Developing Writing Skills in the Age of AI

Developing writing skills in high school students is crucial for their success in college and beyond. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has made this task even more challenging.

When helping students build skills for writing strong college essays and other high-stakes personal statements, educators say that personal attention and encouragement are key. Students need to develop skills to talk about their experiences, put them into perspective, and think about their contributions. This has always been a challenging assignment, but it is even more so given the impact of AI.

According to Kate Vieira, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, the use of generative AI is threatening the "personal" in the personal essay. "The use of generative AI is kind of threatening the 'personal' in the personal essay," she said.

Karoline Trepper, clinical assistant professor of English education at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, agrees that AI is having an impact. She suggests that it is key to consider giving students multiple writing opportunities in class to ensure they are developing their voice and not relying on AI to do so.

To develop writing skills, teachers need to give students space to take a deep dive into their experiences, then ask follow-up questions to draw out details. "There are things you only remember in the process of writing and talking about it with other people," Vieira said.

Writing is a heavy cognitive activity, and it takes time to develop. "We talk about the importance of developing student writers as intentional and informed decision-makers," Vieira said. "How they want to represent themselves, thinking about their audience - all of this is intensive and takes time to develop."

To help students develop their writing skills, educators recommend the following strategies:

* Give students multiple writing opportunities in class to ensure they are developing their voice and not relying on AI to do so. * Provide in-class opportunities for actionable feedback that students can infuse. * Include a line in the rubric about incorporating feedback into the revision. * Provide the space and time for students to revise and edit their work.

By implementing these strategies, educators can help students develop the writing skills they need to succeed in college and beyond.

### Strategies for Developing Writing Skills

| Strategy | Description | | --- | --- | | Multiple writing opportunities | Give students multiple writing opportunities in class to ensure they are developing their voice and not relying on AI to do so. | | Actionable feedback | Provide in-class opportunities for actionable feedback that students can infuse. | | Incorporating feedback | Include a line in the rubric about incorporating feedback into the revision. | | Providing space and time | Provide the space and time for students to revise and edit their work. |

By using these strategies, educators can help students develop the writing skills they need to succeed in college and beyond.