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Teaching Writing in a Digital and Global Age

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Sarah Freedman discusses theories and research studies that shed light on writing in a digital and global age

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 9, 2024

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The transcript discusses the speaker's extensive experience in studying the teaching and learning of writing, particularly in the context of access and opportunity disparities among students. Since collaborating on a literature review for the American Educational Research Association published in 2016, the speaker notes significant changes in the landscape of writing education, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Key points include:

1. **Inequality in Access**: The speaker emphasizes the unequal distribution of opportunities for young people to engage creatively and practically in writing. Access to educational resources and digital tools is uneven, both globally—where poorer countries lag behind wealthier ones—and locally, within wealthier nations, where socioeconomic status influences educational outcomes.

2. **Literacy Rates**: While global literacy rates have improved overall, discrepancies remain, particularly in low-income countries, with literacy rates lower than in wealthier nations. Gender disparities also exist, though they are narrowing.

3. **The Role of Policy and Teacher Support**: In affluent countries, disparities in writing education are influenced by social policies, funding, and teacher training. The quality of teaching and the reading/writing opportunities students receive are often determined by socioeconomic factors. The speaker highlights the need for policy reforms to better support teachers and ensure equitable learning conditions.

4. **The Social Nature of Writing**: Drawing from theorists like Vygotsky, the speaker discusses the importance of social interaction in writing development, arguing that writing is not a solitary activity but one enriched through feedback and collaboration with diverse voices.

5. **Embracing Generative AI**: The speaker calls for a nuanced understanding of generative AI's role in writing education, arguing that rather than fearing these tools, educators should explore how they can enhance writing skills. Effective use of AI requires sophisticated engagement and should be integrated into learning without assuming students will misuse it.

6. **Future Directions**: The speaker advocates for research into how generative AI can support writing instruction, emphasizing the balance between AI's quick feedback and human educators’ nuanced understanding of the writing process.

In conclusion, the lecture highlights the complexity of teaching writing in an evolving educational landscape, where equity, access, and the integration of new technologies play critical roles in shaping students' writing experiences.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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I've been studying the teaching

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and learning of writing since the early 1970s,

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and I've always examined issues

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of opportunity for students.

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Um, in a few years ago,

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I was invited to write a chapter, a review chapter for

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by the American Educational Research Association

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for their upcoming handbook of Research on teaching.

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Um, that article was published in 2016,

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and I worked with my colleague at Berkeley,

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who's also an expert in writing Glenda Hall

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and two of our then students to write a comprehensive

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literature review of the teaching

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and learning of writing in this digital and global age.

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Um, I'm gonna focus today on what I've learned about

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teaching writing, both from my research

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and what my colleagues and I learned in writing that review.

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Since, since writing that review though, I wanna say that,

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much has changed.

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And so I'm going to also discuss,

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this current moment when

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artificial intelligence powered writing

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assistance like chat.

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GPT and Gemini have literally introduced revolutionary

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and publicly accessible new tools for writing,

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which have the potential to profoundly changed the nature

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of the writing process for those with access to those tools

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from all these sources,

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including the new generative AI affordances, I wanna begin

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by stressing that it is consequential

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that young people do not have equal opportunities

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to engage expressively creatively

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and practically in the practice of writing.

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When I study whether young people have equal opportunities,

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I question whether they have equal access

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to learning opportunities

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and whether they have equal access to tools

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like computers, earlier on

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and, word processing programs.

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And now these new AI programs,

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access is not equally distributed, either in the form of

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learning activities or an access to digital tools.

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And this is true across the

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curriculum, not just for writing.

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So where are the inequalities that are consequential

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for learning to write first?

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I've done a lot of international research,

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and globally there are huge differences between access

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to even basic literacy across countries with those

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who live in, who live in poorer countries,

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having less access to robust teaching and learning,

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and to tools than those living in wealthy countries.

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The result is that even the most basic adult literacy rates

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are lower in poor countries than in rich countries.

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Um, the overall literacy rate globally has been rising,

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and the statistics show that in 1976,

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only 66% of adults in the world,

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were had basic literacy skills.

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And by 20 22, 80 7%

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of adults in the world are literate.

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But the rates for low income countries are shocking.

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Um, in 2022,

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the literacy rates in those countries were at 62%,

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which is even lower than the global rate in 1976.

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Um, these countries are mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa

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and some in Asia.

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Um, globally, there are also gaps between male

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and female literacy rates,

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with men generally having more access to learning

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to read and write than women.

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The good news is that the gender gap has decreased from 1976

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to 2022, but the bad news is that it's still there.

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Um, these statistics refer only to,

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I don't wanna stress only to very basic kinds of literacy,

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not to the kinds of advanced uses of reading

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and writing that, help people participate

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in the global e economic world

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or in, in academics.

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Um, there is not much information about these higher rates

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of literacy globally.

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Now, locally, within the wealthy countries

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where there's more access.

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My own research and the research of others show

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that opportunities to learn to write

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are also not equally distributed within those countries.

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And so where are the inequalities within the rich countries

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that have, have,

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better literacy, better access to literacy,

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not unexpectedly.

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Those with lower socio come

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who come from lower socioeconomic status groups

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have poor learning opportunities than those

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with higher socioeconomic status.

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Um, their schools expect less

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and their teachers expect less,

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and their teachers have less training in the teaching

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of writing in the us there are also differences across

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ethnic and racial groups, which are associated

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with socioeconomic status with whites

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and Asian Americans having more opportunity

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to reach high levels of literacy than those from,

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other ethnic groups.

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And there's evidence

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for these differences on standardized tests

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and on, kind

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of national exams in the us like the national Assessment

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of educational progress.

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It's also the case that those in wealthier countries

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and the more wealthy within all countries have more access

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to literacy learning and to digital tools

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that support writing development.

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Um, computers

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and access to the internet is also unequally distributed in

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in the same ways as, as, opportunities to learn.

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So for poorer countries where most citizens live in poverty,

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they need better access to schooling for their populations

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and attention to gaps in wealth.

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And this seems to be an ongoing

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struggle for these countries.

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And only then will even basic literacy rates

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have a chance of rising.

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So the big focus in those countries is just

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getting kids to school.

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Um, and oftentimes children are used as labor,

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and are needed at home.

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And so there's a real push and pull.

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It's a very diff very, very difficult and, problem.

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Um, for wealthy countries, the key

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to closing the opportunity gaps,

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wealthy countries think a little differently,

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because there's mandatory schooling,

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and kids do go to school,

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but then the question becomes what kind of schools

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and much of closing the opportunity gaps in,

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in these in wealthier countries lies in the hands

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of social policy makers who need funding formulas

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that don't, don't leave the underserved students behind.

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For example, there, there are not enough policies in place

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to support these schools generally,

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or teachers of writing in particular in the us for example.

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Um, continuing education programs for teachers

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of writing are losing funding.

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Um, there needs to be a better incentive structure

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to get good teachers into these schools in,

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in neighborhoods serving children who live in poverty.

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Um, and there needs to be motivation

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for outstanding teachers

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to teach in these, in these settings.

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Um, cross national studies show that countries

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that see teachers as professionals

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and support them, well produce more highly literate young

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people without the kinds of equity gaps that, that we see,

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in countries

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that don't provide sufficient support for teachers.

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Um, so for example, in Finland,

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there's a big stress on, on

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educating teachers

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and teachers being professionals, paying them well.

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Um, and so the

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literacy rates are, they're the highest in the world.

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So there, there's a kind of correlation there.

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Um, the other thing about teaching, writing

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and closing the opportunities gaps is

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that teaching writing is very labor intensive,

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and it requires teachers who first can write well themselves

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and who are able to analyze student work in ways

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that help them respond productively to student writing.

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And so teachers need to be able to read lots of papers,

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and that is, that takes a lot of time,

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and they need to be able to talk to their,

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their, pupils.

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And that takes a lot of time.

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Um, and they need to be able to engage their students and,

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and give them useful response that they can carry forward,

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with lowers.

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And the, and the teaching loads often are too high

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for teachers to be able to give the kind of attention that,

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that the students need.

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So the National Council of Teachers

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of English in the United States for, since for many years,

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since the 1960s, I think has, has had a policy statement

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that says that teachers

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of English should have no more than a hundred students

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in four classes of 25 students each.

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And that should be the highest.

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That should be the highest,

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and that is just not followed at all.

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Um, so, it's hard

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for teachers to get to know their individual students

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in countries like in, in a number

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of European countries in England as well.

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I've done a cross-cultural study of

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teaching writing in England and the United States

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teachers keep the same students for multiple years,

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and they are able to get to know them that way.

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In the United States, teachers may keep students

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for a semester.

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Um, and so it's really, it's really hard to do the kind

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of teaching that that needs to happen.

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And I mean, this is true for all students.

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Um, but if you can't, if you don't have way,

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if you don't have, if policies don't give you structures in

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which you can actually teach writing, well then it's hard

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to close the opportunity gaps

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because the wealthier students get help elsewhere.

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Um, and the poor students don't, don't have ways to do that.

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Um, so the task is huge,

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and closing achievement gaps really requires well-trained

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and dedicated teachers who have support to do their work.

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Writing development happens across people's lifespans

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and in,

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and the context outside of schools matter to

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that development as well as the context

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that are available inside schools.

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And to understand the process, I rely on two theorists,

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Lev Vygotsky and Mikhail Bach team who connect the larger

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societal issues, some

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of which I've been talking about already, to the everyday

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practices that support writing development.

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My main takeaway from the writings

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of Vygotsky is his definition of development as opposed to

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learning and his understanding of how social interaction

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stimulates that development.

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So the key words here are development

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and social interaction.

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So too often we think in units

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that are too small.

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So for Vygotsky learning, learning is the small bits

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that we, that we get.

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Um, and development is the more profound changes,

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and we need bits of learning

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to feed into development, but development.

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Um, and too often we focus on the small bits like learning

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to punctuate or, form complete written sentences.

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Um, and we need small units of learning.

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But our goal is to see development,

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to see young people make these big strides in writing.

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And the big strides would include consistent ability

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to argue a point and provide compelling evidence,

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or to learn to grab the reader and tell a good story

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or, to engage a reader.

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Of course, the kinds of arguments

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and the ways of engaging readers continue

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to develop across time, and their ups

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and downs, depending on the complexity of one's ideas.

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But development involves moving in these ways,

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in these bigger ways.

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And for underserved students,

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too often the focus is on the learning bits.

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Um, but they need to, they need to develop in,

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in much deeper ways,

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and they're disadvantaged by being denied help

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with the most important kinds of learning.

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And my second big takeaway from Vygotsky is the importance

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of social interaction.

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So too often when people think about writing,

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they think about it as a solo act, the stereotype

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of the wor writer in a tower someplace working alone at his

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or her desk, and coming out with a finished manuscript

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or a finished product with no social interaction

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with anyone else during this lonely,

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lonely composing process.

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And Vygotsky turns the stereotype on its head,

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and he portrays development as a writer, as a profoundly

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and, and as a writer at, to develop as a writer, it has

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to be a profoundly social activity in which, yes,

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writers might spend some time alone, but they learn

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and develop as they interact with others,

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as they generate ideas for what they're going to say.

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And they depend on the feedback of others to be sure

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that they're communicating what they intend

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and to help them elaborate and clarify,

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and sometimes even change what they're going to say.

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And this interaction is in,

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in, as, as kids grow up is, has to be with people,

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but also includes interacting with what you read

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and the having the words of others come, come

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to you in varied ways.

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And it's through these crucial interactions

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that writers develop their ability to write.

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And most of my research on writing has focused on

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understanding these interactions

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and what makes them work best.

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Now, my main takeaway from the writings of Bach team is that

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to develop as a writer in these social inter interactions,

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we benefit from a diversity of other voices

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who challenge our thinking.

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Um, and that is part of what's really crucial

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to stimulating our development.

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So to the social interactions that Vygotsky discusses,

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bine adds diversity, he claims that what we think

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and how we think is not our own.

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It's, we don't have our own thoughts,

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they don't really exist.

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Our thoughts include within them

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what other people say and think in our world.

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And often unconsciously, we incorporate the voices

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and the words of others.

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Um, and so people get all upset about plagiarism

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and helping people write,

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and that's just off course in, in terms of these theorists,

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there's not a clear line between our thinking

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and the thinking of other people.

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Um, BAK team shows the great value of inclusivity

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of all kinds of different people

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during the teaching learning process.

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Um, the more challenging the words

17:04.575 --> 17:07.795
are, we shouldn't be running away from that.

17:08.015 --> 17:11.985
And I guess one of the dangers that we've seen

17:12.845 --> 17:14.065
in action today is

17:14.065 --> 17:16.065
that people are living in their little bubbles.

17:16.605 --> 17:18.665
And in the United States, in particularly,

17:19.085 --> 17:21.865
our societies becoming more and more divided,

17:22.565 --> 17:26.265
and we, we, with social media,

17:26.525 --> 17:28.985
we get ourselves into an echo chamber

17:29.395 --> 17:31.665
where we only hear like voices.

17:32.685 --> 17:35.985
And that doesn't allow us to understand the thoughts

17:35.985 --> 17:39.505
of others to live together with others,

17:40.205 --> 17:44.985
and to think and write, outside the box.

17:45.445 --> 17:49.885
Um, so it's actually dangerous

17:50.505 --> 17:53.765
in a way to not be inclusive.

17:54.265 --> 17:57.085
Um, and Bine shows

17:57.465 --> 18:01.445
how such echo chambers depress learning and development.

18:02.925 --> 18:06.115
Um, I think that,

18:07.425 --> 18:11.015
these theories provide a path for research in the future.

18:11.315 --> 18:12.455
In the area of writing

18:12.595 --> 18:14.975
and schools, it becomes clear

18:15.085 --> 18:18.215
that diverse schools not segregated schools

18:18.475 --> 18:22.735
and diverse classrooms, not those tracked by narrow notions

18:22.755 --> 18:27.135
of ability can lead to better learning for everybody.

18:27.925 --> 18:31.015
It's also the case that students need to develop strategies

18:31.015 --> 18:32.495
for writing as well

18:32.595 --> 18:35.415
as build from their sociocultural context.

18:36.475 --> 18:39.055
Um, researchers have played explicit attention

18:39.195 --> 18:41.895
to underachieving students,

18:43.255 --> 18:46.675
and students benefit by hearing

18:48.125 --> 18:49.865
not just the opinions of others

18:50.085 --> 18:51.465
and the experiences of others,

18:52.165 --> 18:54.945
but by incorporating those experiences

18:55.165 --> 18:56.905
and making it part of their own.

18:57.205 --> 18:59.225
Now, I, I conducted a research study

18:59.225 --> 19:02.665
with a teacher in a Berkeley Middle school, Verdel,

19:02.965 --> 19:06.105
and we wrote an article entitled Teaching English in

19:06.175 --> 19:07.465
Untracked Classrooms.

19:08.045 --> 19:12.505
And we described how, how productive,

19:12.725 --> 19:15.905
how you can help students use one another's ideas

19:16.205 --> 19:18.665
and experiences in the process of learning

19:18.725 --> 19:21.385
to think more deeply about reading

19:21.485 --> 19:26.145
and writing, in responding to their,

19:29.995 --> 19:32.575
in responding to their reading and writing.

19:32.875 --> 19:37.185
Um, she was masterful at being able to push students

19:37.285 --> 19:40.265
to achieve more than they could without her questioning

19:40.445 --> 19:42.065
and without, and,

19:42.205 --> 19:44.505
and she was also masterful at

19:45.015 --> 19:47.945
helping them keep notes about other people's thoughts

19:48.525 --> 19:51.505
and figuring out what of those thoughts

19:52.015 --> 19:53.785
they found useful for themselves.

19:54.535 --> 19:59.025
Yeah, I think that with respect to future research, this is

19:59.025 --> 20:00.185
where the field needs to go.

20:00.285 --> 20:02.985
We need to understand the affordances

20:03.365 --> 20:06.985
of the new writing supports provided by generative ai.

20:07.725 --> 20:12.425
Um, so I think we can use the, the same theories,

20:13.085 --> 20:14.705
and,

20:15.565 --> 20:20.025
and question how generative AI can best support student

20:20.025 --> 20:22.905
writers as the machine responds to

20:23.045 --> 20:24.945
and helps all of us produce text.

20:25.485 --> 20:27.945
And I think that most people who have access,

20:28.055 --> 20:31.945
including my fellow academics, have tried and used

20:32.045 --> 20:34.145
and are using generative ai.

20:34.805 --> 20:36.905
And in the schools there's been,

20:37.605 --> 20:40.705
at least in the United States, there's been this, fear

20:41.335 --> 20:44.945
that no longer will kids have to learn to write

20:44.965 --> 20:47.025
or know how to write, but you really have

20:47.125 --> 20:49.125
to be quite sophisticated to be able

20:49.125 --> 20:52.085
to use generative AI in ways that are productive

20:52.145 --> 20:54.365
and it can help you learn to write better.

20:55.105 --> 20:56.845
Um, it's a kind of interaction

20:57.235 --> 20:59.925
that happens when you use generative ai.

21:00.465 --> 21:04.005
And, we need to find out

21:04.145 --> 21:06.725
and we need to know how

21:06.745 --> 21:09.565
to support students in using it.

21:09.745 --> 21:12.885
And we, it, it's not something that needs to be banned.

21:13.025 --> 21:16.365
So I think that there's, there's lots of room for research

21:16.365 --> 21:18.245
because these tools are changing.

21:18.345 --> 21:21.845
And as the tools are changing, the then writing is

21:21.955 --> 21:23.925
what writing is is changing.

21:24.665 --> 21:29.125
And so researchers need to be taking a very careful look

21:29.745 --> 21:32.605
at what about AI is useful?

21:32.995 --> 21:34.565
What about AI is harmful?

21:34.945 --> 21:38.525
How do humans control how they use ai?

21:38.525 --> 21:42.955
Because, I think that kids need support.

21:43.335 --> 21:46.835
Um, and the AI warns you,

21:46.835 --> 21:48.395
everything I say is not right,

21:49.215 --> 21:52.675
but how do teach, how do kids learn to

21:53.415 --> 21:56.475
figure out how to sort through

21:57.225 --> 22:00.675
what AI produces versus what they produce versus

22:00.745 --> 22:03.075
what they intend to say, what they want to say?

22:04.135 --> 22:08.655
Um, I think the worst response is to assume

22:08.655 --> 22:11.415
that teach kids are gonna use these tools to cheat.

22:12.075 --> 22:15.415
And that's really was the immediate response in,

22:15.635 --> 22:20.175
in many parts of the, educational world in the US with,

22:20.635 --> 22:23.975
schools banning it and that kind of thing.

22:24.155 --> 22:26.295
But it, it's, that's not gonna work.

22:26.715 --> 22:31.055
Um, we, we need to know what humans do best

22:31.235 --> 22:33.535
and what machines do best at this point,

22:34.315 --> 22:36.895
and we need to,

22:37.035 --> 22:39.855
figure out what they can do.

22:40.195 --> 22:43.495
So, and when I was thinking about this, I decided

22:43.595 --> 22:45.335
to ask chat, GP, t

22:45.555 --> 22:49.495
and Gemini to provide their answer to the question of

22:49.725 --> 22:52.975
what do machines do best and what do kids do best?

22:53.155 --> 22:57.975
And I can read you what chat GPT said, just as an example.

22:58.155 --> 23:02.695
So chat GBT said, generative AI has unique strengths

23:02.715 --> 23:04.135
as a teaching tool for writers.

23:04.715 --> 23:08.775
It offers instant feedback, is accessible around the clock,

23:09.035 --> 23:12.455
and can process and generate large amounts of text quickly,

23:12.865 --> 23:15.055
which is helpful for brainstorming

23:15.315 --> 23:18.335
and providing examples of varied writing styles.

23:18.995 --> 23:21.735
It can also simulate different audiences

23:21.795 --> 23:25.975
for a writer's work, helping to refine, targeting and voice.

23:26.945 --> 23:28.525
Humans, on the other hand,

23:29.335 --> 23:31.565
excel in providing nuanced feedback,

23:32.115 --> 23:34.965
understanding complex emotional tones,

23:35.385 --> 23:37.365
and fostering a more personalized

23:37.465 --> 23:39.645
and motivational learning environment.

23:40.855 --> 23:44.285
Human instructors can also guide on ethical writing

23:44.725 --> 23:47.645
Practices and offer deep contextual critiques

23:47.995 --> 23:50.245
that AI may not fully grasp.

23:50.815 --> 23:52.445
These aspects are crucial

23:52.545 --> 23:55.885
for developing a RI writer's unique voice and style,

23:56.225 --> 23:58.845
and for navigating subtler aspects of writing

23:58.955 --> 24:00.645
that AI might overlook.

24:01.585 --> 24:03.525
So this is what AI thinks,

24:04.145 --> 24:07.725
but humans need to weigh in as well.

Exploring Equity in Writing Education

00:00:00 - I've been studying the teaching and learning of writing since the early 1970s, and I've always examined issues of opportunity for students. in a few years ago, I was invited to write a chapter, a review chapter for by the American Educational Research Association for their upcoming handbook of Research on teaching. that article was published in 2016,
00:00:35 - who's also an expert in writing Glenda Hall and two of our then students to write a comprehensive literature review of the teaching and learning of writing in this digital and global age. I'm gonna focus today on what I've learned about teaching writing, both from my research and what my colleagues and I learned in writing that review.
00:01:06 - much has changed. And so I'm going to also discuss, this current moment when artificial intelligence powered writing assistance like chat. GPT and Gemini have literally introduced revolutionary and publicly accessible new tools for writing, which have the potential to profoundly changed the nature
00:01:40 - from all these sources, including the new generative AI affordances, I wanna begin by stressing that it is consequential that young people do not have equal opportunities to engage expressively creatively and practically in the practice of writing. When I study whether young people have equal opportunities,
00:02:07 - to learning opportunities and whether they have equal access to tools like computers, earlier on and, word processing programs. And now these new AI programs, access is not equally distributed, either in the form of learning activities or an access to digital tools. And this is true across the curriculum, not just for writing.
00:02:39 - for learning to write first? I've done a lot of international research, and globally there are huge differences between access to even basic literacy across countries with those who live in, who live in poorer countries, having less access to robust teaching and learning, and to tools than those living in wealthy countries. The result is that even the most basic adult literacy rates

Global Literacy Trends: Disparities and Progress

00:03:10 - the overall literacy rate globally has been rising, and the statistics show that in 1976, only 66% of adults in the world, were had basic literacy skills. And by 20 22, 80 7% of adults in the world are literate. But the rates for low income countries are shocking.
00:03:40 - the literacy rates in those countries were at 62%, which is even lower than the global rate in 1976. these countries are mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and some in Asia. globally, there are also gaps between male and female literacy rates, with men generally having more access to learning to read and write than women. The good news is that the gender gap has decreased from 1976
00:04:17 - these statistics refer only to, I don't wanna stress only to very basic kinds of literacy, not to the kinds of advanced uses of reading and writing that, help people participate in the global e economic world or in, in academics. there is not much information about these higher rates
00:04:47 - Now, locally, within the wealthy countries where there's more access. My own research and the research of others show that opportunities to learn to write are also not equally distributed within those countries. And so where are the inequalities within the rich countries that have, have, better literacy, better access to literacy, not unexpectedly.
00:05:17 - who come from lower socioeconomic status groups have poor learning opportunities than those with higher socioeconomic status. their schools expect less and their teachers expect less, and their teachers have less training in the teaching of writing in the us there are also differences across ethnic and racial groups, which are associated with socioeconomic status with whites and Asian Americans having more opportunity
00:05:49 - other ethnic groups. And there's evidence for these differences on standardized tests and on, kind of national exams in the us like the national Assessment of educational progress. It's also the case that those in wealthier countries and the more wealthy within all countries have more access to literacy learning and to digital tools that support writing development. computers

Closing Educational Opportunity Gaps Globally

00:06:21 - in the same ways as, as, opportunities to learn. So for poorer countries where most citizens live in poverty, they need better access to schooling for their populations and attention to gaps in wealth. And this seems to be an ongoing struggle for these countries. And only then will even basic literacy rates have a chance of rising.
00:06:50 - getting kids to school. and oftentimes children are used as labor, and are needed at home. And so there's a real push and pull. It's a very diff very, very difficult and, problem. for wealthy countries, the key to closing the opportunity gaps, wealthy countries think a little differently, because there's mandatory schooling,
00:07:22 - but then the question becomes what kind of schools and much of closing the opportunity gaps in, in these in wealthier countries lies in the hands of social policy makers who need funding formulas that don't, don't leave the underserved students behind. For example, there, there are not enough policies in place to support these schools generally, or teachers of writing in particular in the us for example.
00:07:55 - of writing are losing funding. there needs to be a better incentive structure to get good teachers into these schools in, in neighborhoods serving children who live in poverty. and there needs to be motivation for outstanding teachers to teach in these, in these settings. cross national studies show that countries that see teachers as professionals
00:08:27 - people without the kinds of equity gaps that, that we see, in countries that don't provide sufficient support for teachers. so for example, in Finland, there's a big stress on, on educating teachers and teachers being professionals, paying them well. and so the
00:09:01 - So there, there's a kind of correlation there. the other thing about teaching, writing and closing the opportunities gaps is that teaching writing is very labor intensive, and it requires teachers who first can write well themselves and who are able to analyze student work in ways that help them respond productively to student writing. And so teachers need to be able to read lots of papers,

Acknowledging Teacher Challenges in Student Engagement

00:09:33 - and they need to be able to talk to their, their, pupils. And that takes a lot of time. and they need to be able to engage their students and, and give them useful response that they can carry forward, with lowers. And the, and the teaching loads often are too high for teachers to be able to give the kind of attention that, that the students need. So the National Council of Teachers of English in the United States for, since for many years,
00:10:06 - that says that teachers of English should have no more than a hundred students in four classes of 25 students each. And that should be the highest. That should be the highest, and that is just not followed at all. so, it's hard for teachers to get to know their individual students in countries like in, in a number
00:10:36 - I've done a cross-cultural study of teaching writing in England and the United States teachers keep the same students for multiple years, and they are able to get to know them that way. In the United States, teachers may keep students for a semester. and so it's really, it's really hard to do the kind of teaching that that needs to happen. And I mean, this is true for all students. but if you can't, if you don't have way,
00:11:10 - which you can actually teach writing, well then it's hard to close the opportunity gaps because the wealthier students get help elsewhere. and the poor students don't, don't have ways to do that. so the task is huge, and closing achievement gaps really requires well-trained and dedicated teachers who have support to do their work. Writing development happens across people's lifespans
00:11:41 - and the context outside of schools matter to that development as well as the context that are available inside schools. And to understand the process, I rely on two theorists, Lev Vygotsky and Mikhail Bach team who connect the larger societal issues, some of which I've been talking about already, to the everyday practices that support writing development. My main takeaway from the writings
00:12:16 - learning and his understanding of how social interaction stimulates that development. So the key words here are development and social interaction. So too often we think in units that are too small. So for Vygotsky learning, learning is the small bits that we, that we get. and development is the more profound changes,

Developing Writing Through Social Interaction

00:12:48 - to feed into development, but development. and too often we focus on the small bits like learning to punctuate or, form complete written sentences. and we need small units of learning. But our goal is to see development, to see young people make these big strides in writing. And the big strides would include consistent ability to argue a point and provide compelling evidence, or to learn to grab the reader and tell a good story
00:13:25 - Of course, the kinds of arguments and the ways of engaging readers continue to develop across time, and their ups and downs, depending on the complexity of one's ideas. But development involves moving in these ways, in these bigger ways. And for underserved students, too often the focus is on the learning bits. but they need to, they need to develop in,
00:13:57 - and they're disadvantaged by being denied help with the most important kinds of learning. And my second big takeaway from Vygotsky is the importance of social interaction. So too often when people think about writing, they think about it as a solo act, the stereotype of the wor writer in a tower someplace working alone at his or her desk, and coming out with a finished manuscript or a finished product with no social interaction
00:14:28 - lonely composing process. And Vygotsky turns the stereotype on its head, and he portrays development as a writer, as a profoundly and, and as a writer at, to develop as a writer, it has to be a profoundly social activity in which, yes, writers might spend some time alone, but they learn and develop as they interact with others, as they generate ideas for what they're going to say. And they depend on the feedback of others to be sure
00:15:02 - and to help them elaborate and clarify, and sometimes even change what they're going to say. And this interaction is in, in, as, as kids grow up is, has to be with people, but also includes interacting with what you read and the having the words of others come, come to you in varied ways. And it's through these crucial interactions
00:15:33 - And most of my research on writing has focused on understanding these interactions and what makes them work best. Now, my main takeaway from the writings of Bach team is that to develop as a writer in these social inter interactions, we benefit from a diversity of other voices who challenge our thinking. and that is part of what's really crucial

Understanding Thought Through Social Interaction and Diversity

00:16:05 - So to the social interactions that Vygotsky discusses, bine adds diversity, he claims that what we think and how we think is not our own. It's, we don't have our own thoughts, they don't really exist. Our thoughts include within them what other people say and think in our world. And often unconsciously, we incorporate the voices
00:16:35 - and so people get all upset about plagiarism and helping people write, and that's just off course in, in terms of these theorists, there's not a clear line between our thinking and the thinking of other people. BAK team shows the great value of inclusivity of all kinds of different people during the teaching learning process. the more challenging the words
00:17:08 - And I guess one of the dangers that we've seen in action today is that people are living in their little bubbles. And in the United States, in particularly, our societies becoming more and more divided, and we, we, with social media, we get ourselves into an echo chamber where we only hear like voices. And that doesn't allow us to understand the thoughts
00:17:40 - and to think and write, outside the box. so it's actually dangerous in a way to not be inclusive. and Bine shows how such echo chambers depress learning and development. I think that,
00:18:11 - In the area of writing and schools, it becomes clear that diverse schools not segregated schools and diverse classrooms, not those tracked by narrow notions of ability can lead to better learning for everybody. It's also the case that students need to develop strategies for writing as well as build from their sociocultural context. researchers have played explicit attention
00:18:43 - and students benefit by hearing not just the opinions of others and the experiences of others, but by incorporating those experiences and making it part of their own. Now, I, I conducted a research study with a teacher in a Berkeley Middle school, Verdel, and we wrote an article entitled Teaching English in Untracked Classrooms. And we described how, how productive,

Enhancing Writing Through Generative AI Support

00:19:16 - and experiences in the process of learning to think more deeply about reading and writing, in responding to their, in responding to their reading and writing. she was masterful at being able to push students to achieve more than they could without her questioning and without, and, and she was also masterful at
00:19:48 - and figuring out what of those thoughts they found useful for themselves. Yeah, I think that with respect to future research, this is where the field needs to go. We need to understand the affordances of the new writing supports provided by generative ai. so I think we can use the, the same theories, and,
00:20:20 - writers as the machine responds to and helps all of us produce text. And I think that most people who have access, including my fellow academics, have tried and used and are using generative ai. And in the schools there's been, at least in the United States, there's been this, fear that no longer will kids have to learn to write or know how to write, but you really have
00:20:49 - to use generative AI in ways that are productive and it can help you learn to write better. it's a kind of interaction that happens when you use generative ai. And, we need to find out and we need to know how to support students in using it. And we, it, it's not something that needs to be banned. So I think that there's, there's lots of room for research because these tools are changing.
00:21:21 - what writing is is changing. And so researchers need to be taking a very careful look at what about AI is useful? What about AI is harmful? How do humans control how they use ai? Because, I think that kids need support. and the AI warns you, everything I say is not right,
00:21:53 - figure out how to sort through what AI produces versus what they produce versus what they intend to say, what they want to say? I think the worst response is to assume that teach kids are gonna use these tools to cheat. And that's really was the immediate response in, in many parts of the, educational world in the US with,

Human and AI Roles in Writing Education

00:22:24 - But it, it's, that's not gonna work. we, we need to know what humans do best and what machines do best at this point, and we need to, figure out what they can do. So, and when I was thinking about this, I decided to ask chat, GP, t and Gemini to provide their answer to the question of what do machines do best and what do kids do best?
00:22:58 - So chat GBT said, generative AI has unique strengths as a teaching tool for writers. It offers instant feedback, is accessible around the clock, and can process and generate large amounts of text quickly, which is helpful for brainstorming and providing examples of varied writing styles. It can also simulate different audiences for a writer's work, helping to refine, targeting and voice.
00:23:29 - excel in providing nuanced feedback, understanding complex emotional tones, and fostering a more personalized and motivational learning environment. Human instructors can also guide on ethical writing Practices and offer deep contextual critiques that AI may not fully grasp. These aspects are crucial for developing a RI writer's unique voice and style, and for navigating subtler aspects of writing
00:24:04 - So this is what AI thinks, but humans need to weigh in as well.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

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