How can you support students as independent learners? This year, my conversations in education have been full of questions related to artificial intelligence. Most of my professional development work has focused on how educators can use AI as a thought partner, collaborator, and virtual assistant. But there is one thing I hear a lot from teachers and school administrators. They often ask questions about how they can best support their students as learners in the “Age of AI.”
Earlier this year, I was introduced to Learnics. It’s a company that helps support student researchers so they can document their journey as writers. Instead of a “gotcha” tool, it empowers students to share their progress as researchers. And it gives teachers insight into a student’s workflow, too
Today on the blog, we’ll take a look at Learnics and why I think it’s worthy of your consideration.
Support Student Researchers in the Age of AI
One of the challenges I’ve heard from educators over the past decade is how to best prepare students to navigate digital spaces. I dedicate an entire chapter of my book EdTech Essentials to this topic and have featured conversations on the podcast with educators who offer advice on how to address digital literacy skills. Just this month, Dr. Jenna Kammer and Dr. Lauren Hays joined for an episode of the Easy EdTech Podcast. We talked about “Unlocking Digital Literacy with Practical Classroom Strategies.”
With generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, anyone who sets up an account can enter a prompt and receive a response. There are plenty of use cases for generative AI for both teachers and students. But one important part of using these tools is adding a level of transparency and learning when it is appropriate to use. Someone might use generative AI to make a list of ideas for a research topic. Or they could use it to compare two arguments on a topic, or even ask for feedback on their writing.
It can be challenging to determine what level of support a writer and researcher received from generative AI. And this is where Learnics comes into play.
How to Use Learnics to Support Student Researchers
Learnics is a Chrome extension that students and teachers can use to organize their notes as they research. It’s perfect for keeping track of your writing process as a student writer in the Age of AI. At the same time, it is a fantastic tool for teachers to get real-time classroom data. Students have the choice to enable Learnics on their browser as they work. Teachers can then see any data that was collected as they write.
On the student side of the experience, Learnics keeps track of the sites students have visited. It also logs the time they’ve spent on the site. It lets them take notes and add tags to their notes so they can quickly access (or easily download) their research. Learnics can even help students generate a bibliography to add to their research. This version is free for students to share their learning journey with their teachers.
When teachers use Learnics Classroom Pro, they can create a lesson for their students, see the sites their class has visited, and even view the keywords students have tried. This is super valuable data for leading conferences with student writers or gaining an understanding of where individual students (or small groups) need support. Teachers can use the data collected by Learnics to help model best practices, suggest resources to their class, review time on task, and provide support for students who are building time management skills.
A Chrome Extension for Student Writers
Students write and research throughout the school day, whether looking for an answer to a quick question in a science classroom or writing a paper on a social topic. Learnics and Learnics Classroom Pro are great options for schools and districts looking to support their students with increased transparency as writers. You can learn more about Learnics and everything they offer students and teachers on this landing page.
Have you developed strategies to support student researchers this year? Share your stories with me by heading to Instagram (just send a DM) or responding to one of my Monday newsletters (sign up here for free).
