Introduction to Draftback: Tracking student writing in the AI era

We are pleased to announce the second session in our event series, “Transparency of Student Writing in the AI Era: Trends and Tools”. This session will focus on the tool Draftback.

Draftback is a Chrome extension that allows instructors to replay a Google Doc’s entire writing history as a video, providing a detailed look at how a piece of writing was produced. By visualizing revisions, pauses, and the overall development of a document, Draftback helps educators better understand students’ writing processes, identify patterns, and support more transparent and informed assessment.

The tool offers a 30-day free trial.

Our invited speaker, James Somers, is the author of Draftback, an independent software developer, and a writer, will provide an introduction to the tool, demonstrate its core functionalities, and discuss practical strategies for integrating it into teaching and learning practice.

The session is organized by the AI Topics Interest Group and is designed for faculty, instructional designers, librarians, technologists, and anyone interested in understanding how AI is influencing writing practices and academic integrity.