What Professors Should Know About the Rise of Online Essay Tools?

The academic world has changed a lot lately. Students now have many online essay tools that seemed like fantasy just ten years ago. From grammar checkers to AI essay makers, these tools change how students write. For professors, knowing this new reality isn’t optional — it’s key to good teaching and fair grading. 

Types of Online Essay Tools Available to Students 

Students today use many kinds of digital writing help. Most professors know about basics like Grammarly, but tech has gone far beyond simple grammar checking. 

Tools include: 

• AI writing helpers that can make whole essays  
• Tools that rewrite existing content 
• Research helpers that find and sum up sources 
• Citation makers that format references 
• Platforms for team writing and editing 

Professional term paper writers have been around for years, but today’s digital options make getting help easier and cheaper. What once needed a human writer can now be done with an AI service costing just a few dollars a month. 

Digital writing aids in academia range widely in how advanced and ethically tricky they are. Some, like citation tools, just save time on formatting. Others, like AI text makers, can create content that seems to show knowledge the student might not have. The tech keeps moving faster than most school rules can keep up with. 

How Students Are Using These Tools in Academic Work?

How students use these tools often surprises professors. While some might think students use them to cheat, the truth has more sides. Many students see these tools as good study aids or assignment writing help. 

Common uses include: 

1. Getting past writer’s block with AI-made outlines 
2. Fixing grammar and style while writing 
3. Making hard research papers simpler to understand 
4. Helping non-native speakers write better English 
5. Speeding up editing to meet tight deadlines 

Most users of EssayWriterCheap are international students who benefit from exposure to well-written English academic papers. This shows an important truth — many students use these services not to skip learning, but to better understand academic writing in a language they’re still learning. The examples these tools give can be truly helpful for learning. 

A recent survey found 67% of students say they use AI writing tools for schoolwork, but only 22% of teachers felt sure they could spot AI-written content. This gap creates big challenges for grading and academic honesty rules. 

Potential Impacts on Learning and Assessment 

People continue to debate the impact of online essay tools on real learning. Critics say these tools skip the thinking that makes writing assignments valuable. Supporters say they help students focus on deeper thinking by handling basic writing tasks. 

AI-powered academic tools raise basic questions about what writing skills students really need today. If AI can handle certain parts of writing, maybe schools should focus on what AI can’t do — critical thinking, creative ideas, and ethical reasoning. 

Harvard researcher Justin Reich thinks writing tech is following the same path as calculators in math class. First banned as “cheating,” calculators later became part of math classes as teachers saw that doing calculations wasn’t the only skill worth building. Writing classes might need to change to focus on skills beyond what AI can do. 

What makes this harder is uneven knowledge about these tools. Professor awareness of writing software varies greatly across age groups, subjects, and schools. A study found professors under 40 were three times better at spotting AI-written content than those over 60, showing a big age gap in knowledge. 

Adapting Teaching and Assessment Strategies 

Rather than trying to fight technology, professors might try adapting. The best approaches accept these tools while refocusing on what matters most. 

Good approaches include: 

• Assignments that need personal experience or class knowledge 
• In-class writing along with take-home work 
• Projects beyond just text (videos, talks, etc.) 
• Looking at process by collecting outlines and drafts 
• Talking openly with students about these tools 

Technology in student writing habits will keep changing no matter how schools respond. The question is not whether students will use online essay tools, but how education can evolve to accommodate them. Some professors have tried including these tools in assignments, asking students to improve AI-generated text. 

Dr. Ethan Mollick at Wharton School supports the “AI-included” approach, saying that banning is both impractical and unhelpful. Instead, he teaches students to use AI as a partner while thinking critically about its limits. 

Balancing Innovation and Academic Integrity 

The tension between new technology and traditional academic values creates real worries. In essay writing, online tools raise questions about academic integrity, but addressing these challenges requires more than just restrictions—it demands thoughtful adaptation.

Academic honesty in the AI age means rethinking what counts as “cheating.” Is using an AI grammar checker different from using a human tutor? If a student uses AI for ideas but writes the final paper themselves, is that cheating? These questions have no easy answers. 

Detection-only approaches won’t solve the problem. Tools like GPTZero can spot obvious AI writing, but users can avoid detection by editing or using multiple tools. A better approach might be rebuilding assessment around uniquely human parts of learning. 

As writing technologies keep evolving, teaching and grading must also change. The best professors will be those who neither reject technology nor surrender to it, but thoughtfully incorporate online essay tools into learning while preserving the unique strengths of human creativity and critical thinking.