One of the main functions in a teacher's routine is to correct students' tests and work, which usually takes a considerable amount of time. This task, however, can be facilitated with the use of technology. A group of researchers from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) created Tutoria, a tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help professors with corrections. The solution will be presented to the public at the 24th edition of the RNP Workshop (WRNP).

Technology will be one of the highlights of the INOVA Stage, on May 22nd. Developers will present Tutoria starting at 3:30 pm in the space created by RNP to show innovative projects and solutions. 

“In addition to being able to talk to those responsible for the project in the demonstration area, the public will have the opportunity to follow the more detailed presentation in pitch format. Those responsible for Tutoria will show innovation in practice. We hope that INOVA Stage can meet a demand to bring the public face-to-face and online closer to RNP's projects and actions”, said Felipe Nascimento, organizer of INOVA Stage.

The idea of using artificial intelligence in education came after conversations with students and teachers about how to give students feedback on their activities.

“The original idea was to create a tool to help the teacher send only personalized feedback to each student. We went to talk to students and teachers and saw that if we made a tool that would also help the teacher to make the most basic correction of the activities, it would have a better chance of being used”, explains Rafael Ferreira Mello, assistant professor at UFRPE and Tutoria coordinator.

The tool works as an assistant when correcting papers. The teacher selects excerpts from a student's response, marking each one as right or wrong, and writing a comment. The technology identifies responses similar to those already corrected and offers the option to use previously given feedback. Thus, the task becomes more agile.

“The teacher connects Tutoria to classroom environments at the institution, such as Moodle or Google Classroom. Student responses are then pulled into Tutoria. When the correction is finished, the system returns to the classroom platform and sends an email notification to the student. As the teacher corrects, the system learns and improves”, emphasizes Rafael Mello.

One of the main steps of the initiative was joining RNP's Advanced Services RD&I Program, which seeks to develop innovative products. With RNP's support, technology advanced, and the developers became a startup. Now they are looking for clients, universities all over Brazil to use the technology.

In addition to the presentation of innovative technologies, WRNP 2023 will also discuss topics such asArtificial Intelligence, Open RAN and Machine Learning, among many others. Check out the full event schedule here.

The WRNP will take place at the Royal Tulip hotel in Brasília, on May 22nd and 23rd, alongside the Brazilian Symposium on Computer Networks and Distributed Systems (SBRC). Click here to secure your spot at the in-person event.

Those unable to attend the WRNP in person will be able to follow the free live broadcast of the event's main schedule. Just access the WRNP website and choose the “Online Only” option.