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Conestoga College has purchased an educational licence for Grammarly Premium, making it free to all Conestoga faculty, staff, and students. 

This teaching tip was prepared by Conestoga College’s Library Services department

What is Grammarly? 

Grammarly is primarily an editing software, similar to other commonly used editing tools like Microsoft Word’s built-in spelling and grammar checker. Using AI-technology, Grammarly automatically analyzes a piece of writing’s spelling, grammar, tone, and style. 

Unlike other tools, Grammarly not only identifies mistakes but offers explanations that can be used to better identify similar mistakes in the future. 

Should Students Use Grammarly? 

Allowing students to use Grammarly in courses that do not directly teach Western, academic English skills can help all students communicate their ideas. In courses that do teach these skills directly, you may determine use of Grammarly to be less appropriate. 

Ultimately, every faculty member should explore Grammarly and decide whether it will assist in their student’s learning needs and goals. 

Can Students Use Grammarly for Course Work? 

Whether or not Grammarly can be used in coursework is up to each faculty member. You may decide that students are not allowed to use Grammarly in your coursework.  

Generally, the Writing Services team and Academic Integrity Coordinator assert that using Grammarly in coursework is appropriate for the following reasons:  

  1. Grammarly teaches students how to correct writing errors; 
  1. Grammar checking software is widely available, and it is a standard feature in most word processing programs (Toncic, 2020, p. 41). 

From our testing, which is confirmed by Turnitin personnel, using Grammarly does not show AI-created content in the current version of the Turnitin checker. 

How Can Students Use Grammarly? 

Grammarly can help your students to communicate clearly, concisely, and professionally whether they are revising an essay, drafting an email, or adding content to an online blog. Grammarly offers explanations and suggestions when identifying mistakes in spelling, grammar, tone, and style. This can help students better understand their writing patterns and make better choices in future pieces of writing. 

Like any editing tool, it is important that users critically consider the suggestions being made before accepting any changes. 

Watch the video  below to learn how to download an extension into Outlook, Word, or Chrome: 

Conestoga College Library. (2020). Getting Started with Grammarly. Retrieved November 17th 2021 from https://youtu.be/VkaokC2a23I.

Want to Learn More? 

To learn more about Grammarly or connect your students with additional writing support, please contact Writing Services or visit our website. 

Reference 

Conestoga College Library. (2020). Getting Started with Grammarly [Video]. https://youtu.be/VkaokC2a23I.  

Toncic, J. (2020). Teachers, AI grammar checkers, and the newest literacies: Emending writing pedagogy and assessment. Digital Culture & Education, 12(1), 26-51. 

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