#337 – QuillBot

#337 — QuillBot

AVID Open Access
12 min

Keywords

tool, clicked, ai, pasted, option, text, citation, paraphrase, writing, students, translator, version, write, work, grammar checker, side, really helpful tool, menu, offered, bot

Transcript

Paul Beckermann 0:00
Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I’m your host, Paul Beckermann.

Transition Music 0:05
Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? What is in the toolkit? So, what’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Beckermann 0:16
The topic of today’s episode is QuillBot. There are lots of tools available to help you become a better writer, and in today’s episode, I’m going to take a look at one of those tools, QuillBot. QuillBot describes itself as a writing assistant that works across apps and websites and leverages the power of AI to help you write, edit, and revise. You can access QuillBot in several ways. So you can go to the QuillBot website at quillbot.com. You could install the iOS or Android app.You can add the Chrome or Edge extension to your browser, and you can install an add-on for Microsoft Word. So there’s lots of ways to get there. For my review of the tool, I tried out the free version using both the website and the Chrome extension. So I’ll talk about those two. There’s also a paid version that offers access to additional features and larger word limits.

Transition Music 0:25
Here’s the, here’s the, here’s the tool for today. Here’s the tool for today.

Paul Beckermann 1:15
I’ll begin with the website, which is a bit more intuitive for me than the app. When you arrive at the website, you’ll be greeted with a list of QuillBot tools that you can use including Paraphraser, Grammar Checker, Plagiarism Checker, AI Detector, Summarizer, Citation Generator, Translator, and a tool they call Flow, which uses AI to help you compose your writing. All right, I’ll break each one of those down for you.

First, I clicked on the paraphrasing tool. This does exactly what you’d probably expect it would. You paste a block of text in, click the paraphrase button, and then a paraphrased version of your text appears to the right side of your original text. They’re side-by-side on the screen. With the free version, you’re limited to 125 words of original text, which does limit its usefulness a bit. While QuillBot only shortened my text by a few words, it did offer a version filled with highlighted words that I could click on. So, when I clicked on a highlighted section, I was offered alternate words and phrases to choose from. It felt a little bit like a thesaurus tool. If I liked what I got for a paraphrase, I could copy that text or download it. There are 10 different modes in the paraphrase tool section of QuillBot, options such as standard, formal, academic, creative. Only the standard and fluency modes, however, are available in the free version.

After trying out the paraphrasing tool, I used the menu on the left side of the page to click on the second option, which was Grammar Checker. This brought me to a screen that looked like a stripped-down word processor. I, again, pasted in my text as directed, and this time, it accepted all of it, rather than just the first 125 characters, so there’s a larger limit here. Like most grammar checkers, QuillBot underlined areas of concern, then on the right side of the screen, it offered me more detail for each of the highlighted areas, including suggested revisions. By clicking on the suggestion on the right, my text was automatically updated to accept that revision. Most of the changes worked for me, but some of the revision suggestions required the premium version in order to access.

The third option I tried was the “AI Detector.” When I clicked on this one, QuillBot reminded me that no AI detector is 100% reliable. I actually appreciated that honesty. In this tool, I was allowed to paste in up to 1,200 words. To test it out, I pasted in my introduction to this episode, and then I clicked “Analyze text.” I got a score of “0% of text likely to be AI-generated.” It was nice to know that my writing was 100% human. The fourth tool I clicked on was the “Plagiarism Checker.” I was not able to use this one because it’s only available in the premium version.

The “Summarizer Tool” was next. I, once again, pasted in my text. Without needing to do anything else, Quillbot gave me a list of keywords below the text I had pasted in. When I did click the Summarize button, it gave me a nice summary on the right side of my screen. It was pretty good. There’s also an option to get a bulleted list style summary, which I thought was especially helpful. I could use it to skim the ideas really quickly. I could see this feature being a nice time saver.

The sixth option on the menu was a Translator. Again, this did what the title suggested. It converted my pasted text into the language of my choice. From a drop-down menu, I could choose from 45 different language options. I could download or copy the translated text. One thing I liked about this translator is I could compare my original and translated versions in side-by-side view. Most translators I’ve used tend to replace the original text. This one kept the original on the left side, and presented the translated text right beside it, on the right. That allowed me to compare the two versions and figure out the translation for specific words and phrases that I may not have known otherwise.

The seventh tool was a Citation Generator. Within the tool, I could choose from a long list of citation styles, including MLA, APA, and many other ones, actually, that I’ve never heard of. After selecting my citation style, I could move on to generating a citation. There were several options here. I could enter a title, a URL, a digital object identifier number, if I had that, an ISBN, or even keywords. I’d put them in the search box and I’d hit Enter. For my experience, I tried pasting in a URL for a website, and quickly got a nice citation of that source. I also had the option of uploading a PDF to be cited, and I could choose to cite manually. When I clicked the “Manual Citation Option,” the tool allowed me to choose the type of source that I had—everything from books to articles to images to encyclopedia entries. There wasn’t anything there I couldn’t think of. From there, I just needed to fill in the fields on my screen before clicking “Save” to have my citation generated. I really liked this option because it gave me more control over the citation, and it helped me learn the process by actively involving me in the creation of the citation. I think this is one I’d use with students.

The last tool on the list was QuillBot Flow. This is a writing aid. I could choose to write an essay, blog, or research paper. The text field prompted me to enter my topic or a brief description of what I wanted to write. I typed in “Potential Solutions to the War in Ukraine” and was given an outline of possible related topics that I could write about. It listed itself as a reference at the bottom, giving me a citation in APA format. I appreciated that it was acknowledging that AI helped in writing this paper. It also offered a menu at the bottom to paraphrase, summarize, translate, and suggest text. If I were drafting a paper on this topic, I could choose one of those options to help me get started. You’ll need to decide how much AI help you want your students to have, and if you’d want them using the writing aid in your class. But like it or not, I think AI is here to stay, and students will probably need to learn how to use it effectively and ethically. Within QuillBot flow, a menu on the right side of the screen offered some additional options. One was titled “Research.” When I clicked that, I could do an AI-assisted web search in the panel on the side. I could build a list of sources, take notes, and ask for AI to review my work. In addition to the suggestions on the right menu, there were options to start a new draft and to begin with a template. Essentially, it was an AI-empowered toolkit to help me write my paper. In fact, I could write my paper right there in QuillBot beside these tools because it had a stripped-down word processor right on the page.

So that was the web version. And after digging into that, I decided to try installing the Chrome browser extension. I installed the extension and pinned it to my toolbar. When I clicked on the extension icon on the toolbar, it prompted me to open the Paraphrase Tool as a sidebar on the right side of my screen. That’s handy if you’re looking to paraphrase. What was more helpful, however, was that any time I used my Chrome browser to access a text field where I could type, the QuillBot was available. In my Google Doc of notes for this episode, for instance, a little QuillBot icon appeared on the side of the page with a number of suggestions it was offering. Then it underlined areas on my page where it had options for me to consider. The floating bot icon showed a number in red, and that indicated the number of suggestions it had on that particular page. If I click the floating bot, it opened the side panel that detailed each suggestion more completely. I could click the suggestion to accept it and have it change immediately in my writing sample. Again, you’ll need to decide to what degree you want your students using this and in what situations.

All right, so that’s the tool. But how might I use this tool?

Transition Music 9:17
How do I use it? Integration inspiration. Integration ideas.

Paul Beckermann 9:23
I could see a few different options. One, I could see using the Grammar Checker, when I was writing. I would need to make sure that I had the extension installed and that I was writing in a program that was viewable in my Chrome browser. Since I use Google Docs a lot, that would work for me really well.

Number two, I really like the Citation Generator, and could see using that to speed up the research process. I’d much rather have my students spend time with their writing than trying to figure out all the minutia of citing a source. It’s most important to me that they know they must cite it and how to get to a tool that can help them do that.

Number three, the translator is intuitive and effective. For students in my class who are learning English, this could be a really helpful tool for them, and I really like that they can see the two versions side by side.

Number four, the Summarizer could be used as a potential time saver when researching or working through long documents. By having QuillBot summarize the work, I could quickly determine if it was worth my time to dig in more deeply on that resource. There’s no sense spending a lot of time on it if it’s off topic, and the summarizer could really help me with that.

And number five, the QuillBot Flow tool intrigues me, and I do wonder if it could help me with my writing. It’s basically like having an AI chatbot available, but with a few guiding prompts built in to guide you as a writer. I liked how the research citation and notes tools were quickly accessible with a menu right on the right side of the screen. That could help eliminate having many tabs open on my browser. Using the templates or smart idea generator could also possibly save me time.

Now I’m not sure yet how I’d have my students use this initially, but it might be a really helpful tool once they’ve demonstrated to me that they’ve achieved the basic competencies of writing. I really don’t think it’ll be long before generative AI use is expected during the writing process, and not an extra or an option. This tool could give me a way to help students learn how to use it responsibly and effectively under my guidance in my classroom. So that’s QuillBot. It reminds me a lot of Grammarly, but with a few more options to assist with the actual composition of the writing. Although there’s a paid version, there’s enough free tools available without upgrading to make it worth trying out. Common Sense Education suggests that it would be best for students in grades 10 through 12, but you can make your own decision. I also found that Chrome users have given the extension a 4.3 out of 5 rating. If this sounds attractive to you, go ahead and check it out.

To learn more about today’s topic and explore other free resources, visit AvidOpenAccess.org. And, of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we’re joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening. Take care and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.