The Packback Blog

Featured Articles

Celebrating Dr. Brynn Welch: Award-Winning Educator and Thought Leader

Packback is proud to partner with educators who are transforming the way students learn, think, and engage with the ultimate goal of helping them find their unique voice and become intrinsically motivated. Today, we’re thrilled to celebrate the achievement of an incredible educator, user,  and champion, Dr. Brynn Welch, who recently received the The David W. Concepción Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching and is making waves in the classroom with her innovative teaching practices and thought leadership.

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How to Build Student Buy-In for Learning Technology

Let’s face it, teaching is hard. Reaching your students is hard. And getting your students to fully embrace a new learning technology can be even harder. Heck, even getting student buy-in on anything can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill (shout-out Sisyphus).

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The Impact of the International AI Treaty on Education: 10 Ways It Could Shape Educators, Institutions, and Curriculum Leaders

Breaking news! The first-ever international AI treaty has been signed! Wait, what?

In case you missed it, major players on the world stage, namely: EU, UK, and the US, have signed the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence. Drafted by the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) and negotiated by 57 countries alongside 70 representatives from civil society, this treaty is a landmark step in setting global standards for AI. It is the first-ever internationally legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring that the use of AI systems is fully consistent with human rights, democracy, and rule of law.

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Case Study: How Packback’s Instruct Tools Empower Educators

In the “post COVID” educational landscape we are currently in, educators are facing an uphill
battle and finding it increasingly harder to resonate with students. Educators are being asked to manage larger class sizes, with less resources, while still ensuring that each student receives the individual attention they need to succeed. The challenge of tracking student progress, providing personalized feedback, and fostering an engaging learning environment can be overwhelming and feel almost impossible, especially as class sizes grow and student needs diversify. This epidemic has led to many teachers leaving the profession and even more feeling burnt out and tired of the burden placed upon them.

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Case Study: How Packback Deep Dives is Transforming Writing

In the dynamic landscape of higher education, the ability to effectively evaluate and improve
student writing remains a pivotal challenge. Writing is not only a fundamental skill for academic success but also a critical tool for professional development and personal expression. At the same time, educators often find themselves overwhelmed by the time and effort required to provide detailed, actionable feedback on student writing, which is essential for fostering growth and improvement.

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Case Study: How Packback Helps Accelerate Student Achievement in Advanced Academics

Located in north central Florida, Marion County is a booming area within a fast-growing state. The county’s population has grown by nearly 60% in the past two decades. This dramatic growth is being reflected in the school system, which recently enrolled over 45,000
students for the first time in district history. This massive boom in enrollment has put a tremendous strain on the Marion County Schools and teachers throughout the district.

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Case Study: Helping Students Become Better at Writing Across the Curriculum with Packback

Lezlee Brinkman, a social studies teacher at Eisenhower High School in Houston, knows as well as any other educator that for many students, advanced history courses are a major step up in difficulty for students across a number of metrics. The complex and in-depth comprehension of the coursework is new to most students, and the reading and writing skills required to succeed in the course often requires a steep learning curve. Check out the below case study to see how Packback helped Lezlee’s students become better at writing across the curriculum.

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Case Study: Empowering Educators and Students – The Impact of Packback on Academic Achievement and Engagement

Evaluation of student work in higher education remains a cornerstone of academic progress tracking and skill development. Grades serve as a crucial metric for assessing student understanding, providing feedback, and guiding instructional strategies. However, as we prepare the next generation of practitioners and academics in our respective fields, the complexities of modern education in today’s economy demand an approach to evaluation that balances authentic assessment with measurable outcomes aligned to course objectives.

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Case Study: Enhancing Student Engagement, Sentiment, and Teaching Evaluations with Packback

One of the realities of teaching in higher education is that student evaluations are core to the tenure and promotion process, at least when it comes to assessment of teaching practice and course quality. It’s often a review committee’s only direct window into how your students perceive you, your quality as an instructor, and the efficacy of the courses you’ve created and executed. We know a few other things about them, too – good, bad, or ugly.

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How Instructional AI Feedback Can Improve Student Outcomes and Classroom Engagement

Often when you hear or read the words “AI feedback” you think of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc. that do the writing and thinking for students. These tools can be given a simple prompt and return answers sophisticated enough to pass the bar exam.

This however, is a common misconception. In fact, there are several other forms of AI feedback, like Instructional AI, that when used and implemented properly, can scaffold and support learning, while simultaneously acting as an extension of the teacher. These pedagogically sound AI feedback loops have even been shown to improve student outcomes, enhance writing skills, and promote better classroom engagement.

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The Rise of Instructional AI

As is so often the case when new and disruptive technologies arrive on the scene, many education institutions have reacted to generative AI like ChatGPT with alarm. Much of the discussion among both K-12 districts and universities has focused on the way that essay and discussion prompts may be susceptible to academic dishonesty by students using ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI. The result is that many institutional leaders are investing in tools that promise to detect AI-generated writing content. Some school districts have banned the use of generative AI outright, in hopes that such policies will deter students from using it to cheat. Those policies have, in turn, prompted backlash from educators like Ethan Mollick, who have made the case for a more thoughtful approach.

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Recent Articles

Toni Livingston’s Journey with Packback: Elevating Student Engagement and Performance in Advanced Coursework

In 2023, Toni Livingston began teaching Cambridge AS English General Paper, an advanced critical thinking and writing intensive course at Tampa Bay Technical High School. With this being the first time the course was offered, there were no pre-existing materials or guides to rely on. Toni was quickly thrown into the fire and had to create a complete curriculum from scratch for the very first time. This daunting task left her searching for a way to maker her classroom dynamic and engaging while also providing students with rigorous writing instruction.

During a summer training, Toni was introduced to Packback, which had recently partnered with Hillsborough County Public Schools to provide students and teachers with more rigorous writing support. While she was initially overwhelmed by the idea of building her course from the ground up, Toni decided to give Packback a try. Little did she know, it would become the cornerstone of her course and transform her teaching experience.

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