry, then asks Grammarly to “Give me ideas for improvement.” This assistive writing support ensures that the student remains in control of their writing while benefitting from real-time, in-line feedback to level up their writing and ideas. 

Step 4: Drafting

Once students have a strong research plan, thesis statement, and outline, they are better positioned to draft an effective essay. In the generative AI era, it can be tempting to outsource that drafting to generative tools, even when professors have explicitly prohibited students from doing so. Grammarly’s generative AI puts up guardrails to prevent students from using it to compose text. In the video below, the student asks Grammarly to write an essay based on his created outline. However, he sees an AI Guideline reminder that redirects him to brainstorming prompts. The intention is to keep students focused on using generative AI to enhance the original thinking in their writing rather than outsource it. 

Step 5: Real-time revision and feedback

After students have written their first draft, Grammarly’s revision capabilities help them improve their clarity, delivery, and grammar. With new generative capabilities, Grammarly also acts as a feedback partner to students, giving them constructive, actionable feedback on the quality of their ideas and identifying any gaps in specific parts of their paper. 

Step 6: Solidifying the unique point of view 

Oftentimes, students may be tempted to submit their assignments as soon as they finish without spending time refining their writing and strengthening their main argument. With Grammarly’s feedback prompts, students can highlight text and ask Grammarly to “suggest counterarguments” that may expose gaps in thinking or help students be more convicted in their main point. The last video below shows a student using Grammarly to zoom out from the details and weigh the strength of their concluding argument. This is a practical, efficient tactic that solidifies student understanding of their topic and argument and helps them extend the value of the assignment to class discussion after submission. 

Traditional writing assignments are evolving. Assignments that only assess basic understanding of a topic and don’t require students to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create increasingly lack instructional value. However, generative AI, when used appropriately as a writing assistant and thought partner, can be a valuable tool to push students’ thinking and help struggling writers articulate their ideas more easily. 

To learn more about how Grammarly for Education can support your students, contact our sales team. 

The post Putting Grammarly’s Generative AI Capability Into Action appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

Among the handful of challenges that higher ed institutions face today is declining faith. Many Americans see college education as a “questionable investment,” and a demographic “enrollment cliff” is fast approaching. 

While these findings are undoubtedly concerning, higher ed institutions have opportunities to prove their value. In particular, institutions need to show students how they will prepare them for an ever-changing professional environment and offer a clear path to career success. 

So how exactly are institutions doing that? To find out, Grammarly for Education surveyed higher ed faculty and administrators across the country. Our findings exposed troubling gaps in higher ed’s career-readiness initiatives.

Higher ed professionals gave themselves top marks for career prep, our survey found. However, similar industry studies showed that employers and recent graduates felt higher ed did a poor job of preparing students for professional success. The most alarming gap in higher ed’s career-prep efforts was found in effective communication skills — the number-one competency employers seek in recent graduates.

Our survey delved into the nuances of higher ed professionals’ attitudes toward their institution’s career-prep programs, as well as where they saw opportunities to improve.

How realistic is higher ed’s self-assessment? 

Both faculty and administrators rated their institutions’ career-prep offerings highly, but administrators had a particularly rosy view. Here’s what Grammarly found after surveying the administrators: 

• 98% said their institutions’ career-prep initiatives did an effective job.
• 95% said their career-prep initiatives were effective regardless of students’ area of study.
• 91% said their career-prep initiatives were effective regardless of students’ backgrounds (e.g., learning abilities, native language).

Industry research highlighting employer and alumni perspectives paints a much darker picture, paving the way for viral headlines such as “Colleges Get F for Career Prep.” Here’s what industry studies have found:

• Only 11% of business leaders said they believed college graduates were well prepared for the workforce, according to a Gallup poll.
• Only 41% of recent graduates believed their college degree signaled they had the skills employers need, a Cengage Group survey showed. 

How do we make sense of the disconnect between the career prep higher ed provides and what students and employers expect? Mary Rose Craycraft, Grammarly’s head of education customer success, highlighted two factors:

• Institutions lack a clear definition of career readiness: “Many schools are not aligned on what the actual end goal of their career-preparation programs is,” Craycraft said. “To gain that kind of alignment, institutions need to commit to defining career-readiness outcomes as a long-term goal.” 
• On their own, traditional career-prep efforts won’t suffice: “The reality is that the more traditional methods of career support that many institutions rely on are no longer effectively meeting the needs of the modern student,” she added.

To close career-prep gaps, start with communication skills

Preparing students for life beyond the classroom is no small task. If there’s one area of skill development to prioritize, it’s communication.

Almost 96% of employers said strong communication was the most important competency they looked for in college graduates. However, only 47% found college graduates to be proficient at communication.

Even higher ed professionals recognize that their efforts to strengthen students’ communication skills have come up short. In our study, more than six out of ten respondents acknowledged that their students struggled with these issues:

• Using correct grammar. 
• Avoiding text-speak or slang in written communications.
• Adopting a professional tone.
• Demonstrating confidence in their writing.

The traditional services that institutions offer to support communication skills — writing centers, career centers, and more — aren’t enough to meet students’ needs. As Craycraft explained, “Institutions make significant investments in their professors, their writing centers, tutoring programs, and a handful of other measures to improve students’ communication. But even taken together, these traditional methods of student support can’t close the gaps that exist today. Why not? A big part of it is that the writing center and tutors can’t be there to help all students all the time, whenever and wherever they write.”

So what steps can higher ed take to improve students’ communication skills?

• Embrace technology: Only 40% of the higher ed officials Grammarly surveyed reported that their institutions provided digital tools to help strengthen students’ writing. Higher ed is missing a significant opportunity to close the communication gap with digital tools that provide contextual writing suggestions to students in real time and help them learn as they work, which traditional methods of student support simply can’t do.
• Meet students where they are with personalized, always-on support: To have the greatest impact, institutions need to find ways to offer students writing support whenever and wherever they need it — whether that’s in the writing center at 4 p.m. or in their dorm room at midnight. Digital tools can provide students with around-the-clock support, helping them learn and improve while they’re writing. No professor, tutor, or writing center can offer that level of timely, individualized support.
• Help students build up their writing confidence to excel academically and professionally: Students who are more confident in their communication skills will be more likely to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Of the students using Grammarly, 96% said using the tool helped them become better writers, 97% said it helped them achieve their academic goals, and 94% said it increased their confidence when communicating with others.

The path forward for career prep

Our report reveals career-readiness gaps that higher ed administrators can’t afford to ignore, even (or especially) if they have confidence in their institutions’ career-prep initiatives. The report also shows the way forward. Institutions can make meaningful progress by providing personalized support to address the most important skill gap: communication. 

This individualized support will not only prepare students for their careers but also improve institutions’ student engagement and ensure student success — both crucial in a time of declining enrollment. 

To learn more about the state of higher education’s career-prep initiatives, download our full report or register for our upcoming webinar to explore what your institution can do to better support today’s students.

The post New Grammarly Survey Exposes Key Gaps in Higher Ed’s Career-Prep Efforts appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

We’re at the end of August, and most school districts, colleges, and universities have already begun a new academic year. For higher education in particular, the start of the 2023–24 school year feels different. In the midst of myriad challenges for the sector, including declining enrollment, admissions policy overhauls, and declining public perception, institutions enter the academic year grappling with what one of the most rapid technological advancements in decades means for learning: generative AI.

Ever since the technology was introduced to the mass market in November 2022, academic institutions have been scrambling to know how to approach generative AI in the classroom. Some institutions initially took a conservative approach, choosing to ban tools like ChatGPT outright. Others took more open stances, choosing to open up access to generative tools for learning and provide as much guidance on their effective use as possible. However, what is abundantly clear across both K–12 and higher education is that institutions are still struggling to adopt consistent policies that not only outline acceptable use of this transformative technology but also provide tangible, quality implementation guidance to faculty, staff, and students. 

It’s easy to understand why: Generative capabilities, particularly features that compose long-form text, fundamentally disrupt decades of pedagogical reliance on writing as a form of assessing student understanding and depth of knowledge. For some courses and departments, this sea change presents a clear threat to the way they have traditionally operated. The change management required to help faculty adapt to new ways of assessment is not an easy task that happens overnight. Furthermore, the mere presence of widely available technology that can compose text without clear and proper citations does open the floodgates to potential plagiarism, if used ineffectively by students. However, particularly for certain use cases, generative AI offered immediate benefits that continue to outweigh the potential challenges, such as providing all students with an on-demand thought partner for their own ideas and time-saving assistive features that can enhance the quality and creativity of finished projects. Taken together, the spectrum of questions and opportunities that generative AI introduced in very short order to the education sector in 2022–23 made it immensely challenging for institutions to quickly institute blanket policies that would give faculty and students clear guidance on why and how to use these tools effectively on a day-to-day basis. 

This back-to-school season offers a golden opportunity for institutions to make more proactive decisions about appropriate generative AI use for both staff and students. The longer institutions wait to institute practical, nuanced guidance, the more risk they run of this technology being used ineffectively by students, or the technology being banned by individual professors who see it only as a threat instead of as an opportunity. Along with effective use policies, institutions need to be proactive and thoughtful about the tools they procure for students and what they allow/do not allow students to use on their own. Institutions must find the right balance between bans and zero oversight. With the right considerations and tech stack cultivation, institutions can encourage student generative AI use in ways that optimize learning and prepare them for the AI-connected workforce. 

At Grammarly, we’re adding generative capabilities that keep learning and equitable access at the center. While generative technologies are new to the mass market, the technology underpinning them is not. Since our founding in 2009 as a tool meant for students, particularly those for whom English was not their native language, to improve their written communication, we’ve placed the trust and safety of our users and the responsible use of our tool at the forefront of everything we do. Today, that extends to how we are evolving Grammarly’s AI-enabled communication assistance to augment rather than replace student creative and critical thinking. 

As of August 29, we’ve launched the following features that are now available to all K–12 and higher ed institutions who have purchased Grammarly for Education for their faculty and students: 

1  Institutional and group-level opt-in for gen AI features

While we believe that exposure to responsible, effective generative AI features is crucial to prepare students for the future of work, we recognize that access to these features should remain in the control of institutions. Grammarly’s generative AI features can always be turned on or off by institutional admins, and we’ve added the ability for admins to enable generative capabilities for specific user groups in the Grammarly admin panel.

2  Academic prompts

Fear of the blank page is a common feeling for any writer. Particularly for students, just getting started on a longer piece of writing can be the hardest part. Grammarly now offers student-focused prompts to help students brainstorm more quickly and get into the groove of productive writing. When opening GrammarlyGO’s sidebar in any writing surface, students will see ready-made prompts such as, “Brainstorm topics for my assignment” and, “Give me a research plan” that give them direction and help them progress through the writing process. Students can also use Grammarly’s academic prompts during the editing phase, choosing from a series of prompts that will help them improve their phrasing, tone, and brevity. All faculty and students who are on a Grammarly for Education plan provided by their institution will get 1,000 generative AI prompts per month, compared to 100 for the free individual version. 

3  AI guideline reminders

In the spirit of developing generative capabilities that support and enhance, rather than replace learning, Grammarly has instituted AI guideline reminders anytime a student prompts Grammarly to compose a significant amount of text for them. For example, if a student prompts Grammarly to “write me an introductory paragraph” for a given assignment, Grammarly will respond with a reminder to check their specific course guidelines and redirect them to brainstorming prompts geared toward helping them get started on their intro. 

4  Output explanations

When students prompt Grammarly to change their own writing using the academic prompts referenced above, Grammarly will include explanations of what changed and why, helping students learn how to improve their writing and align their style to their intended tone and voice. 

5  Citation support and transparent AI use

Grammarly has helped students accurately cite their research for years. When generative AI first launched, one of the biggest issues was the lack of transparency for when and how students were using it in their writing, if at all. Now, students can easily acknowledge when and how they’ve used Grammarly’s generative AI assistance in their writing by clicking the button, “Acknowledge Grammarly gen AI use.” Doing so will prompt Grammarly to generate text citing how Grammarly’s AI was used in that full piece of writing, making it easier for students to be transparent with their instructors in their gen AI use. And, later this fall, students will be able to grab auto-citations from both Grammarly and ChatGPT whenever they use either LLM in their writing. 

The generative AI era is here. If we collectively want future graduates to be well prepared for that era, institutions must embrace gen AI technology in responsible, effective ways that enhance critical and creative thinking. The features we are launching above are merely a starting point for how Grammarly is seeking to build a comprehensive, trustworthy, and equitable solution that all students and faculty can use to communicate more effectively in any context. We would love for your institution to join us on our journey to make generative AI deliver on its potential to transform learning in positive ways.

Reach out to our team to find out how Grammarly for Education can help your institution with its AI implementation, and check out our recent webinar to learn more about our new generative AI features.

The post Back to School in the Generative AI Era appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

This piece originally appeared on EdSurge on July 14, 2023, and is authored by Abbie Misha.

As educators, we know the potential that artificial intelligence (AI) has for our profession. Generative AI, a subset of AI that can generate new and original content, serves as a technology that amplifies our capabilities as educators and learners. Its ability to swiftly transform and transfer information surpasses previous boundaries, albeit with some initial apprehension from educators. Yet by employing generative AI, educators can explore aspects of education that were once challenging or inaccessible, accelerating the pace of learning and enabling students to gain confidence in uncharted territories.

As generative AI gains traction in the private sector, its impact on institutions is poised to be transformative. By automating tasks that humans may not excel at, generative AI empowers individuals to focus on their strengths, such as creativity, empathy and engagement. This shift in focus fosters adaptability and flexible thinking, employee skills that are crucial for organizations to thrive in today’s dynamic business environment.

For educational institutions, embracing generative AI not only prepares students for a future where it will play a central role in their workplace but also opens doors for highly adaptable employees who can navigate uncharted territories with confidence. Institutions must seize this opportunity by collaborating with AI experts, starting with small-scale implementation and integrating generative AI where it can have the most significant impact. For higher ed, this means fostering critical thinking and soft-skills development in students to ensure that they are prepared for the unknown challenges of tomorrow. Recently, EdSurge had the opportunity to speak with Jenny Maxwell, head of Grammarly for Education, about how generative AI is revolutionizing the world of education.

EdSurge: What is generative AI in the context of educational experiences?

Maxwell: Generative AI is really a technology that allows us to augment our capabilities as human beings. Most educators are in the space because they love teaching and helping, and they love the process of transferring information. Generative AI is excelling in this transfer process, allowing it to happen at a rate that none of us has ever seen. And because of that, educators may come into these conversations with a lot of trepidation and fascination.

Imagine, as an educator, you have gone from point A to point B by riding a beautiful cruiser bike through the French countryside, and you’re telling people how great it is to ride this bike. Generative AI is an electric bike. You’re still going to be able to see the French countryside. You still have to understand how to ride a bike. There are still components of balance and shifting. But generative AI allows you to experience pieces of the French countryside that you might not have been able to enjoy because you were pedaling up a hill or you didn’t have the cardiovascular capacity to enjoy the distance.

Generative AI in the context of education means that we’re pushing things forward. I think the reason that we’re disrupting things is because we’re trying to make things better. We’re trying to go faster. We’re trying to improve the human experience. And in doing so, we’re unlocking more uniquely human capabilities.

We see that there’s already been adoption of generative AI in the private sector. What are your thoughts on how generative AI will reshape how organizations work?

Generative AI truncates some things that humans are not necessarily good at so that we can spend more time where we excel: being highly creative, highly empathetic and highly engaged with the experience around us. Generative AI is reshaping these organizations to have highly adaptable employees with flexible thinking. We’re seeing that companies that adapt are also those that survive; there is this adaptability quotient. What will we do as a society to be better prepared to handle the next new thing?

What does this mean for today’s students?

I hope it gives students the motivation to unlock opportunities for the rest of their lives. Education isn’t just the means to a job; the educational experience is really about developing flexibility and metacognition. The fact that you become these powerful thinkers and get creative and build a network of colleagues—both students and faculty—can inspire you to come up with really great ideas that you can leverage post-university. That’s exciting!

Institutions need to prepare students for a new world of work where generative AI will play a central role. How might they approach this?

First, institutions need to work with a partner that can ensure security parameters are in place. For Grammarly, this is foundational. Then, I suggest institutions just start; this big journey starts with a single step. Pick your passionate people who are excited about this change and motivated by innovation, and get them to help reach across various departments to bring colleagues along the way. Change is hard. Find your catalysts on campus and look to integrate generative AI in the places where it will have the most significant impact.

There is no shortage of conversations happening right now in educational institutions. There is this fear that institutions might have analysis paralysis around generative AI. But I’m very optimistic that universities are rallying around this, quickly deploying these tools and adjusting policies to meet students where they are now.

Generative AI is not perfect. Grammarly helps guide students toward using this technology responsibly to enhance their education. We want students to be prepared for an evolving workforce. We want them to be proficient in things that haven’t been created yet, and that comes down to soft skills. How do we create highly empathetic adults who are highly adaptable? We may not be able to train them for the technology that doesn’t exist yet, but we can train them to be flexible and willing to try and even fail.

What do you think are the biggest benefits and challenges to incorporating generative AI into the educational experience?

One immediate benefit for students is comprehending topics quickly and finding a place to start. This can accelerate the rate at which students get going on an assignment and also accelerate the information transfer from educator to student. I think back to my analogy of the electric bike. Students have the ability to use generative AI as a tool that lets them explore areas about which they otherwise would lack confidence. There is an untapped potential to get people passionate about new territories.

A challenge of generative AI is that we don’t know exactly what we don’t know about it. Clearly, we need to be conscious of integrity and make sure we don’t trust everything that is generated. We need guardrails for the electric bike. But I think we will see faculty and students come together on this journey. I think faculty will be seen more as the coaches of the course instead of the holders of knowledge. I think that shift is overdue and will be welcomed by both students and institutions.

Every faculty member I have met who is truly passionate about what they do tells me they have experienced these transformative moments in their careers when they see this journey in their students. This tool will help bridge the perceived power dynamic between who has all the information and who doesn’t.

Grammarly is committed to the responsible innovation and development of AI that encourages students to apply academic integrity that facilitates learning and education. The following resources explore Grammarly’s approach to generative AI in education and how institutions can navigate this new technology.

•  A Framework for Responsible AI in Education Grammarly co-founder Max Lytvyn outlines five key pillars to help guide the effective incorporation of generative AI in education.
•  Fireside Chat with Wharton CIO Dan Alig: Generative AI In Education In this fireside chat, Dan Alig, CIO at The Wharton School, shares his perspective on how generative AI can maximize institution-wide potential when implemented responsibly.
•  Fireside Chat with Boston College Associate Dean, Brian K. Smith: Generative AI in Education In the second installment of our Generative AI in Education fireside chat series, learning technology expert Brian K. Smith, Associate Dean at Boston College, shares his perspective on how generative AI can best be integrated into the student learning experience.

The post Embracing the Transformative Influence of Generative AI appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

As is always the case with paradigm-shifting technologies, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has raised both opportunities and challenges for many industries, including education. Questions have been raised around tools that have the ability to cogently create text: Does this open the floodgates for cheating, signaling the end of independently completed academic assignments? How should educators respond to this?

Just as what happened with the advent of search, the dust will settle and before long, concerns around the future of learning as it relates to this new technology will no longer seem relevant. The real challenge for educators and administrators is how to effectively incorporate these capabilities into the educational system to better prepare students for life after graduation. Although each institution’s approach will vary, we believe these key pillars can help guide the effective incorporation of generative AI in education:

1 Embrace and encourage the use of generative AI. Knowing how to leverage generative AI is going to be an essential skill for graduates in the very near future. While exceptions can and should be made for cases where its use can detract from the purpose of the assignment, infusing generative AI tools into courses and curricula can enhance learning outcomes and career readiness.

2 Prepare students to succeed in the evolving workplace. Generative AI is already being embedded into many of the tools professionals regularly use across virtually every industry. But making the most of this transformative technology requires learning how to leverage it in a way that maximizes efficiencies and augments expertise, instead of carelessly using it to cut corners.

3 Level the playing field for your students by incorporating it into the teaching process. Generative AI provides real-time, 1:1 support to students with differing needs due to, for example, a different background (e.g., ESL or different cultures) or different learning styles and abilities. And by providing this opportunity for your entire institution, you create equity that more expensive mentorship and tutoring cannot.

4 Lean into non-written assessment formats. For most areas of study, papers are not the only effective way to prepare students for their future. Consider how real life happens—working in teams, creating projects, defending ideas verbally—and incorporate new, practical, and more engaging ways to assess comprehension and mastery.

5 Give students any technological advantage you can and teach them to use it responsibly and effectively. Academic integrity is a human issue, not a technological one. Much like with the internet and plagiarism, educators need to create guardrails for students (such as citation requirements) and equip them with tools to help them check their compliance. After that, it’s up to students to ensure they are following their institution’s policy and working with ethical intent.

Generative AI is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean AI holds the reins to human development. Humans do. And we can harness its potential responsibly as a society.

For our part, Grammarly is committed to the responsible innovation and development of AI that puts our users first and encourages students to apply academic integrity that facilitates learning and education. Rather than making it easy to skip the critical thinking and comprehension component of writing, our products are designed to nudge students toward using technology in ways that enhance their education.

We never sell user data. We filter generative AI and natural language suggestions with the aim of preventing hate speech and other forms of dehumanization. Our team of analytical linguists is central to our product design and development. They apply peer-reviewed research and human expertise to our machine learning models to minimize bias. Every new feature undergoes a rigorous risk assessment process, including a hands-on review by our team of human experts.

My co-founders and I have spent more than a decade building a product to help our users write and communicate with confidence. With our generative AI assistance, we will not only help students gain confidence in the final revision stages, but we’ll also be there to assist as soon as they have the smallest idea that they want to put into words. What a time to write—to think, to explore, to learn.

We hope you will try Grammarly’s generative AI yourself and share your thoughts. We’ll be waiting to hear from you at hello@grammarly.com.

The post A Framework for Responsible AI in Education appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

Every higher education institution shapes the student experience by applying a storied history to its own unique traditions. But there’s one area where every institution must depart from tradition to prepare students for what happens after they graduate, and for a central characteristic of the working world: digital transformation. 

Digital transformation is a common buzzword in the business space. It’s making waves in higher education because of its universal impact on the skills students need to have when they enter a professional work environment. To set students up for success in life after college, no matter what their profession or line of work, institutions must prepare students to communicate effectively and perform in a digital environment. 

This is a big undertaking. It’s only by complete immersion and repeated exposure to the means of digital transformation—such as new communication practices, patterns, and platforms—that students can fully gain the experience and competence required to succeed. Institutions must not only prepare students for digital transformation in the workplace but also immerse students in it throughout the educational experience. 

That’s a tall order for most institutions today, when only about 24 percent of CIOs or CTOs say their institution has made digital transformation a priority (a percentage that jumps to 52 percent if the CIO or CTO is a member of the president’s cabinet).  

Institutions face pressure to prepare students for classes, careers, and beyond—a challenge that’s inseparable from digital transformation. Here are three areas where institutions must design their approach to student success around new practices that welcome and celebrate technology.

1  Incorporating student-centered digital learning practices

“Universities and teaching should go through a significant digital transformation to fulfill the demands of today’s generation and the fully digitized world they will be living in,” write researchers Mohammad Akour and Mamdouh Alenezi. 

But to function in a fully digitized world, students need to be exposed to a digitized learning environment and given resources that will help them overcome the digital divide they may encounter outside the institutional ecosystem. Today, that starts with student-centered digital learning practices like those highlighted by EDUCAUSE: 

• Computers, internet access, and cloud-based technologies
• Synchronous communication technologies like audio, video, and text/chat
• Time management and self-regulation
• Instructional content and teachers
• Help desk support
• Community building and networking

For some institutions, it’s a matter of systematically embracing and implementing these digital learning practices and making resources available. For other institutions, it’s a matter of promoting and systematizing the practices already in place that are not used enough by the student population and increasing access to resources.

2  Augmenting in-person learning with AI and advanced technology 

Digital learning technologies like learning management systems have been in use in higher education for decades. But some institutions are now taking digital transformation one step further by exploring AI and advanced technologies. Case studies from the Online Learning Consortium show that these technologies “enable more innovative and engaging teaching methods and learning experiences,” and they do so at scale. 

For example, one instructor used adaptive courseware to increase student success in gateway mathematics courses at the University of Central Florida. Adaptive learning technologies give students activities, assessments, and feedback in a personalized way, allowing institutions to augment learning and assessment for students who have no other instructional support. 

Other institutions use Grammarly for Education to assist students with an AI-powered writing tutor, giving them insights and feedback about important communication concepts like tone and clarity in real time. This kind of personalized support is instantly scalable—it serves any student who chooses to use it—making it easier to augment in-person learning without putting additional strain on overburdened instructors. 

3  Supporting instructors with technology education

Digital teaching and learning is an expertise of its own, which means there will be a period of adjustment for instructors as they adapt to digital transformation within the higher education classroom. Many institutions see a need for additional training, support, and services for instructors and personnel to prepare to serve students in this way. 

Where instructor development is concerned, institutions might consider the following training areas highlighted by EDUCAUSE: 

• Pedagogical and technological skills
• Faculty attitudes and beliefs about digital transformation
• Accessibility for physical and cognitive disabilities 
• Copyrights and intellectual property rights

For some institutions, investments to support instructors with technology education can have the same effect as adding personnel. What’s more, this new training for existing staff members can provide incentives and recognition. Meanwhile, other institutions will see a need for additional instructional designers, technology support specialists, or academic and student support services staff. 

Help students and staff make the most of the digital era

Digital transformation is central to the modern workplace, and that’s why it must become central to the modern higher education experience. If students lack experience with learning, assessment, and feedback from digital sources, they will graduate into a strange new world—one they may not be prepared to face. 

If digital transformation isn’t a top priority at your institution, it’s not too late to make it one. In fact, the digital transformation of higher education is still in its infancy, and that’s why so many institutions are prioritizing student-centered digital learning, AI and advanced technology, and instructor support in their budgets for the coming year. Now is the time to support instructors, staff, and students in making the most of all the opportunities embedded in digital transformation. 

Prepare your students for a world that has embraced digital transformation. Contact our team to learn more about Grammarly for Education.

The post The Pillars of Digital Transformation in Higher Education: 3 Ways to Prepare Students for the Future appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

Many institutions approached online and digital learning with a slow burn that the pandemic fanned into flame. Practically overnight, institutions had to re-calibrate and move instruction online, with 75 percent of undergraduate students enrolled in at least one distance education course—a 97 percent year-over-year increase (11.8 million versus 6.0 million students).  

But students weren’t the only ones who had to adjust; the leap to digital learning also represents a change for instructional staff and professors who were accustomed to a traditional classroom. In fact, a 2022 Cengage survey of 641 US institutions found that 97 percent of institutions reported working with faculty who had no prior online teaching experience. This is a significant gap that, if left unaddressed, can limit student experience and success. 

Fortunately, online teaching is a competency that instructors, faculty, and staff can develop over time with the right support. Here are creative and practical suggestions and ideas to help non-digital-native faculty and staff thrive in a digital space.

Beginner steps to smooth the transition from in-person to virtual instruction

• Provide educational materials about remote students. The best way to support remote students will differ from how you would best support students in a traditional classroom. Provide resources to instructional staff that cover what might change and what remote students need most while learning virtually. 
• Analyze the accessibility and inclusivity of existing resources. The resources an institution provides lose value if instructors and students can’t access them. Early on, consider how accessible and inclusive your digital resources and educational materials are, and make sure they meet or exceed institutional requirements.
• Simplify paths to support. Create an online knowledge hub that brings all available resources for instructors into one place. Make it clear who instructors can reach out to with questions or concerns, such as specific contacts for technical support or instructional design support for digital learning. 

Intermediate steps that set the bar higher and provide support

• Teach students how to make the most of their online learning experience. Create learning materials for students that explain the basics of succeeding in online classes. Videos might highlight good digital study habits, email etiquette, and other tips for success. 
• Increase access to digital resources. How instructors teach isn’t the only aspect that will change in a virtual learning environment, as they’ll also need to point students to digital resources. Check the library and educational technology resources that are available to instructors, and make sure the instructors are able to share them with students. 
• Equip faculty with technology and tools to improve student engagement and learning. Educational technology tools that remove barriers to learning in a digital classroom can give instructors an edge. Consider providing a tool like Grammarly, which coaches students on their written communication skills around the clock so that interactions with their instructors can be more engaging and effective.

Advanced steps that ensure a brighter future for student learning

• Provide or reimburse for additional educational technology and instructional design training. Encourage instructional staff and professors to pursue further education in remote and digital learning so they can build their expertise in this new way of educating. Training materials, online courses, webinars, and even certifications or degree programs will empower faculty to take charge of the online classroom.
• Build circles of peer support. Aid from instructional advisers is critical, as is support from peers like other instructional staff, faculty, and professors. Invite instructors to connect and share their experiences with online learning by hosting events or assigning peer groups for regular check-ins throughout the online teaching journey. 
• Collect evidence-based lessons from your institution. Evidence-based learning helps instructors discover what works from what other instructors have done in real learning situations. While these lessons are available from various research bodies, institutions can also begin to collect their own and document the experiences of instructors who engage in online teaching over time. 

Prepare faculty to meet the demands of online learning 

Across the full landscape of higher education, online learning has transitioned from a nice-to-have to a mainstay. It’s no longer the pandemic that’s enticing students into an online educational path, but rather the powerful benefits of digital learning that the pandemic uncovered for so many people.

For instructors new to online teaching, however, this can be a challenging adjustment. And students—and institutions—can only rise to the level of their educators. 

Help your instructors adjust to the digital learning space and become proficient in the technological and educational tools that make for effective online learning today. It’s a critical step in ensuring faculty and staff can meet students’ needs and improve student learning in the long run.

Prepare your instructors and staff for a world that has embraced digital transformation. Contact our team to learn more about Grammarly for Education.

The post 9 Tips for Bringing Higher Ed Faculty Into the Digital Space appeared first on Grammarly Blog.