How to Teach Students Responsible Tech Use
5 Anti-AI Cheating Tips You Can Implement Today
My French 1 students had been in class for four weeks, and I settled in to read their first writing assignment; describe a famous person in four sentences. Kaylee’s work was suspiciously perfect:
“Olivia Rodrigo is a charismatic pop singer and social media icon whose catchy anthems constantly trend on TikTok and Instagram. High schoolers love her vulnerable lyrics about teenage heartbreak, friendship drama, and navigating the chaotic pressure of growing up. Whether she is headlining a massive stadium tour or posting goofy backstage videos, her authentic energy keeps her younger audience completely hooked.”
Wow. Just… wow. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Did Kaylee really think I was too stupid to notice this was totally tech-generated? I didn’t know whether she’d typed her English ideas into a translator or had AI generate the whole thing. It really didn’t matter. I drew a big red “F” at the top of her paper and underlined the word “CHEATED”. Exasperating.
Teachers worldwide are noticing the same problem: kids would rather get a quick online answer than go through the challenging process of learning the information themselves. This is not a completely new problem (we’ve been dealing with translators for years in World Language classes), but the scope and frequency of the issue has exploded. Schools have to respond.
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog post, I shared questions we need to ask regarding AI, tech use, and education, and we looked at reasons students choose to cheat with AI. Today we will delve into the critical question: What can teachers do about it?
What Not to Do
“If I receive a lot of tech-generated writing, that’s a yellow flag that my students don’t know how to produce the product I’m asking for… and it’s my job to teach them. ”
First, let’s look at two ineffective responses to student tech misuse. The first one is ignoring the problem. In my assignment about the celebrity, I made this mistake. I gave the same assignment I’d been doing for years hoping for the same result. I could have appealed to my students’ better nature (No translators on the assignment, OK kids?) Spoiler alert: this won’t work.
The second ineffective response is to ban tech use altogether. Unfortunately, this approach is also doomed to failure. We can’t put the genie back into the bottle. The tech tools are out there, the kids know it, and they’re going to use them. And to be honest, there’s a place for them! I mean, I use translators sometimes, even as a proficient target language speaker. Banning kids from using tech is not realistic.
Part of our job in this new societal context is to teach kids to use the tech effectively. This takes intentionality with both your instructional design and in how you coach students. It’s not so easy, but then, teaching never is. These tips can help.
Tip #1: Model healthy translator use
When a student asks you how to say something in the target language, take time to construct the sentence together. Demonstrate how you might look up one unknown word, and show how an online dictionary gives more information than a pure translator. My favorite site is wordreference.com, which provides multiple definitions and examples. Show kids why this is better and help them bookmark the site. There’s even an app! Demonstrate and reinforce how tech is helpful, but you have to remain in control of it and you have to understand everything in your sentence. Looking up a word is great. Translating long sentences is not. It takes multiple demonstrations to teach students to resist the siren song of online translators, but it’s time we absolutely have to take.
Tip #2: Start on paper, with a pre-writing chart
Often students turn to translators because they don’t know how to construct their thoughts in the target language. A pre-writing chart with prompts and sentence starters can help. For example, if writing about activities, you might give students sentence starters for “my opinion”, “in __ weather or season”, “with whom”, “where”, and “how often?” along with list of activities to write about. Students must write a full TL sentence in each box, showing they can construct sentences such as “I sometimes play softball with my friends” or “We always go skiing in the mountains when it snows”. Begin this process in class so you can monitor student progress; if they’re struggling, their blank chart will clue you in!
Tip #3: Assess the process
Require students to bring you their completed, handwritten pre-writing activity for a grade. Once you’ve checked it, they have permission to use a dictionary to look up a handful of unknown words. This forces kids to really pinpoint where they need tech help; they should have constructed the bulk of their writing on their own. It’s possible a student will use tech help outside of class, but knowing they must justify their pre-writing to you for a grade minimizes the benefit of that strategy.
Tip #4: Build tech use into your rubric
Add a line to your rubric with objective expectations for tech use. A phrase like “I looked up a maximum of six words, and I know what everything in my project means” clarifies what responsible tech use looks like.
Tip #5: Have Students Assess Sample Projects Against the Rubric
This practice is very helpful in building understanding of a “good” product, and I’ve written about it in depth in this blog about feedback and self-evaluation.
As you work with students to evaluate sample assignments, throw in an example or two that was generated by AI or a translator. Guide students to understand how the writing really doesn’t meet the rubric points, and how easy it is for you to tell. Since I started doing this in class, I get a lot less translated submissions.
“Kids will behave the way they’re incentivized to behave. Right now, they need strong instruction and classroom leadership more than ever. ”
These practices address most of the reasons students cheat with tech (first discussed in Part 2 of this blog):
They don’t understand the role of technology in language learning (This is addressed by modeling your own process of tech use)
The prompt is inaccessible
They don’t know how to formulate their thoughts in the target language
They feel inadequate or afraid of making mistakes (These three problems are all addressed through the structured pre-writing.)
They are poor time managers (Pre-writing in class helps with this.)
It’s the path of least resistance (Now MY way is the path of least resistance. You can’t open your laptop until you’ve met my criteria for planning.)
Teaching in the age of AI means we have to re-think instruction. Like literacy, study skills, and social-emotional learning, technology instruction needs to be infused throughout our curriculum. If I receive a lot of tech-generated writing, that’s a yellow flag that my students don’t know how to produce the product I’m asking for… and it’s my job to teach them.
Kids will behave the way they’re incentivized to behave. At the end of the day, we don’t teach French, Spanish, Math, or Social Studies. We teach students. And right now, the kids need our firm leadership more than ever.
