CommonTown Boosts Student Writing Engagement by 76% Using AWS-Powered AI

In traditional classrooms, high student-teacher ratios often make it difficult to build student confidence and develop writing skills. With as many as 35 students per teacher, opportunities for one-on-one feedback are limited. This is especially challenging in English writing and storytelling where students require guidance to express themselves creatively or to build the writing skills necessary for academic progress. These limitations can impede creativity and hinder their confidence and growth as independent learners.

CommonTown recognized these challenges as an opportunity to innovate. It set out to bridge the gap in support with a scalable solution that could provide tailored guidance for every student, regardless of class size. In early 2024, the company launched a pilot program, testing a personalized approach to learning in diverse classroom settings.

To provide personalized support at scale and improve student engagement, CommonTown implemented AWS services to deliver real-time, tailored guidance in writing. Using generative AI on AWS, the Writing Tutor app was designed to adapt to individual learning needs. This approach helped students build writing skills independently. As a result, the company transformed its ability to offer customized learning experiences across diverse classrooms.

This AI-driven approach simulated one-on-one tutoring, guiding students into confident, independent writers. Students rated the app overwhelmingly positive with 4- and 5-star feedback, reflecting high satisfaction with the learning experience. Students also noted that the app was fun to use, making the learning process more enjoyable and engaging.

Since trialing the app, 76.5 percent of student reported improved idea generation, and 73.5 percent found it easier to start writing. By scaling personalized support, the app also helped educators to focus on students needing additional guidance, which enhanced overall teaching effectiveness.

CommonTown selected Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed service that provides access to generative AI models through Application Programming Interface integration. The app utilized Claude 3 Haiku on Amazon Bedrock to generate dynamic prompts. These prompts led students through structured conversations, helping them organize ideas and develop storytelling skills.

To manage and store data from student interactions, the company turned to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), an object storage service known for its scalability and cost-effectiveness. With Amazon S3's automatic scaling, CommonTown seamlessly expanded storage as more students engaged with the app. This approach helped the team focus on improving the user experience while ensuring reliable access for students and educators. 

For compute resources, CommonTown deployed Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) to access resizable virtual servers. This setup helped the Writing Tutor app manage fluctuating demand. During peak classroom hours, the app could scale capacity to maintain a smooth and reliable experience. As a result, students experienced low latency and high responsiveness, which kept them focused on learning.

The app is preparing to go into full production and will roll out by December 2024. CommonTown also plans to expand the Writing Tutor app's reach throughout Southeast Asia, and is gearing for its launch in Malaysia. The company also intends to add support for other local languages like Mandarin and Malay, making personalized writing assistance accessible to a broader range of students.

To further enhance its educational impact, the company will extend the app to cover additional writing genres, including non-fiction, business and academic writing. These enhancements will help students develop a diverse set of writing skills, preparing them for both academic and professional success. CommonTown integrated the app with learning management systems, providing a seamless experience for schools and institutions. Additionally, CommonTown is adding audio input and output to the app making it even easier to use.

"With the generative AI-powered Writing Tutor app on AWS, we’re making edtech more accessible while ensuring the quality students need to succeed. Research shows that one-to-one tutoring can improve learners’ performance by as much as two sigma meaning even the weakest learner can achieve a passing grade. This opening up a fascinating future for teaching and learning. The excellent AWS enabled us to develop this app quickly. This app breaks down learning barriers so students can express their creativity with confidence, and teachers can focus on individual needs. As we expand into new languages and regions, our goal is to unlock greater educational opportunities across Southeast Asia," said Joel Loo, chief executive officer and founder of CommonTown.

To learn more, visit aws.amazon.com/education.