New AI tool helps teachers mark geography essays; English, history and social studies being piloted
It gives detailed feedback on essays, reducing marking time significantly.
In Singapore, secondary school and junior college geography teachers can now employ an AI-powered tool, called Markly, to mark students' written work, according to the Education Ministry. Markly, conceived in 2025, aims to provide formative feedback on students' written assignments, allowing teachers to concentrate on individual student needs. The ministry is gathering feedback from educators and institutions before deciding on the tool's usage.
Piloted in secondary schools for English language, social studies, and history, Markly generates feedback for essays and extended responses. The tool assists teachers by highlighting students' strengths and offering improvement suggestions, such as crafting a stronger introduction or explaining points without broad generalizations. It also identifies spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure errors, providing explanations and guidance for corrections.
Ghazali Abdul Wahab, a 52-year-old English teacher at Canberra Secondary School involved in the pilot, has found Markly helpful in providing multiple rounds of feedback during a term. During an observed lesson, students worked on their sixth draft of a social media post, with feedback from Markly in the form of grouped content and language use suggestions. The tool can also explain errors and suggest corrections, making the feedback process more efficient for teachers.
While Markly can assign grades, Ghazali has chosen not to use this feature, emphasizing that students should focus on using the feedback to improve their work rather than dwelling on their performance. His student Chloe Loh, 15, appreciates Ghazali's input, noting that the teacher can explain concepts in ways that are easier to understand. Ghazali sees potential in expanding his AI skills to create custom educational games for students who need additional practice in specific areas, such as tenses or vocabulary.
Despite his enthusiasm for digital tools, Ghazali stresses that they cannot replace human teachers. He believes that as students become more reliant on AI tools, it is crucial to teach them how to discern the legitimacy of content, ensuring they develop critical thinking skills for the future workforce.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
