Trading Text for Trust
Chatbots excel at mimicking the very format of submission we’ve relied on for decades. But an AI can’t reliably replicate genuine human expression. It can’t show excitement, wrestle with a concept in real-time or convey a lack of confidence.
By shifting assignments from written text to oral formats, we build authenticity directly into the assessment. Instead of asking students to write a reflection, we ask them to talk to us (and their peers). It’s much harder to fake one’s visage and voice than it is to copy and paste text from a chatbot.
Below, we recount a few examples from our own courses:
Shannon: In my composition courses, students record a Video Note reflecting on their writing revision process. They talk about their favorite parts of the paper and the areas they’re still struggling with. The difference is night and day.
I can hear the confidence or lack thereof in their voices. And when I’ve had someone read something that ChatGPT wrote, I can hear that, too. It’s easy to hear authenticity in their voices. If a student is generic, it’s clear they didn’t put in the work. If they’re specific and detailed, their effort is obvious.
As an added benefit, students transform from a name on a screen into a face and a personality. When I ask students to record, I provide feedback in the same medium. One of my students commented on a course evaluation that he was grateful to finally “engage with another person and not just words on a screen.” That connection is real. It reduces what academics call the “transactional distance” between instructor and student.
To push the accountability piece further, I’ve created a new rubric category called “Assignment Integrity” worth 50% of every assignment’s grade. It assesses evidence of critical thinking, connection to course-specific learning materials, and the inclusion of the student’s voice. I’m upfront with students: it’s much easier to meet these expectations if you record your submission. This nudges them toward a more authentic medium where their true understanding can shine.
Jordan: I’ve been incorporating video assessments in asynchronous online history and government courses for well over a decade, even as far back as 3G internet. The pandemic helped move the needle in terms of video tool adoption by learners, but it was the release of ChatGPT 3 that prompted me to move all my assessments to Video Note. The results have been incredible.
Asynchronous and untethered student recording seems to introduce a new element into the online classroom. In the hands of anyone eager to learn, a camera and a microphone can become an inherently flexible and creative means by which understanding can be demonstrated. It has, surprisingly, also become a conduit through which many online students openly share their genuine hopes, fears, frustrations and successes with me throughout the semester.
With video, it is easier to recognize all of my online students are individual learners, each with their own complex lives. Students record their submissions from workplace break rooms, from out in the barn and with their children yelling and laughing in the background. Unable to hide what they have not yet learned, students quickly open up about what they do not know and provide me new openings to teach in the online space. As soon as I made the switch, I felt compelled to record all of my own feedback using Video Note, showing students the human instructor behind the screen. As a result, I often get to know my online students even better than many face-to-face learners.
Though I allow students to reference notes during their recordings, my rubric requires that they look at the camera and avoid scripted responses. I have had very little push-back from learners and was surprised when my end-of-course course evaluation ratings shot up after
implementation. I’m energized by the act of grading each week because I’m having a real conversation with each individual learner and seeing their weekly growth (and stumbles) in high definition.
Getting Started: Scaffolding for Success
Moving to oral assessment doesn’t require a massive overhaul. It’s about scaffolding the process and starting small.
- Ground the practice in institutional norms: Before implementing Video Note, be sure to review your college catalog, campus technology policies, accessibility guidelines, etc. to ensure assessment design aligns with your institutions’ rules and standards.
- Prepare students in advance: Use an Intelligent Agent to let newly enrolled students know in advance that video and/or audio assessment will be utilized in the course. Instructors can allow students a space to practice using the Video Note tool as soon as the course opens.
- Use it everywhere: Think beyond the Assignment tool. You can use Video Note in Discussion topics to create more human conversations and even utilize them in Quizzes. Video Note works great for pre-assessments, allowing students to explain outloud what they already know about a topic. Similarly, an end-of-unit exit ticket could ask students to reflect out loud on their cumulative learning.
- Emphasize Process, Not Product: We tell our students that we are not looking for polished presentations. We just expect them to hit “Record” and talk like we would if we were sitting in a classroom together. We make it a point to keep our own flubs in our recordings to show that honesty and authenticity are key to the learning process, not perfection.
It’s Worth the Time
One of the first questions we get from other faculty is about grading time. It’s true that listening to a 5-minute video can take longer than scanning a 500-word essay. But we’ve found it is a better way to identify which learners need support, and which learners are obviously not prepared.
You gain invaluable insight into a student’s thought process that text just can’t provide. (Pro tip: listening at 1.5x or 2x speed helps!) Freed from the task of constantly worrying about AI-generated text, the time you invest in listening is paid back in a stronger connection with your learners and deeper confidence in the integrity of their work.
The rise of AI isn’t a threat; it’s a catalyst for change in the ways we teach and learn. Our goal as instructors is to cultivate expressions of genuine intelligence. By embracing the human voice in online courses, we can build more connected, inclusive, and authentic learning communities that are, by their very nature, resistant to the shortcuts of AI.
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