What is Pen Pals?
Pen Pals is a new Short Answer activity type where students submit writing, then debate feedback from two AI characters who disagree on how well a selected response meets each success criterion (you can preview the activity using the clickable walkthrough below). The class discusses, votes on which AI they agree with, and reflects on their own writing for each criterion.
How does Pen Pals use AI?
In Pen Pals, students interact with a rotating cast of AI-generated characters—each with a distinct personality and feedback style (see below). Powered by generative AI, these characters are designed to disagree about the quality of student writing. Their contrasting perspectives spark classroom discussion, promoting critical thinking, and make writing feedback more social. By debating which AI perspective they agree with, students practice questioning and evaluating AI-generated content—building essential AI literacy skills like discernment and reflection. As AI tools are increasingly part of everyday life, Pen Pals helps students become more thoughtful, empowered users of these technologies.
Who are the Pen Pals?
AI is used to generate the following Pen Pal characters, along with their feedback:
Surly Sam
Surly Sam is a loveable grump who gives blunt, supportive feedback. Whether he’s reluctantly praising a strong response or grumbling about how wrong other Pen Pals are, Sam keeps things entertaining while still pushing students to think critically.
Posh Pip
Posh Pip is a trendy, enthusiastic character from across the pond with a flair for the dramatic and a heart full of encouragement. Pip’s mixes compassion with theatrical flair and posh expressions.
Bubbly Bo
Bubbly Bo (the bro) is your upbeat, goal-driven classroom hype man. Bo’s always “locked in” and motivated, delivering feedback with high energy and respect.
Nervous Nia
Nervous Nia is a brilliant overthinker. Nia delivers thoughtful feedback wrapped in apologies and self-doubt. Students connect with her catastrophizing charm and relentless humility.
Mellow Matt
Mellow Matt is a groovy, laid-back thinker who always keeps it cool. Matt delivers deep, insightful feedback in the simplest terms, making complex writing ideas feel easy-breezy.
Cool Cali
Cool Cali is 100% Gen Z. She delivers feedback with peak slang and a heart full of empathy. Cali helps students feel seen while modeling how to critique with ✨good vibes only✨.
Is it safe to use AI in Pen Pals with my students?
Yes. We’ve taken several steps to ensure students are safe, including:
Students cannot interact with AI directly (i.e. go back and forth via a chatbot interface). AI will only provide feedback on writing selected by the teacher and based on the success criteria.
Students sign in using a one-time join code, so no personally identifiable information (PII) is required (e.g. full names, email, demographics, etc.)
Writing is anonymized when passed to AI
Amazon Bedrock is used for AI services, creating a safety layer to ensure no data is shared directly with AI model providers and enabling guardrails to help prevent unintentional sharing of PII, hallucination, etc.
Short Answer uses the best available Large Language AI models
Short Answer does not fine-tune models based on student data
Students are prompted to think critically about AI outputs throughout the activity
Is there research guiding the approach of Pen Pals?
Yes. A 2024 study by researchers at UC Irvine and Arizona State investigated AI’s ability to provide feedback on student writing. The study evaluated the quality of writing feedback provided by AI versus professional educators. It focused on five dimensions of feedback: Criteria-based feedback, clear directions for improvement, accuracy, prioritization of essential features, and supportive tone.
Educators outperformed AI in all dimensions except one: Criteria-based feedback. That said, the authors found that AI feedback was very close to the quality of professional educators: “…the most important takeaway of the study is not that expert humans performed better than ChatGPT—hardly a surprising finding—but rather that ChatGPT’s feedback was relatively close to that of humans in quality…”
Pen Pals is designed to harness this benefit. Rather than replacing teacher feedback, it uses AI to generate diverse perspectives aligned with clear success criteria. The disagreement between Pen Pal characters creates space for students to engage in thoughtful discussion, evaluate competing viewpoints, and reflect on their own writing. This all takes place within a structure mediated by expert teachers. Pen Pals doesn’t just use AI to give feedback; it helps teachers show students how to analyze feedback, turning a known AI strength (criteria alignment) into an opportunity for deeper learning and AI literacy.
Want to learn more more?
If you’re interested in finding out more about Short Answer, the writing-focused workshops we offer, or just want to chat, please reach out below!
