AI in the Classroom: Help or Hindrance?
Write a discursive essay evaluating two ways AI tools could change education and decide which matters more.
- Time
- 45 min
- Length
- 220-260 words
Writadia · C1 · Essays
NameClassDate
The situation
Your class has attended a panel discussion on technology in schools. You have made the notes below.
Ways AI tools could change education:
- personalised learning
- teachers' workload
- students' independent thinking
Some opinions expressed in the discussion:
- "Every student could have a patient tutor, day and night."
- "Teachers could finally spend time teaching instead of marking."
- "If a machine writes the essay, who is doing the learning?"
Your task
Write an essay discussing two of the points in your notes. Explain which point you think is more important for schools to consider, giving reasons. You may use the opinions, but use your own words.
Writing toolkit
Open these only when you need them. Try the first draft on your own.
Plan it in steps
- Choose two points that give you the most to say. One positive and one negative often works well.
- Introduction: frame the debate without listing everything.
- Body 1 and body 2: each develops one point with a concrete example and a consequence.
- Conclusion: weigh the two and state clearly which matters more, and why.
- Vary sentence structure: inversion, cleft sentences, concessive clauses.
Useful phrases
Framing
Developing an argument
Concession
Weighing
Tap a phrase to add it to your text. Gaps (…) are selected so you can type over them.
Vocabulary
- personalised
- adapted to the needs of one personPersonalised feedback helps weaker students.
- workload
- the amount of work someone has to doTeachers' workload has increased.
- undermine
- gradually make something weakerShortcuts can undermine real learning.
- scaffolding
- temporary support while learningAI can provide scaffolding for beginners.
- pressing
- urgent, needing attention nowIt's the most pressing issue.
Model answer (226 words)
Read it after you’ve written your own version. Notice the highlighted parts. The numbers explain why they work.
Few developments have divided teachers as sharply as the arrival of AI tools that can explain, correct and even write. The question is no longer whether these tools will enter classrooms, but what schools should pay attention to first.1
The most obvious promise is personalised learning. A student who is too shy to ask a question in front of thirty classmates can ask a chatbot the same thing ten times without embarrassment, at midnight if necessary. For a learner who has fallen behind, this patient, always-available support could be transformative. What is often overlooked, however, is that a tool which always provides the answer may also remove the struggle through which understanding is built.2
This leads to the second, and more troubling, issue: students' independent thinking. If an essay can be produced in seconds, the temptation to skip the slow work of planning, drafting and rethinking is enormous. Admittedly, calculators did not destroy mathematics. Even so, a calculator performs one step of a process; a text generator can perform all of them.3
Of the two issues, independent thinking seems to me the more pressing, since personalised support is only valuable if students still do the thinking themselves.4 Schools should therefore focus less on banning or adopting AI and more on designing tasks, such as in-class drafting and oral defences of written work, that make thinking visible.
- Framing the debate in two sentences.
- Developing the point with a complication.
- Concession followed by a counter-argument.
- Clear evaluation with a reason that links both points.
Teacher notes
Exam link: C1 Advanced Part 1 (220–260 words, choose two of three points, say which is more important).
Common weakness: students discuss both points but forget to compare them. The final paragraph must contain the comparison.
Extra challenge
Write a 100-word note to parents explaining your school's new AI policy.
Lesson plan
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 10 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: personalised, workload, undermine, scaffolding, pressing.
- 12 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Few developments have divided educators as sharply as ...”, “The question is no longer whether ..., but how ...”, “Proponents point to ...”.
- 38 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (220-260 words)
- 10 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 5 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
Assessment rubric
| Criterion | 4 · Excellent | 3 · Good | 2 · Developing | 1 · Beginning | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task and content | In-depth, persuasive, fully suited to the reader. | Strong; one idea could go further. | Adequate but surface-level. | Below the task. | |
| Organisation and coherence | Seamless flow; elegant, unobtrusive transitions. | Clear structure; transitions sometimes mechanical. | Structure present but uneven. | Weak organisation. | |
| Vocabulary and style | Precise, natural collocations; consistent style. | Wide range; a few unnatural phrases. | Memorised phrases and repetition. | Style does not fit the task. | |
| Grammar and accuracy | Complex structures, flexible and accurate. | Minor, occasional slips. | Errors in complex structures. | Errors strain the reader. | |
| Total | / 16 | ||||
Each criterion scores 1–4 (total 16). Use the task checklist below to tick what the student actually did.
Task checklist
- I discussed exactly two of the three points.
- I clearly stated which is more important, and why.
- I used my own words rather than copying the opinions.
- I used a range of structures (concession, cleft sentences, inversion).
Teacher comment
Peer-review sheet
Students swap texts and give each other feedback with this sheet.
Before you finish
Before you finish
- I discussed exactly two of the three points.
- I clearly stated which is more important, and why.
- I used my own words rather than copying the opinions.
- I used a range of structures (concession, cleft sentences, inversion).
Writadia · C1 · Essays
Assessment rubric: AI in the Classroom: Help or Hindrance?
| Criterion | 4 · Excellent | 3 · Good | 2 · Developing | 1 · Beginning | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task and content | In-depth, persuasive, fully suited to the reader. | Strong; one idea could go further. | Adequate but surface-level. | Below the task. | |
| Organisation and coherence | Seamless flow; elegant, unobtrusive transitions. | Clear structure; transitions sometimes mechanical. | Structure present but uneven. | Weak organisation. | |
| Vocabulary and style | Precise, natural collocations; consistent style. | Wide range; a few unnatural phrases. | Memorised phrases and repetition. | Style does not fit the task. | |
| Grammar and accuracy | Complex structures, flexible and accurate. | Minor, occasional slips. | Errors in complex structures. | Errors strain the reader. | |
| Total | / 16 | ||||
Each criterion scores 1–4 (total 16). Use the task checklist below to tick what the student actually did.
Task checklist
- I discussed exactly two of the three points.
- I clearly stated which is more important, and why.
- I used my own words rather than copying the opinions.
- I used a range of structures (concession, cleft sentences, inversion).
Teacher comment
Writadia · C1 · Essays
Peer-review sheet: AI in the Classroom: Help or Hindrance?
WriterReviewer
Read your partner’s text carefully. Be kind and specific: say why, not just “good”.
Task checklist
| Yes | Partly | No | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I discussed exactly two of the three points. | |||
| I clearly stated which is more important, and why. | |||
| I used my own words rather than copying the opinions. | |||
| I used a range of structures (concession, cleft sentences, inversion). |
Questions
- Is the main point clear in the first paragraph? Write it in one sentence.
- Which sentence is the most convincing? Why?
- Is there any repetition or memorised phrasing? Underline it.
- Does the style suit the reader and purpose?
Two stars and a wish
★ Something I liked
★ Another thing I liked
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Writadia · C1 · Essays
Lesson plan: AI in the Classroom: Help or Hindrance?
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 10 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: personalised, workload, undermine, scaffolding, pressing.
- 12 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Few developments have divided educators as sharply as ...”, “The question is no longer whether ..., but how ...”, “Proponents point to ...”.
- 38 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (220-260 words)
- 10 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 5 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
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