As modern technology has become possible to high end media content on-line in the comfort of one's own domestic space, it is impossible to rule out the dependence of every individual to web access and information. In a very short period of time the world got pretty much linked through dexterous uses of free open-source software packages and second-life virtual spaces. Life over the net cannot not be assessed over various aspects of human dependence to technology. For some this even goes to the extent of labeling our present era as the 'Google Age'. In a nut shell I believe that this access has definitely launched a new-age of information trafficking that can only be evaluated over the accuracy and effectiveness of work provided by the user. As the web has increasingly dominated the areas of information market where one can simply log in and download 'free data' one should not foresee the implications about how accurate are the sources of data acquired. Cristopher Dawson elaborates on this notion by contrasting academic value in relation with internet access: ' Technology can make it easy to coast, cheat, and otherwise circumvent the educational process. The National Society of Collegiate Scholars would like students to embrace integrity instead'.
The statement above left me wondering about the integrity in our learning curricula and how biased are our students' works in relation to the ready-available samples of work as provided on-line. Personally I am not approaching this matter with the aim to monitor the students' work in terms of scholarly standards however this makes me question the creativity and innovation of the works submitted.
Looking forward to see your views. Ian
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I agree with Ian that the online resource network has become so comfortable and convenient that many of us risk becoming dependent on it. I am in my first year of teaching and so I am still exploring the problem of plagiarism in students’ assignments. I must admit that it was not an easy task for me. However I also believe that the genuineness and creativity of the assignments of our students can also depend on the preparation of the teacher and the mentality she/he manages to create in class. By this I mean that teachers should have the responsibility of educating their students in using online material responsibly and sensibly. From my experience I noticed that students who indeed abuse of online material, do so out of laziness but also sometimes out of lack of self-confidence. Sometimes our students do not believe enough in themselves and in their capabilities of drawing up a valid argument using their experience and beliefs. Hence they resort to material from the internet which prevents them from developing a critical mind and drawing up their own arguments. I believe that it is the role of the teacher to help students use the internet to stimulate their thoughts instead of replacing them. I must admit that this is quite difficult when teachers have big classes which can limit the quality of the teacher-pupil relationship.Finally I belief that to diminsh such abuse of internet material a strict plagiarism policy needs to be exerted and enforced constatnly and rigorously.
ReplyDeleteIn this new era, students are more dependent on these new technologies such FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube and other sites which help them to explore other views and interact with their mates. During these two years that I have been teaching at MCAST, the major problem I found in students is how they express themselves when there is the need to describe or write an essay on particular subject. In my opinion, the main cause is that students using FaceBook or YouTube are using their own languages to express their views…in other words using short text message language…..for example…you = u, talk to you later = ttyl…etc etc. It is very easy to use this short text message language, but the main disadvantage is that the students assume that this is way to communicate within society. So much for our languages! They also assume that they may use this language in reports, assignments etc.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that students need “us” to learn using these new technologies. Instead, the teachers have the role to show them and guide them HOW TO USE the information they find without doing ”copy and paste”.
Students tend to argue that they are not capable to produce good work, reports and assignments as what they find on the Internet. And therefore they assume a mentality that it is not worth the effort to think something new: all they have to do is to tap on the information found and use it as it is.
Obviously this is totally wrong and teachers must act as guides to avoid that the students fall into this trap.
Mariella
I cannot but agree with this write up.
ReplyDeleteThe global situation over the last 10 to 15 years has developed into an Internet dominated society. The benefits of Internet greatly outweigh the problems it creates in our society. And it must be acknowledged that the Internet is here to stay. However, while the older generations rely on the Internet in a moderate manner and still refer to books and other reliable sources of information, the same cannot be said to the younger generation.
Our younger generation has over recent years been over-exposed to this technology and, as stated in the original article, have become more and more dependent on it with the result that their creativity has been drastically affected and reduced. They have now become experts on how to use the Internet to their advantage, how to effectively search for the information they need without bothering on the actual validity of the content of the information accessed. In other words they have become a “Copy and Paste” generation. This loss of creativity from the part of the student is, to say the least, worrying and society needs to curb this.
The other issue is the validity of the information found on the Internet. It is a fact that most of the information found has not been verified to be valid, let alone correct. The implications of this are that our students are being exposed to information and knowledge which might be erratic and/or misleading. Isn’t this risk too high to run in the formation of their young minds?
I believe that there must be some way how information can be verified and signed. This can be by using Certificates posted to information sites to indicate that they are “safe to refer to” pretty much like the VeriSign we find when accessing sites to do financial transactions online.
I don't agree that the internet promotes this "copy and paste generation" and that it suppresses creativity.
ReplyDeleteCopying/plagiarising depends on the student's character and if you remove the internet, students would still copy and paste from books. If anything the internet can encourage creativity by exposing students to a great deal of information and other creative minds.
I am normally very patient with students but intolerant to plagiarism as this is pure cheating. I have reported several students on plagiarism (at the expense of paying the bureaucratic price associated with these reports) and I think students learned the lesson.
The internet is practical to find information fast but often inappropriate for scholary work (except for projects such as scholar.google.com). I tell students to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of information, and to use the right sources for the right tasks.
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ReplyDeleteWhat ever we say about the internet there is a lot of advantages. In my opinion it is not the concept of the internet but the way it is being used by some people. A hammer is an important tool as long as it is being used appropriately. The same applies for the internet. As educators and parents our role is to educate our students how to utilise the internet. Although the internet is not old it has already built a culture in our students that this is the all mighty and knows everything. Hence our duty is to change this already embedded culture and convince students that what ever they read is not religion. Maybe some day students will start to analyse what are they reading and filter every information. To enhance these concepts we educators need support from software programmers to provide filtering software where as Louis already said automatically certifies every post.
ReplyDeleteHow can we motivate students through e-learning?
ReplyDeleteI teach management to mechanical engineering students. During an assignment, to try and prevent students from plagiarism I use a real scenario taken from my own personal experience. The first part of the assignment students will be asked to do research work on the topic previously discussed. They have to make references and hand in their research work summarised and using their own words. Finally from the scenario I will ask questions which in order for them to answer they have to use their own imagination and expressing their own opinions including finding appropriate solutions. In my opinion this method will motivate students to prepare a valid research and understand what they had found. This is because in order for students to answer these types of questions they have to properly know the subject.
The personal comment posted about the 'Google Age' was not intended to slate only intellectual property exploiters. In addition my strong take on this is concerns mostly the integrity of a student's research. Example: the students main priority in such cases is not essentially committed to the value of the content but rather towards the collation of a project aiming to make sense in the end. Academic integrity is very important because it divides a practice from short comings of personal commitments. What about enthusiasm, passion and flair? At the end of the day as a teacher I still consider vocation should be manifested in a scholarly manner.
ReplyDeleteI think that most of our students carry out research only on the internet rather than libraries. In addition they are also unsure how to evaluate the internet, and the few evaluations they make are not screened out properly. The majority of students look for particular data without giving credit to the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that lecturers should guide students how to filter the data obtained prior to relying on the downloaded content. This could easily be included in the academic syllabus.
Can academic integrity exist in the Google Age?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Ian is quite right! I do question the creativity and innovation of our students too. Recently, I came across an article written by the same Christopher Dawson: “Can academic integrity exist in the Google Age?” A follower of this article commented and said that today is nothing different than 30 years ago when students used to go to a library, copy stuff out of books and maybe re-word an article. Well, from my experience, many students today do not even know how to read and summarize an article. It is like they feel the need to copy whole articles without even proper referencing. Yes, we are living in a Google Age; in a “Cut and Paste” era I must say. And this is the habit which is killing our students’ academic integrity and motivation!
Crisby
Reply to Ranier Bonnici comment:
ReplyDeleteThe best way to avoid plagiarism is to take careful notes. When taking notes, always do the following:
First, read the entire text and summarize it in your own words. Then paraphrase important points and copy usable quotes. Enclose quotes in quotation marks.
Carefully distinguish between material that is quoted, material that is paraphrased, material that is summarized, and your own words and ideas. Consider using different colored ink for each type of source.
Include in your notes all the information you will need to cite your sources.
Copy all source information into your working bibliography using the format your teacher has provided.
Print any Web pages you use. Write the URL and the date on the Web page if it isn't included on the printout.
Save all your notes and printouts until you receive your final grade.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/TM/curr390_guide.shtml
By the way I copied and pasted the above. However I believe that it was still very useful as I had to read the whole thing.
@Louis
ReplyDeleteI do not really believe that the "They (students) have now become experts on how to use the Internet to their advantage, how to effectively search for the information they need without bothering on the actual validity of the content of the information accessed." In reality the part which I do not agree with, is the effective searching for information. In reality I believe that the root of the problem which is leading to the "copying and pasting" syndrome, is that the students do not effectively know how to search for the right information in the right context. I think that one of the exercises which we should guide our students through, the effective searching and filtering of information from the overload which is found over the WWW.
The technology and thus the information is available with the press of a button. Is the information correct? I come from a Geographic Information Systems background. My field of work is spatial information that is making, updating and analyzing maps. Spatial information because all the features we map are tied to the world with coordinates. Today a lot of information is being created and put on internet, sometimes it can even be downloaded. End users are combining a lot of data coming from various sources and this is creating havoc. End users have to keep in mind that every piece of spatial information is created for a particular use and information is created using different techniques. Thus it is not correct to put information from various sources as one. So information is available freely but is it correct?
ReplyDeleteNello
Money is not a good motivator for high cognitive achievers.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure this is true. OK it has been tried and tested but in my opinion it is not entirely true. Money can de-motivate if it is the only reward and if it is the most important reward. High achievers usually have a high wage and more money will make them richer but they do not struggle with the basic essentials of life. If a person looks at his pockets at the end of each month knowing that what remains will probably vanish in telephone, TV, electricity and water bills, then yes, money would be more than welcome. But if I am sufficiently rich, great house, large family, nice cars, more money would be welcome but unimportant – it won’t make a difference. Other factors like self-achievement cropped up and what these people would want to get motivated is a harder challenge.
Now let’s search for the student motivators... With what can students be rewarded? I am referring especially to post-secondary students. A star on your exercise book or a clap of hands are definitely unheard of. A high mark maybe? In the industry, high cognitive achievers do not appreciate monetary awards. At school, do our students appreciate distinctions? I think they do as I’ve never met a student that got annoyed of getting distinctions. Once I had an opportunity to tell my students to develop a website for free for some voluntary organisation, none volunteered.
After reading some of your posts, I decided to make a search on the internet on plagiarism, and I found this interesting article that talk about plagiarism, how much plagiarism is increasing, and how we can combat plagiarism. This article begins with the following paragraph.
ReplyDelete“British higher education has embraced the benefits of internet technologies, and particularly internet access with great enthusiasm and it is undoubtedly the case that the typical student now has access to a range of sources that would have been unimaginable only a decade before. Concomitant with increasing accessibility however have been the possibilities for plagiarism (the passing off as other people’s work as one’s own). Before the mid-1990’s examples of plagiarism appeared to be comparatively rare but the recent massification of higher education, observable as a world-wide phenomenon, has raised concerns in the academic community that plagiarism may now be a serious and endemic problem.” (Hart, 2004)
After reading this, do we still think that e-learning can improve our students thinking, or the students are just taking advantage from this source and are using it without actually reading and thinking of what they have read? Well, I can only say that, I teach a very low-level students’. When I gave them a scientific search about who was Einstein, the only thing they did was, copying and pasting whatever they found on the encyclopaedia. After presenting their work, I asked them to do a small presentation about their findings in order to test what they have read. No one wanted to, and when I questioned them in order to lead them, no one started conversation. That’s what I think about my students.
On the other hand, I do use the internet to prepare my lessons. I really find it useful, but at least I always acknowledge others work. Our student doesn’t even know what this means. My students’ doesn’t bother to read others work. In order to teach them this concept, I had to give them some form of punishment.
My conclusion is that we have to pay attention, how to develop our assignments in order to avoid plagiarism among our students. We have to be prepared for such circumstances, and on the same time be well prepared on the topic.
Bibliography
Hart, M. (2004, February). Plagiarism and Poor Academic Practice. Retrieved June 11, 2010, from Electronic Journal on e-Learning Volume 2 Issue 1: http://www.business-kac.co.uk/art25.pdf
It is evident that plagiarism is already a big problem. Personally, I insist with the students to express themselves in their own words, otherwise it would not be them. It would be someone else. While correcting assignments I do not want to correct for example, John Bird, which is quite popular with our students. I did notice a little progress in some students, but there are still a number of them that do not refrain from that rather malpractice. In my opinion, one way as someone already mentioned, would be to create such an assignment where no ready answer is possible. The assignment problems have to be innovative and creative, in order to make student rather to think to get a solution, where the research on internet would not be of great help. It is not any easy task but with technical subjects, it can work, more than others. However, still there are two problems. One is that BTEC is very prescriptive, not giving enough room for such a tactic. And the second one is that there are web sites, which accept students’ queries and for money, send them back an answer or solution.
ReplyDelete