Turnitin empowers educators with new offerings as AI moves into schools

Turnitin, a leading provider of technology solutions in academic integrity, has announced it is expanding its offerings to advance classroom digitisation through AI-powered grading, enhanced AI writing detection and customisable individual feedback for students. The launch comprises a Paper to Digital add-on, helping educators provide faster online grading and ensuring prompt feedback to students, and an enhanced Similarity Report to help educators identify when content generated by AI writing tools may have been submitted.

Education-related AI is predicted to be a US$6 billion market next year. Yet, according to Tyton Partners*, students continue to lead in regular GenAI adoption rates at 59 per cent compared to approximately 40 per cent of instructors and administrators. The 2024-2025 school year is anticipated to be the year of AI, and educators need resources that help them adopt the technology in the classroom.

“Australian and New Zealand classrooms are already accustomed to the role of technology in learning,” said James Thorley, regional vice president for Asia-Pacific, Turnitin. “As AI begins to dominate the next wave of digitalisation, our priority is to provide schools with a tool that works alongside the expertise of educators and academic policies and allows students to incorporateAI into their experiences in a transparent manner. This is crucial so that every learner has an early start in developing their skills, producing original work, and ultimately preparing them for their future careers.”

New Paper to Digital add-on improves grading accuracy and consistency

AI in education goes far beyond plagiarism detection. If used correctly, this technology can eliminate grading bias and streamline customised feedback for students, improving the learning process overall.

A recent preprint paper by University of Michigan researchers revealed a significant correlation across 30 million grading records: students with surnames lower in the alphabet tend to receive lower grades. This bias stems from sequential grading practices compounded by the default alphabetical ordering of student submissions in learning management systems.

The new Paper to Digital add-on for Turnitin Feedback Studio uses AI-assisted grouping and horizontal grading. By streamlining grading and strengthening the consistency of instructor feedback, institutions can foster a fairer and more effective assessment environment. The new innovative tool also offers faster feedback, enhanced security, and integration directly into learning management systems (LMS).

Enhanced Similarity Report helps identify AI-Generated content

In April 2023, Turnitin launched its AI writing detection feature to help educators identify AI-generated content in student work while safeguarding students’ interests. Since the launch, Turnitin has sourced pedagogical feedback from educators and administrators to inform product improvement and additional tech support features.

As a result, Turnitin’s enhanced Similarity Report provides a new foundation for Turnitin’s AI writing detection feature. The tool helps educators identify unoriginal or improperly cited student writing, facilitating productive conversations on proper citation practices and accidental plagiarism. This update comes shortly after Turnitin’s AI paraphrasing detection feature, which is integrated within Turnitin’s AI writing capabilities, enabling educators and publishers to identify when AI paraphrasing tools may have been used to modify AI-generated text to avoid detection.

“This school year, AI will likely be in every classroom,” said Annie Chechitelli, chief product officer, Turnitin. “Yet, there’s still a disconnect between students and educators about what constitutes acceptable generative AI use and access to technology to support learning. Turnitin is helping to address these challenges by providing teachers and administrators with new offerings to adapt to AI’s ever-evolving role in education, and supporting ethical AI usage for students.”

Turnitin and the company’s innovative product portfolio have received numerous accolades recently, including the 2024 Bett Awards, the Global EdTech Awards 2024, 2023 Tech & Learning and GSV 150.
*Turnitin was a partner in providing compensation to conduct Tyton Partners’ research and reports: Time for Class 2023, Time for Class - Fall 2023 Update and Time for Class 2024.