PRESS RELEASE
Teaching tool designed to make AI irrelevant wins AI grant from MIT Solve
Frankenstories wins MIT Solve Learner//Meets//Future Challenge
Brisbane - Australia, 15 August 2024: Collaborative online writing game Frankenstories has been announced as a winner of MIT Solve’s Learner//Meets//Future:AI-Enabled Assessments Challenge, receiving a grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build out AI driven feedback on student writing within the tool.
One of only seven winners worldwide, the solution seeks to use large language models (LLMs) to provide teacher-facing formative feedback on the writing students create within Frankenstories.
It’s a surprising win considering Frankenstories was designed to make AI irrelevant.
Co-Founder Andrew Duval said, “Many teachers struggle with student motivation and engagement in writing. With Frankenstories, we avoided the ‘AI edtech land rush’ that kicked off with the launch of ChatGPT and focused on social learning, making students want to write through a collaborative, creative, and continually surprising game. This collaborative play completely sidesteps AI.”
So why did they apply for an AI grant?
As Frankenstories gets students writing more stories and arguments, teachers need a quick and easy way to monitor progress. That’s a kind of 'fuzzy' and time-consuming assessment that AI can make easier and more accessible.
“Students love playing Frankenstories”, Mr Duval said, “but teachers need to know what kind of effect the game is having. Careful use of AI means we can show trends in quality, clarity, and collaboration, so teachers can figure out the best way to use Frankenstories in their class. Winning this grant will go a long way to helping make this a reality for our small team.”
Education commentator and writing instructor John Warner has been highly critical about AI in the education sector, but he approves of this win: “It shows that even tech-oriented institutions like MIT Solve and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have interest in solutions that use AI to help students learn, rather than just ‘do school’.”
“This win is an example of how the edtech sector can explore a role for AI that serves the best interests of education and not miss the point of what it means to be a teacher.”
MIT Solve’s Learner//Meets//Future: AI-Enabled Assessments Challenge aims to innovate assessment practices to better meet the diverse needs of learners. Up to $500,000 USD in prize funding was made available through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Frankenstories challenge submission can be found here.
About Frankenstories: Headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, Frankenstories (www.frankenstories.org) launched in 2021 as a product from edtech company Writelike, and is now used by grades 3-12 in 30+ countries. A fast-paced, multiplayer creative writing game, Frankenstories is designed to build engagement & enthusiasm for writing and channel that into developing stamina & skill. Read more about the company here.
Media Enquries:
frankenstories@writelike.org