The Digitisation of Writing in Higher Education: Exploring the Use of Wordtune as an AI Writing Assistant

Abstract

Accelerated by the advent of AI-powered writing assistants, writing as a crucial aspect of higher education assessment and practice has undergone rapid digitisation in recent decades. Automatic written corrective feedback (AWCF) is one such technology that offers synchronous feedback on spelling, grammar, and style during the writing process. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on its use in the everyday practice of students and staff. This study explores the use of Wordtune, an AWCF tool, to determine its benefits and limits from a user perspective. The research was conducted through a large-scale survey of Wordtune users. Descriptive statistics were generated, Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed, and open-ended questions were analysed using content analysis. Wordtune users are typically confident English speakers and use it alongside other tools such as Grammarly and Google translate. Wordtune is experienced by users as offering low-order benefits in terms of rephrasing and writing more grammatically but also has high-order benefits such as overcoming mental blocks and creating opportunities to learn. Users acknowledged very few drawbacks to using Wordtune. Our paper concludes with pedagogic suggestions for educators to support use of AI writing assistants, in the context of the accelerating wave of digitisation of writing.

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