Is it okay for computers to grade your essays?
Many people have different opinions. Grading essays can take a long time and be stressful for teachers. With new technology, some computer programs can grade your essays. The problem, of course, is the accuracy. If computers could grade essays better than teachers, every school would have computers grade essays. Computers can’t beat the comments that teachers make in the margins. Computers could be harsh for vocabulary and for how long a paragraph is. Teachers, however, can tell if a student is doing something cool or having a style when making an essay. An obvious pro for computers is the fact that it can grade essays instantly. For teachers, it can take a long time. 
If a computer is grading a class’s essays, they would get them back the next day. If their teacher grades them, it could take a while. If students know that they're being graded by a computer, they could find out how it grades tests. If they do that, they could learn how to get an A on their essay. It’s good and bad. They learn the good qualities of an essay, but find out how to do good with a computer grading their test. Computers grade essays faster. If you’re making a draft, you can get a response in seconds. That leads to more writing, which ultimately leads to a better finished essay. 
Now, the pros and cons. A big pro of a teacher grading essays is the accurate response. A computer can’t beat the notes teachers make in the margins. A con of teachers grading essays is how long it takes. The biggest pro of computers is the time it takes. It gives a score seconds after you copy in the essay. Compared to humans, computers are much faster. The biggest con of a computer is the accuracy. It just can’t beat the notes and edits teachers make. Computers have trouble sensing any kind of style in an essay. If a teacher has time and isn’t stressed, he should grade the essay. If a teacher doesn’t have much free time on his schedule or is stressed or needs a break, let a computer grade the essays. Also, if the essays need to be back soon, a computer would be the best fit. Overall, humans grading essays and computers grading essays both have their own pros and cons.
Sources
Thanks, KB, for your thoughts on this. Usually we only see what teachers, or software developers, think about it (I'm in that first group). But I have a question.
ReplyDeleteAn important part of writing is having a picture of who your audience is, and of knowing that someone actually cares about what you've written. Blogging expands our audience beyond just the teacher's eyes, and I want to think that this causes us to care more about the quality of what we write.
I know that your instructions tell you that via a blog you have "a real audience", and I think that's really important. So my question is - if a computer grades your assignment ... is the computer "a real audience"? Do you really care what a computer "thinks" about your writing? Does that influence how you write?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting debate. Reading this article makes me appreciate how lucky we are to go to a school like Catlin where teachers are able to take the time to give us thoughtful and comprehensive feedback. :)
ReplyDeleteHi K B Blogger! I really like the topic you chose. I think it would be cool if computers graded essays. Do other schools have computers grade their essays?
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Tennis MS CGS
Hi Tennis MS CGS,
DeleteRight now not many schools use computers to grade their essays but in the future they might.
-KB Blogger
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteK B Blogger,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic, and it is probably one that many schools are thinking about right now. I think that teachers should grade essays, but you do put up a good point with the time it takes to get them back, but in the way that the world is progressing with technology, perhaps computers could be better trained for grading. Do you, personally, think that humans or computers, should grade your essays?
-Echoer
Echoer,
DeleteI think that most of the time a teacher should grade essays because they are more accurate.
-KB Blogger
K B Blogger,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great topic, it is very relatable. Personally in my opinion it is better if teachers grade papers or tests. Computers usually just grade it for you, they don't give you good feedback. When teachers grade papers or test they give you feedback, suggestions, and more. But grading and giving feedback to everyone is very time consuming, like you said. What is your opinion on this topic?
-Ava
Ava,
DeleteI think that in most cases teachers should grade essays or papers, but for some things where a student needs immediate feedback it may be different.
-KB Blogger
KB Blogger,
ReplyDeleteIn this exciting and interesting post where you write about the pros and cons of computers doing some small work for humans. I can see that you researched this a lot and learned a lot about the pros and cons of a computer doing human work. Also I agree that depending on the teachers mood and how busy they are the computer should do the work. Also how do you feel about robots or computers doing other human work?
-Bobbyblogman
Bobbyblogman,
DeleteI think that humans are well developing computers and robots to do other work that humans used to do. I think that if they are sure that the computers are doing just as good work as humans they should allow computers to do work.
-KB Blogger
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo K B Blogger,
ReplyDeleteWow! I find it quite sad, how our world is slowly shifting to all technology! Even in our classes, we have to turn in our essays in google classroom, opposed to turning it on hand. This is a fascinating post! I never knew that they where computer that could already grade essays! And I completely agree with you on some of the cons! Of course it can't recognize the style! That is something only us humans can really do! Additionally, it's also hard for computers to give partial credit! It's either right or wrong! I ever wonder if soon every school will have computers that grade essays. This actually could be possible, because our technology is at a rapid pace! Do you approve of this idea, and how long do you think it would take for every school in the United States to have computers that would grade essays/papers/tests?
Very unique post and great detailed writing!
-Lion
Lion,
DeleteThank you for your response. I think in a long time eventually every school will use computers to grade essays, but by then computers will probably be a lot better. If computer programs somehow got good enough to grade style and partial credit, I would approve.
-KB Blogger
K B Blogger,
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting post! I like how you share both sides of the argument and share the pros and cons. Which system do you like better? Do you think Catlin should change to computers?
-ILoveBasketball
I love Basketball 123,
DeleteThanks for the comment! I think that in most cases teachers should grade essays, but if they are limited on time they could use computers.
-KB Blogger
K.B., hi! Here I am again, more than a month after first reading your post and responding.
ReplyDeleteI've been following your classmates' comments and I'm very impressed with the discussion that's developed. And it's precisely because a discussion *has* developed that I want to again comment, and ask a slightly different question.
In your post you weigh the pros and cons of computers *grading* essays. And this causes me to ask whether essays should be graded at all. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject, and those of your classmates, and I'm sure that each of you has given your writing a good deal of thought. Does that mean it's worth an "A"? Maybe grammatical errors or mistakes in punctuation should bring the grade down a bit? Maybe you overlooked some important points and because of that you should only get a "C"? You can probably guess where I'd going with this: It's only in school that people write because they're supposed to get a grade. Outside of school people write because they want to communicate, because they want to contribute to a discussion, because they feel that other people might learn something from what they've written.
Yes, it's possible to learn writing skills, and yes, sometimes a computer can point out for us where we could have written more clearly (or more grammatically), but I doubt that anyone really wants to hold a conversation with a computer, or convince it of something. I've afraid that if students in school only write to a machine that views what they write but doesn't understand what was written, isn't moved or convinced, or angered, they'll never learn that outside of school there are good reasons to write.
So please, keep writing, and responding to what others write. From my experience that's really the best way to become a better writer - much better than getting a mark from a computer. Then again, perhaps I'm really a computer and I've fooled you into thinking that I'm a person. How can you know?
Hey KBB,
ReplyDeleteWow! You have some huge conversations on your shoulders! This post is obviously well written and relatable! I had a quick question, do you think if a teacher has any social problems or issues if that could affect your grade? If so, why not bring your teacher an apple right before they score your test?
-JT
Hi KBB,
ReplyDeleteI really like the beginning where you talk about how new technology has allowed people to grade they own work. Do you think that teachers have already used websites to grade work? Have you ever used an online website to help your essays or correct them?
This is awesome!
- JPLAX
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKB blogger,
ReplyDeleteIts so interesting that technology has come so far that it can grade essays. I really liked hearing the pros and cons of computer grading vrs teacher grading. Do most teachers trust computers to grade their students essays?
-Polarbear23
KB Blogger,
ReplyDeleteThis is a super interesting topic. I thought you did a great job keeping an unbiased opinion during this and weighed out the pros and cons very well. Would you trust a computer to grade your essay?
JG
KB Blogger,
ReplyDeleteHere I am again, just following the discussion! I think it's so cool how this Israeli blogger wants to make your post public, and I can't blame him! I too think writing like this should be on a very public blog with a great audience, as the truth about how we students feel about the ever growing use of technology needs to get out. I absolutely hate online grading systems, as not only do you have to have the right answer on online tests, but you also have to have a perfectly formatted one, or it is considered wrong. For example, one accidental space between the equal sign and the answer on a math quiz will be considered wrong by the computer, and one missing set of parenthesis on a quizlet test is enough to be incorrect. If teachers were to hand out the test on paper and grade them, they would breeze by these formatting errors, earning you the credit you rightfully deserve. Computers also can't give feedback like an actual person would, making the test less of a learning experience, and more of a toss and pray. Tests are supposed to be for learning in the first place! Why do you think teachers are making us take so many online tests if we hate them so much? Is it because they don't know? Do they not know because nobody has spoken out about this problem? If so, this post is one step closer to the abolishment of these horrid online tests!
Best,
-Flexi