The standard model for academic writing feedback at scale delivers speed, but not relevance. The guidance is generic, the data governance is opaque, and the institution has little control over what students are told. Annota was built to fix that.
Annota is an AI-powered writing feedback platform built by LabNext70. Students upload draft assessments and receive formative feedback across critical thinking, structure, language and tone, grammar and spelling, and referencing – anchored to specific passages in their work, with guidance that explains what could be stronger without rewriting their text for them. Where a student includes their assessment task, Annota flags where the draft has drifted from the brief.
Feedback that teaches, not rewrites
This is Earned Learning in practice. Remove the friction that blocks learning; preserve the friction that builds it. When AI does the thinking for students, they get better documents and learn less. Annota refuses that trade.
Grounded in institutional resources
Annota grounds its feedback in the institution's own academic standards – the same writing guides, style conventions, and assessment-type expectations that students are taught. The feedback links students directly to the source material, closing the loop between AI guidance and institutional knowledge.
"We teach students that responsible AI use means verifying what AI tells you against reliable sources," says Shannon Tyrrell, AI Innovation Lead at LabNext70. "Annota brings that full circle. The feedback comes from institutional resources, and students can go back to those sources themselves."
Data stays where it should
Annota operates within a sovereign, institutionally controlled environment. Student drafts are processed within governed systems, not sent to an external AI service. Student work is not used to train AI models, and students retain full ownership of their submissions.
"Students shouldn't have to give away rights to their work just to receive feedback on it. Their work stays their work."
The cost case
Replacing an existing writing feedback service with Annota delivers considerable annual savings, with ongoing AI processing costs representing a fraction of typical contract values – while giving the institution direct control over service quality, feedback design, and data governance.
Contact LabNext70 to learn more.
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