The battle over cheating and plagiarism is most certainly not a new one. Technology, however, and the increasing pressure placed on students to succeed, seems to have put the spotlight directly on plagiarism and how to combat it. An article published last spring by Time Magazine discusses the sometimes controversial use of plagiarism detection sites such as Turnitin.com. Many teachers use this site as a way to determine whether or not a student has plagiarized a paper. According to the article, some students feel that this indicates a lack of trust between teacher and student. Is an "honor code" or a school wide directive against cheating enough to keep students honest?
In an article published in USA Today, Michael Josephson, of the Josephson Institute who recently conducted a survey on cheating and stealing, feels that society and schools are not doing enough to combat dishonest behavior. He feels that "most Americans are too blase about ethical shortcomings among young people and in society at large."
In a world where corporate corruption is pervasive, are our students being taught how to make the right decisions even when it is so easy to make the wrong ones? Does technology make it easier to cheat? Are students more likely to cheat because technology provides them with so many ways to do so? Should schools be doing more to educate students about plagiarism and ethics in technology? Do students have a different idea of what constitutes cheating?
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This blog will be a place where class members can discuss issues related to Web2.0, information literacy and the role technology plays in our lives.
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"We will truly lose the battle if we think we're going to fight technology with technology," says Tim Dodd, executive director of the Duke-affiliated Center for Academic Integrity. "Kids will always be two generations ahead of us." -TIme Magazine.
Ms. Conmy, I definitely agree with this statement. To me it seems almost impossible to "fight technology with technology." Turnitin.com a website that compares papers with many webpages and articles and other sources to check the originality of the essays. I think that it can be very easy for someone to get around it. If people today can hack the presidents computer and do all kinds of other things that we didn't know were possible, how hard can it be to get around a website? Also, it is so true that kids will always be ahead of the adults in the technological world. We grew up with this stuff and it all seems very easy to use. While many adults are trying to figure out the basics, we are doing more advanced things that would take our parents a long time to learn. We also have more free-time than adults do.
To those who read the first article, I must say I am surprised. I mean come on, these students actual care about trust between them and the teachers. I'm sure many due, but come on it is just an excuse so they don't get caught doing what there not supposed to be doing. The schools have the right to make sure that no one is using plagiarism to get ahead. I like the Air force way, trust, but verify.
I agree with AJ when he says that a website isn't hard to hack. I know people who crazy stuff in the Mac Lab all the time, but I don't think the presidents computer is free candy to a hacker. Maybe the Pentagon or NASA, but not the president. And, yes, we kids and teens will always be a bit better at technology than adults because, as funny as this sound’s, we have seniority in the world of tech. We grew up with it and have been using since we were five so getting around a website in High School shouldn’t be that hard.
In response to Ms. Conmy’s post and the article by Time Magazine, I think that checking a student’s work for plagiarism is a lack of trust between the teacher and the student. I think that the essays or papers shouldn’t be checked using a website such as Turnitin. Teachers shouldn’t do this because I feel as though they should first talk with the student if they feel as though the assignment has been plagiarized. Last, Teachers should do what they feel is right and if they rather check it for plagiarism using the internet rather then just talking with the student, then by all means be my guest.
I definitely agree with Scott when he said “I don't think the presidents computer is free candy to a hacker. Maybe the Pentagon or NASA, but not the president.” Just like someone hacked Sarah Palin’s yahoo account, I bet it is just as easy to hack a government file (to an experienced hacker that is). Every time someone comes up with a new “fool proof” plan, it is always beaten by someone who is not a fool; hence even while the world is unsteadily evolving, it is constantly being backslidden.
Ms. Conmy,
I agree with your post. I think that plagiarizing is wrong and I do believe that papers should be checked using turnitin.com. To me, it would not be fair if one student stood up all night and did a paper while another one just copied and pasted everything. Turnitin.com is a good way to make sure that doesn’t happen. I think technology does make it easier to cheat. Technology can tempt someone to cheat in many ways. For example, when you are researching for a topic on Google and you find information about it people are likely to copy and paste it or reword it very lightly. All the people have to do is type the topic in a search engine and loads of information will instantly come up. That is why technology can tempt a student to cheat. I do believe that schools should try and do more to educate children about plagiarism. There are probably so many times when someone plagiarizes something and they do not even know it. If schools could educate children about plagiarism I think it would not happen as much.
“In response to Ms. Conmy’s post and the article by Time Magazine, I think that checking a student’s work for plagiarism is a lack of trust between the teacher and the student. I think that the essays or papers shouldn’t be checked using a website such as Turnitin. Teachers shouldn’t do this because I feel as though they should first talk with the student if they feel as though the assignment has been plagiarized. Last, Teachers should do what they feel is right and if they rather check it for plagiarism using the internet rather then just talking with the student, then by all means be my guest.”
Loren,
I strongly disagree with the first part of your comment. Some people may think that checking a student’s work for plagiarism is a lack of trust between the teacher and the student but I do not. Like I said in my first post, how would you feel if you stayed up all night writing a paper and someone else just copied and pasted theirs and they got a better grade than you? However, this is just the way I see it.
“To those who read the first article, I must say I am surprised. I mean come on, these students actual care about trust between them and the teachers. I'm sure many due, but come on it is just an excuse so they don't get caught doing what there not supposed to be doing. The schools have the right to make sure that no one is using plagiarism to get ahead. I like the Air force way, trust, but verify.”
Scott,
I totally agree with you about your comment. Yes, many students do care about the trust between themselves and their teachers but many of them will use that as an excuse for just taking a short cut to getting their work done. I also think schools should have the right to check if a student plagiarized his/her work or not. It is the only way to make sure no one is cheating their way through school.
AJ,
I agree with you when you said, “If people today can hack the presidents computer and do all kinds of other things that we didn't know were possible, how hard can it be to get around a website? Also, it is so true that kids will always be ahead of the adults in the technological world. We grew up with this stuff and it all seems very easy to use.” I agree with you because I also think that it is possible for a hacker to get around turnitin.com. Like you said, if people could do things that we didn’t know were possible on the computer, how hard could it be to get around a website. It is also true that kids will always be ahead of adults (besides hackers) with computers. We grew up with computers and technology while they grew up with Atari. We also have much more free time to learn new things about the computer while adults do not.
I think that in many school the teachers are making the attempt to teach their students what is right and wrong in researching for a paper. Although they do make this attempt I think that the student ignores the lession and the consequences. In todays world all of the available tecnology makes the research process much harder with all of the internet temptations. Before the paper writing process I think that the teacher should focus a whole lession on the imporance of academic honisty and how to site for a paper. Finally the word cheating is expressed in many different ways and it is interprited different by teachers and students. For students it can be used as many different but cheating on a paper is not usially one of the usage phrases that comes to mind.
I believe that the only good Turintin will do is only going to last for maybe a few weeks to a month if it ever gets incorporated into a nation-wide thing. People are constantly finding loopholes and ways around things, especially hackers. Meanwhile, in the short period of time that it is instated, it will destroy any sort of student-teacher bond that was made during the years that they have been in the classroom together. When you think about it, people found out how to jailbreak the iPhone just two days after it's release! No matter how "flawless" this site may be, it can not last forever.
Now on to the second article. I see where people are coming from, but you can't punish children as a whole, because not everyone is breaking rules, and some kids may have done one thing that they now regret. But even then, it's no excuse for letting it go. I feel that people blame the kids and society for too much of this, and that you have to go back to the source of their knowledge, their homes. Parents are trying too hard to be their kid's "best friend", because they can't bear to see their child hurt when they punish them. I understand that, but nobody said that parenting would be easy. It requires a sacrifice, you must give up what you want to do what is right. Besides, if you don't punish your kids from the start, theft and cheating will take place, and who knows what else when they get older! It's only hurting them in the long run, because people like Michael Josephson will attack them socially if they do something wrong.
I agree with the statement from the Time Magazine that AJ put out because it is so true, no matter what adults do kids will always be two steps ahead. This is so true since this was the generation that we grew up with. I also agree with him when he states that no matter what adults do to restrict us from using technology and the internet, we will always find a way around it.
Anthony brings up a good point when he says he agrees with the Air Force way, Trust but verify, I agree with this approach. Yes, teachers should definitely trust their students but to boost their trust they should make sure that the student is using his or her own ideas. Also, because as a former 8th grader I noticed that many of the younger students seemed to have a sense of pride when they felt their teacher's trusted them rather than worrying about what others around them are doing.
I disagree with Dominic because he states that Turnitin will only last for a little because hackers will find a way to get around it. When you think about it I am sure that the Turnitin staff will also be constantly modifying its uses and strength to catch plagiarism as students come closer to eliminating being caught. To add to that I am lead to believe that as teconology advances they will produce newer better software to catch plagarism and restrict it from going to new extremes.
I see the Turnitin site as a great resource for stoping plagiarism. The fact that students are complaining about trust issues is just them trying to get around the site. The artice in USA Today also proves a very good point for the continued and hopeful increase of sites such as Turintin. The school system is finally holding the student's feet to the fire and at the same time trying to deter other attempts at plagiarism in the future. Technology is really a cursed gift. On one hand it has improved many lives and makes handling things such as investments or taxes a lot easier, but on the other hand it has oppened the door to new things such as hackers and plagiarism. With sites like Turnitin up and running, schools now have the tools to beat plagiarism.
Aj brings up a good point in the article that says kids are always ahead of adults when it comes to technology. I think a lot of sites that hire kids to do the more advanced operations as well as spotting plagiarism because these kids, mostly college kids, have seen and possibly done all the tricks, they know how they all work.
Ms. Comny, i strongly agree that plagiarism is wrong but i believe it is almost imposible to stop. In our days children are always looking for the easy way out and if stealing information is a way for them to do it they will. I believe that the reason for all this plagiarism is because we live in a more less lazy socioty. Alot of children these days do not care about morals and edgacation. there for it seems like a good way to fight it is by getting the message across to the youth. If we let them know that its wrong when they are young, it is less likely to do it when they are older. I aslo think the whole thing with the kids and teachers having trust will not work. i mean don't get me wrong i know thatr teachers should trust their student and we should trust our techers but many student are not like that. again i say it is lack of respect and morals. they would rather loose trust, steal, and risk being expelled just to get the easy way out.
"Parents are trying too hard to be their kid's "best friend", because they can't bear to see their child hurt when they punish them. I understand that, but nobody said that parenting would be easy. It requires a sacrifice, you must give up what you want to do what is right."
Nick,
I agree when you say that "parents are trying too hard to be their kid's best friend." Parents aren't supposed to be parents, not their child's best friend. With that being said, they can't always be super strict on them because then a feeling of almost mistrust begins within the relationship. The child may stop telling his/her parents about his/her problems and/or feelings and concerns. What happens then? The child does something wrong and understands why it is wrong and is sorry, he/she tells the parents and they freak out and ground the kid for a while and yell at the kid. What do you think the kid is going to do the next time the child does something he/she shouldn't have? The kid isn't going to tell the parents and will try to keep them from finding out. If this continues, the kid will keep doing bad stuff and parents will not be able to help because they have no idea what's going on. Then they find out and yell and scream at the kid and ground him/her again. That's not the way it should work. The parents can not be too lenient but also not too strict, just at that fine line where they feel comfortable with their kid and vise-versa.
Ryan,
I agree with you that some websites may hire kids because they may have used some of the techniques. Have you ever seen the movie Catch Me If You Can? It is based on a true story where the cops have been trying to capture this guy for a really long time. He flew passenger planes even though he didn't know how to fly, he became a doctor even though he didn't have a doctorate degree, and basically did whatever he wanted. He payed his taxes and got money by taking clear stickers that looked like they were part of the plane off model airplanes and sticking them onto the check to make it look like he worked for the airplane company and it was his check. He then mailed it in and received money from the checks because it looked like the checks were legitimate. He got the money because when you cash in a check, they give you what it's worth and they don't take the money out of the account until a couple of days later. When they found out that there was no money in his account for the check, it was too late because he already got the money and left. He moved from city to city, state to state, and country to country, he spoke on the phone with the police trying to catch him yet they still couldn't get him. When they finally caught him/he surrendered, they asked him to work for the CIA, since he was the smartest person they have ever seen who got past everyone for the longest time. They wanted him to help in catching thieves and other people that could not be caught, and with his help, they caught most of them. That movie definitely relates to this post. it is true that some kids may have used tactics to get around things that no one knew about, the kids may have shared those tactics with their friends who shared them with their friends. If one of those kids is now working for that particular job, think of how many more people will be caught doing things they shouldn't be doing because no one knew about them.
Scott, i agree with you 100%. im sure some children do really care about trust with thier teachers, but most kids use it as an excuse to just take the easy way out. i think that the whole trust thing should not be the only thing inforst. the teachers should go further and inforce plagiarism harder.
Aj,
I have never seen that movie but you are absolutely right. These kids have been sharing new ways to plagiarize for a while now, that being a major reason why plagiarism has spread so fast. Now that kids that have seen and done plagiarism are working against it, the battle will be much more equal. Hopefully kids will begin to realize that it is a lot harder to not get caught than before and hopefully that will deter them.
"Technology is really a cursed gift. On one hand it has improved many lives and makes handling things such as investments or taxes a lot easier, but on the other hand it has oppened the door to new things such as hackers and plagiarism."
Ryan,
I agree with you that technology has changed our world for the better and the worse, but I disagree with you on the fact that it is a "cursed gift." It is true that technology has made it easier to cheat and hack and all that stuff, but if technology wasn't there, people would find different ways to do it. I think that technology makes it more convenient to cheat and do illegal stuff but it definitely is not the only source. Before we had computers, people still cheated and did bad things, they just did it more creatively.
In response to Anthony Panvini’s second post when he said, “Loren, I strongly disagree with the first part of your comment. Some people may think that checking a student’s work for plagiarism is a lack of trust between the teacher and the student but I do not. Like I said in my first post, how would you feel if you stayed up all night writing a paper and someone else just copied and pasted theirs and they got a better grade than you? However, this is just the way I see it.” I do partly agree with this, but you still have to look at both sides of the situation. What if, one morning you came into school and did all of your morning routines. In homeroom during the announcements, Mr. Halligan said “Would Anthony Panvini please come to the Dean’s Office”. Down in the office, one of your teachers accuses you of plagiarizing your paper. You are told, “You have three days suspension and you receive a “0” for the whole assignment.” And, if you cannot bring your grade up then you will have SUMMER SCHOOL or worse be EXPELLED. Anthony, you are right I would be very upset if “you stayed up all night writing a paper and someone else just copied and pasted theirs and they got a better grade than you”, but I would be even more upset if I were accused of plagiarizing (even though I didn’t) and then I would get in trouble for it, (even though someone did plagiarize and they didn’t get caught). You’re right, I guess its just a matter of opinion.
In response to Joe K, when he said “I disagree with Dominic because he states that Turnitin will only last for a little because hackers will find a way to get around it. When you think about it I am sure that the Turnitin staff will also be constantly modifying its uses and strength to catch plagiarism as students come closer to eliminating being caught. To add to that I am lead to believe that as teconology advances they will produce newer better software to catch plagarism and restrict it from going to new extremes.” My opinion is that you can’t know for sure if “Turnitin will only last for a little because hackers will find a way to get around it” or if “that as teconology advances they will produce newer better software to catch plagarism and restrict it from going to new extremes”. Joe and Dominic, I don’t think that it is even worth your time, trying to decide which will beat which. This is one of those situations where you’ll just have to wait and see which one will come out on top, but who knows how long we will have to wait. It could just be one of those everlasting struggles (sort of like good vs. evil). I am neutral and not taking any sides because I know that only time will tell.
Loren,
I disagree with your statement that checking for plagiarized content in your student's work diminishes the trust between a student and a teacher. I do feel that doing this too thoroughly will, though. For example, if my teacher goes through 100 separate websites just to find something that may not exist, I would be affected by the fact that my teacher does not know or trust me enough to believe that I did not cheat on a paper or report.
Loren,
I agree with what you said about Turnitin lasting more than a few days or a month. Technology has come so far and it will keep expanding and evolving. We have come this far in technological advances, it would be a huge slap in the face to technology if we are unable to keep sites like Turnitin updated and running. I am sure in time it will even improve just as most things do.
I agree that plagiarism is wrong, but this website called Turnitin.com is not the correct method at trying to prevent plagiarism. First of all, it is next to impossible to prevent everyone from cheating. Second, while this site may cause kids to hesistate from cheating, there will be a lack of trust between the teacher and the students, like the article has said. I feel that the best way to tell if the student is cheating is if the student uses cite their work, which will be able to help teachers see if students are just copying and pasting other people's work into their paper, or if students are paraphrasing correctly. Citations have a more trustworthy approach rather than Turnitin.com, as students know that teachers will look at the websites that are in the citations.
Vic, I agree with you when you say that we should talk to kids about plagiarism and why it is wrong when they are young. kids do not feel it is much easier to copy and paste information from other people into their own work and say that it is their own. While this is easier, children are not going to learn anything from doing this. However, if kids learn why plagiarism is bad, and the consequences of it, then they will be less likely to cheat when they get older.
Vic,
I agree with you when you say that we must get the fact that plagiarism is wrong across to children at an early age. If they do not have the correct moral values early on in life, it will be that much harder to teach them the correct things to do later. I also feel that kids should be reminded of these on a regular basis.
In response to AJ's first post about fighting technology with technology, i agree with him. If people put out new technology to try to stop children from plagiarizing the children will just use the new technology to find another way.i mean take most of our parents for example. in sure the most of them are far from computer geniuses and some might not even know how to work a computer. if more sophisticated technology comes out it will just leave them more stumped on how fight plagiarism. while children are just finding knew ways to plagiarize with it. i definetly
do not think it is a good way to stop plagiarism. i might seem redundant saying this again but i believe if children are just told when they are young and tout these lessons frequently through out life it will get them think enough to know it is wrong and not want to do it. If you think about it actually is an unaddressed thing today. i mean sure people write about it on the internet, bout how many kids would search for this and want to read about it? Also we only spent one section before break in class learning about it. Now i understand we have other things to teach but in my grade school did not talk about plagiarism one time. If people can get kids thinking then they might just be able to decrease plagiarism.
I agree with the article from USA Today when the writer talks about how we live in a busier generation. I play a lot of sportsand am part of many teams, so on weekdays, as soon as i get home, I have either a practice or a game. I do not have enough time to study and do homework, and with all the tests we have, it puts a lot of pressure on me. I have not cheated yet on any assignments or tests, but if this pressure continues, and if it increases, then it will become more tempting to cheat.
I agree with Joe K when he says, "I think that the teacher should focus a whole lession on the importance of academic honesty and how to cite for a paper." Teachers do not focus enough on the consequences of plagiriasm and why it is bad. Teachers need to talk to students about this, but they can't just make a quick reference to it. Also, if we teach kids how to cite information at an early age, then they will learn that if they plagiarize, then teachers will find out about it. Citations give credit to sites that information is taken from, but students should not copy and paste information. Instead, teachers should teach students how to paraphrase information so that students will be able to put information into their own words. Teachers should also talk about paraphrasing to students at a younger age because when the students get older, paraphrasing won't be as tricky.
While it is important that schools try to reinforce lessons about honesty and ethics, the primary teachers are the parents. It is critical that children observe their parents acting in an honest way (not ripping off cable companies' cheating on their taxes). Schools do need to have honor codes to help the student who didn't learn about cheating at home. Technology defiantly makes it easer, with a great temptation on downloading music. People who would never steal from a music artist feel free to steal his music from the computer.
While it is important that schools try to reinforce lessons about honesty and ethics, the primary teachers are the parents. It is critical that children observe their parents acting in an honest way (not ripping off cable companies' cheating on their taxes). Schools do need to have honor codes to help the student who didn't learn about cheating at home. Technology defiantly makes it easer, with a great temptation on downloading music. People who would never steal from a music artist feel free to steal his music from the computer.
Ryan,
while I agree with you that Turnitin.com is a great website for determining whether a student is plagiarizing or not, but this site will not last for long. Like Nick said, hackers will be able to break into this site and find loopholes in the system. While this site may modify the site to prevent hackers from breaking in, hackers will still be able to find a way around the modifications. This site may last for a couple of months at most, but eventually, it will be hacked enough to render it useless
Giuliano, unfortunately I have to say that that is a little dramatic. Sure hackers will always find loopholes, it is what they do, but I don't think they are going to render it useless. Maybe out dated is the phrase I would pick, but yes it will not last long as a top notch system and it will degrade into just another website. I do admire their work though, they have an extensive system.
Joe,
I disagree with your statement that teachers should spend time before every important paper stressing the importance of academic honesty because if teachers were to do that, then we would not learn nearly as much as we should be learning about the actual project that the teacher may intend for that class to pick up on. Perhaps and after school course once every week or so would work, but I think that stressing the point every single time is just a bit much.
Scott,
I completely agree with your comment on AJ's post. Some people exaggerate how much more advanced kids are than adults in technology, but the adults that make sites such as Turnitin.com are trained to excel in stuff like this, whereas we are kids (and a few hackers) that had to figure most of this out on our own. I still don't believe that this is an even playing field just because of the sheer numbers of kids that want this site to collapse.
Ms. Conmy,
I would have to agree with your post. I think with plagiarism being such big issue it is hard for teachers to trust their students. We also can not act like plagiarism is something of the 21st century. It has been around forever. And with web 2.0 begin so easy so edit it is easy to plagiarize unintentionally. Are any ideas really your own.? I also believe that people today are just to lazy to cross check their information since there is so much out there.
Honestly, this day in age, I would hate to be a teacher. In todays world there are many ways to cheat, whether it be plagiarizing a paper or cheating on a test. I agree with the statement from Time Magazine, "We will truly lose the battle if we think we're going to fight technology with technology," says Tim Dodd, executive director of the Duke-affiliated Center for Academic Integrity. "Kids will always be two generations ahead of us." While the battle may not be won, I think teachers should still use whatever technology available. I would not be offended if a teacher used Turnitin.com on my paper. In my opinion, teachers do not need to trust their students, however there should definitely be some level of respect.
The issue of plagiarism with students, in my opinion, is a very confusing, gray area. I disagree with many points made in the first article by Time Magazine because I do not believe that the issue should be over student trust. I think that having to deal with the issue of plagiarism shows a weakness in students. Although the technology today does indeed make the temptation to cheat much greater, the severity of the situation definitely shows a lack of moral character in students. The argument made in the article by USA Today, that, “The competition is greater…” and that, “…the pressures on kids have increased dramatically” is the reason that students are resulting cutting corners on homework or papers, makes sense. The things that are expected and required out of students today is overwhelming and much greater then years ago.
As a high school student, I do not understand how you could not know you were cheating while you were doing it. I think that students know that they are doing the wrong thing when they plagiarize, but that the reason more and more students are taking shortcuts on school work is because the temptation to plagiarize is only a click away when typing a paper.
“Honestly, this day in age, I would hate to be a teacher. In todays world there are many ways to cheat, whether it be plagiarizing a paper or cheating on a test. I agree with the statement from Time Magazine, "We will truly lose the battle if we think we're going to fight technology with technology," says Tim Dodd, executive director of the Duke-affiliated Center for Academic Integrity. "Kids will always be two generations ahead of us." While the battle may not be won, I think teachers should still use whatever technology available. I would not be offended if a teacher used Turnitin.com on my paper. In my opinion, teachers do not need to trust their students, however there should definitely be some level of respect.” Kev Kane
Kevin, I agree with some points you made but disagree in others. I also would not enjoy the job of a teacher today, but using sites like turnitin.com, in my opinion does show distrust in students. The idea of “fighting technology with technology” does not sound affective at all. Maybe instead of trying to hold on to the method of running papers through turnitin, teachers should try attacking the websites that sell papers. When hearing that some of these sites will even guarantee “running in to no problems with plagiarism,” I couldn’t see any other use for using these papers then for cheating.
Giuliano, you say that sites such as Turniton.com are not the correct methods of dealing with plagiarism. If they are not the correct methods, then what are? I feel that students are using whatever means necessary to plagiarize and cheat, and since students are using all means necessary, teachers should use all means necessary to. You also say that using Turniton.com causes "a lack of trust." Trust is something gained through friendship, and unless you and your teacher are going to become best friends, trust is not necessary between a peer and teacher.
“To those who read the first article, I must say I am surprised. I mean come on, these students actual care about trust between them and the teachers. I'm sure many due, but come on it is just an excuse so they don't get caught doing what there not supposed to be doing. The schools have the right to make sure that no one is using plagiarism to get ahead. I like the Air force way, trust, but verify.” Scott
Scott, I agree with you all the way. I do not understand why this is being used as a way to stop teachers from using turnitin.com. This is obviously an excuse being used so that getting away with plagiarism is easier. I agree with the schools that are taking the stand, fighting back, and still using turnitin.com to check papers. I understand that argument that when using these sites the sites should be required to pay the writers of the papers because that is what is holding these sites up, but the reason for stopping the use of these websites should not be because of teacher-student trust.
Will, I do not see why you feel that teachers need to trust you. I am honestly okay with a teacher not trusting me. As far as using Turnitin.com, I think that that has nothing to do with trust. A teacher's job is to educate you and make shore you attain knowledge, without using shortcuts. Using Turnitin does not question your honesty or trust, it simply verifies your work. I am glad teachers are using Turnitin because it is proving that the hard work I turned in is my own work.
“Some people exaggerate how much more advanced kids are than adults in technology, but the adults that make sites such as Turnitin.com are trained to excel in stuff like this, whereas we are kids (and a few hackers) that had to figure most of this out on our own. I still don't believe that this is an even playing field just because of the sheer numbers of kids that want this site to collapse.” Nick
Nick I agree with you 100%. In one of the articles it says that, “Kids will always be two generations ahead of us.” This is a very odd statement because this time we have run in to a problem because of this site which was created by adults. I also agree with you when you say, “We are kids had to figure most of this out on our own,” because almost everything I have learned about computers has been a result of my own discovery. Many people say that is why kids learn technology so much faster. Opposite of adults, we have no worry whereas adults see the money in the computer and don’t want to break anything. Kids point, click, and deal with the consequences later.
I think kids in our generation think that they might not get caught for plagiarism and do it anyway. But whenever you are stealing the work and ideas of others your likely to get caught because you are using the exact quotes and theories of that individual. I don't know why this generation is doing it so much, for many bad reasons and its easy to create your own work then trying to re-word someone else's to make it look like yours.
To me personally I think that the teachers do have a right to use technology such as turnitin.com to check if a student has plagiarized or not. The teachers can do whatever they like to check what we do is ours simply because they can and we have no say in it. Trust hinders a teacher’s ability to teach and correct things. Mr. Coyle during class one day told us a story about a student whom he trusted. Mr. Coyle also uses turnitin.com to check if a paper is plagiarized, but when he decided to use turnitin.com on his trusted student he found out that he plagiarized on that paper. In that story just destroyed all of the students who accuse the teachers of now trusting them. Instead, in this case a teacher has trusted his student but look at what happen, the trusted student has plagiarized. Plagiarism is a very serious issue if a student does plagiarize and does not get caught because then he/ she got a good grade but did not show any work or effort in it. In return our generation’s work force will have no idea what they are doing because they never learned it they just took everything from another person and learned nothing.
Kevin, I agree with you but, it is always good to gain the trust of a teacher, not just have that person educate you but if you gain their trust the student and teacher can work more easily together. I agree Turnitin does only what it is supposed to check the authenticity of a students work, by doing this the student and teacher trust is not broken, the teacher is just verifying the work is original and not have the student get themselves in a bigger problem. Which is plagiarism with the person's work they could be stealing.
Christian I completely agree with your comment towards Nick, the teacher is not doing anything wrong against the student instead the teacher is only doing his job correctly. I mean that would not be fair if a teacher never checked a student’s authenticity but always checked the others student’s authenticity even if one of the student’s was more trusted then the other. If he does not check for one student then the teacher should not check for the rest and vice versa. I mean is it really fair for the other student’s if the teacher always checked one student’s but not the other?
Christian, while trust may allow work to be done more easily, it is not necessary. There are many different levels of trust, and yes you should trust your teachers. However your trust should not be offended when a teacher uses a tool to authenticate your work. In today's world a teacher's job is not easy. These new and innovative tools are only helping. If you do not plagiarize and complete your assignments fairly, then running your paper through Turnitin.com shouldnot be an issue.
Students plagiarize because they think that the adults are putting them on the spotlight, and I do agree with that. But students should not have to cheat to succeed even if this was true then the papers or tests would not even be given to the students. The students onl cheat because they either do not know what they are doing so they plagiarize or they just want to get it over with as fast as possible. Students would not even have to plagiarize if they actually payed attention in class and studied. If they did that then the paper or project should be a breeze for them because the students know what they are saying and can finish very quickly and easily. Not knowing or not wanting to know is no excuse when the students plagiarize.
i totally agree with Alex. Many peope plagiarise because it's an easy way to finish a paper or project. This new Web 2.0 is making children lazy and making it easier for them to cheat.
Also, the reason for turnitin.com is for teachers to make sure all students are doing as they should. If your teacher knows your writing style, she'll most likely not be worried about you cheating. Most teachers know if someone has plagerised and the website just gives them proof.
Aj I completely disagree with your post when you say that parents are not supposed to be their parents or their friend. I mean even if the kid wanted to express his problems or feelings he can not because he has no one to express them to. Either way the child should not even plagiarize to make their parents happy, the child should be able to succeed with out plagiarizing on anyone. Personally I would not even be happy if I made my parents happy by plagiarizing because they are not happy with me but the person who actually did the work.
For me, I think it's okay for teachers to use websites such as Turnitin because if you are not plagiarizing, there's nothing to worry about. As for the students who feel that it indicates a lack of trust between teacher and student, I can see their point of view too. However, you are supposed to earn the trust of your teachers first before you can expect them not to think that you have plagiarized.
I agree with Michael Josephson's feelings to an extent. I agree some schools aren't doing enough to combat dishonest behavior but that other schools are. I also feel that most Americans are blase about ethical shortcomings among young people and in society at large.
Some students are being taught how to make the right decisions but a lot of them aren't and some of the ones who are taught just don't care. Yes, technology did make it easier to cheat because now a student has much more access to other people's work than before. Yes, I think that more students are cheating now that technology has made it so easy. Some may not even know that they are plagiarizing. I think that some schools should be doing more to educate students about ethics in technology. Yes, I believe that students might have a different idea of what constitutes cheating. At least an idea that's different from the idea of a teacher.
I disagree with Guilian when he says he has to cheat if he keeps getting pressured from both sports and school and how sports intervene in his studies. If sports really do intervene in your studies and is forced to plagiarize and cheat they the person should probably quit sports until he gets himself together. Should you really throw away your academic life for a game?
Hugh makes a really good point about students who are taught about dishonest behavior but does not care and do it anyway. Most students just don't care anymore and will just plagiarize to get things done.
Alex made a very good point in his comment on Giuliano's feelings about sports intervening with schoolwork and tempting a person to cheat. A person should not throw away his grade or cheat for sports. I myself was part of about 8 clubs and sports when the year first began. I know one cannot possibly be in 8 clubs/sports at the same time but I wasn't thinking at the time. I only went to about 4 but in the end I had to quit all except for bowling because that was during the weekend.
Great point Alex, many kids justify their cheating. Maybe because of sports or hobbies. They push work untill the end. THey find it easier to just copy. They tell themselves that the know they information and then copy, just not right.
I agree with Kevin about not needing a teacher's trust. TurnItIn is a useful tool that makes sure that there are no lies between the two parties. I see nothing wrong in that. It is insuring that us students are doing what we are supposed to do and that teachers are grading our work, not someone else's.
Maybe instead of trying to hold on to the method of running papers through turnitin, teachers should try attacking the websites that sell papers.-Will
Will makes a good point. Attacking the root of the problem is usually much more affective than just fighting the system when it's against you. You should be using preventive measures too.
Plagiarism has always been a big deal regarding school work. People have always been taking other people work for there own personal gain. Plagiarism is a very big deal because it is not your own personal work. It is like if you apply for a job and you write down on your application the skills of someone you know and because you do this you get the job. But when you get the job you are not going to live up to what you said u could.
I agree with Hugh and Will that if we can go to the source of the problem and that's not just websites that sell papers but all the websites that just give away other peoples work.
I agree with Alex that turnitin.com is a great thing for tewachers to make sure that the students do not plagiarize.
I think that it is very sad that it has come to this though. the fact that teachers need to run our papers through a website to make sure we are not cheating
I agree with Victor in believing that plagiarism is impossible to stop. Sometimes you are plagiarising unintentially. Like I said before there is so much information out there that no idea is really your own. It is up to the teacher to determine whether or not you are lieing.
I agree with Tony that plagerism is impossible to stop. we as humans always strive to make life easier. There will always be that lazy student who doesn't feel like doing the work and they cheat. NO matter how many protections are in place, plagerism will always find a way.
I agree with Scott and Tony about how plagiarism will nerve die.as humans beings we are always competitive and if we have to cheat to win we do. But i also believe that with websites like turnitin.com plagiarism will become less and less throughout schools.
Ms Comny,
Not only is technology making it easier for students to plagiarize but it also makes it easier for teachers to detect it. Plagiarism is a very important issue that needs to be continuously addressed in schools in order to teach students exactly what is plagiarism. Many students underestimate what cheating is, because they don’t have a complete understanding of plagiarism. I believe that technology is making it easier for students to plagiarize. There are so many websites that allow students to download prewritten essays, technology allows for the use of copy and pasting and etc. thanks to websites like Turnitin.com teachers are able to detect plagiarism as you stated Ms. Comny. Unethical behavior such as plagiarism is something that needs to be corrected at an early stage or prevented from occurring at all.
Loren Braxton,
In my opinion, Turnitin.com is a great website in which teachers should definitely use to their advantage. On the other hand trust between the teachers and students are possible, but you have to take into consideration that bonds are easily broken. Meaning there is a possibility that students may break the trust between the teacher and the student and plagiarize. Loren, I do agree when you say “they (teachers) should first talk with the student if they feel as though the assignment has been plagiarized.” You bring up a great point; it is a clam and excellent resolution.
Anthony Panvini,
I totally agree when you say “I think technology does make it easier to cheat. Technology can tempt someone to cheat in many ways.” In our current Web 2.0 there are many possible ways to plagiarize. For example, there are many sites where you can copy and paste pre-written essays. Also, the tool of copy and paste makes it very easy for people to plagiarize. Furthermore, not only does technology make it easier to cheat, but today in society there is a process where you pay someone to write something for you and you present it in your own work. Therefore, it is important to knowledge people of plagiarism and the consequences of it.
Alex, I completely disagree with your statement that "students plagiarize because they think that adults are putting them in the spotlight." I feel that students plagiarize because they are too lazy to complete their work. I also think that they feel that they can take shortcuts because they think they won't get caught. Since students feel this way I think Turnitin and other similar sites and software should be used, whether they are trustworthy or not.
I agree with Giuliano. I believe that it is up to teachers as well as parents to inforce plagiarism. there are website out there mentioned by Giuliano. Turnitin.com is great way to stop plagiarism. it is a website that you submit your work to and then the site search the internet for anything similar to your paper. Some teachers at this school use turnitin.com. if parents and teacher just inforce plagiarism more it is posibale that they could lesson its existance.
Dear Ms. Conmy,
Surely teachers may think that sites like Turnitin.com would be helpful in detecting plagiarism but it's up to the students to have that honesty and trust. If students do not put the effort in to write the papers or if they pay for them online, it's themselves that they are short-changing. Those methods may be able to squeak by in school, but in the real world out of school they will be at a loss for the skills they need. If anything, Turnitin.com should be used only as a constructive device so teachers can hep students to write papers better, or find more time to write them. I just think that using a site as purely a way of finding fault in something is not helping anyone.
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