Plagiarism detection and prevention

This week we will be discussing how to detect and prevent plagiarism. In the video clip with Dr. Palloff and Dr. Prat they discuss "cheating" or plagiarism. They both agree that, for the most part, the "cheating" or plagiarism is unintentional. They acknowledge that it is the role of the instructor to educate their learners with regard to what is and is not considered "cheating". So, if it is unintentional, once we have detected it how do we prevent it?

For this weeks blog we will be focusing on the following issues.

• Available plagiarism detection software
• Assessment design that helps to prevent dishonesty
• Various facilitation strategies that can be implemented to alleviate the challenge
• Other considerations to help detect and prevent cheating in online courses

Detecting plagiarism:

Although the use of the internet has increased online learning, so has it increased the occurrences of plagiarism or cheating. In this weeks article by Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006), they begin by mentioning that the detection of plagiarism used to be done manually. Today there are better, faster,easier, and more accurate ways of detection.

As current or future online learning instructors we will be able to utilize free search engines which will allow us to track sentences and phrases which may have been "borrowed" from elsewhere.

There are also, for purchase, plagiarism software tools such as Turnitin.com, Essay Verification Engine (EVE). Tunritin.com is actually an online search engine subscription vs a software package. It checks for web plagiarism and sources.

Here are a few links to some of the Free plagiarism detection search engines.

http://www.grammarly.com/?q=plagiarism&gclid=CKOFnMTrqakCFRDPKgodvSfeKw

https://www.writecheck.com/static/home.html?gclid=COXFr9DrqakCFcO8Kgods3ptPA

http://www.duplichecker.com/

Design as a plagiarism prevention tool:

If you recall from the Plagiarism and Cheating" video with Drs. Palloff and Pratt, they discussed assessments or exams and cheating. Dr. Prat had a solid observation. He mentioned that in the real world you will be required to utilize resources and others' assistance to complete tasks and projects.

From my personal experience, I came away from graduate school with this takeaway....you do not need to know all the answers, but you better know where to find them!

So, when designing an assessment, assignment etc. design it so it encourages the learners to collaborate with others. The design needs to offer authentic, real world application of skills and knowledge vs. simply answering questions and recall.

Facilitation strategies to discourage plagiarism:

The studies conducted by Braumoeller and Gaines (2001) and Soto, Anand, and McGee (2004) found that educating the learners about plagiarism and clarifying expectations of academic honesty resulted in a nominal reduction in the rate of plagiarism. Despite these findings, I believe that educating the learners and clarify expectations is a viable facilitation strategy for discouraging plagiarism.

In the video clip with Drs. Palloff and Pratt, they discussed an example of a student informing Dr. Prat that a fellow student had plagiarized her work. So, another facilitation strategy to discourage and detect plagiarism would be to ensure you have created a safe and open learning environment. This will encourage open lines of communication and sharing. 

Thinking back to our previous courses and course work, I'm sure we can come up with a comprehensive list of strategies to detect and discourage plagiarism. My final suggestion would be...As the instructor be present. If you are not present than you will not be privy to what is going on. A great example of this is when the course instructor offers "tips", provides links to resources and simply stays active, present and acts as a resource.

Feel free to provide a couple of your own suggestions via a comment.

Additional considerations:

We have discussed implementing some sort of plagiarism tracking tool in conjunction with a strong expectation management system. We have also discussed facilitation and design techniques which may help in the detection of plagiarism and discourage the use of plagiarism.

Other considerations would be...

Who are your learners?
What is the content of the course?
Are the assessments, assignments and discussions set up to be authentic and require critical thinking?
What tools are there to support my learners?
How will I continuously encourage the application of these tools?
As a instructor, what is my knowledge level with regard to plagiarism policy and detection?
If I have a plagiarism issue how will I handle it?

Feel free to provide a couple of your own suggestions via a comment.

Summary:

I do believe that it is very important to ensure correct citations and acknowledgement of resources used. I also believe that with the use of the internet this challenge may become more prevalent.

What I have learned and will take forward with me is that online learning is indeed all about the learner. As an instructor, I will need to touch on my learners' learning styles, be present, design authentic, real life application and provide relevant, timely feedback. These action will not necessarily help me detect or alleviate plagiarism. However, using plagiarism detection tools, having a strong online presence and building a safe online environment will keep me in the loop.

How do you plan to apply this weeks learning?

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you gleaned some knowledge and will apply it. Bye for now. Danielle

Resources:

Media "Plagiarism and Cheating" Dr. Palloff and Pratt

Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1–15.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Reflection of Setting up the Online Learning Experience

In this weeks blog we will be reflecting on the experience of setting up an online course.  Let's ponder the following questions.

What impact does technology and multi media have on the online learning environment? 

OK, do you remember the most important best practice of an online course? That's correct...PRESENCE. Now, do you remember the three types of presence? Yes, SOCIAL, COGNITIVE, and TEACHING presence. Take a minute to visualize the technology and multi media utilized and how these may enhance presence.

Technology can enhance the opportunity to obtain all three types of presence by providing a means to make announcements, chat, to share pictures, to share video and audio, to upload pervious work or documents of personal interest and simply to develop appealing audio and video introductions. This will strengthen the online community.

Tools such as a CMS, doc share spaces, collaboration tools, discussion boards and
Q & A spaces provide an opportunity for ongoing discussions, sharing of information and clarifying of expectations. This will strength trust and collaboration.

Ok, I think we can see the positive impact that technology and multi media have on the online learning environment. So, as online instructors, how do we select the technology to use? Remember the very particle tip shared with us by Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010) ... Keep it simple.

We already know that we will need a CMS of some sort in order to conduct online courses. So, plan to do some research to find the right CMS for you and your learners.
What are some of the considerations when making the final decision on technology tools to use?

• The goals & objectives of the course (do not add technology just for the sake of technology).
• The instructor's and learners' experience/comfort levels with technology.
• Accessibility and usability of the technology
• The appropriate time to implement certain technologies (phase the course is in)
• Relevance of multi media used to course objectives (quizzes/games)
• Available technical support

Please share a comment regarding other considerations for choosing technology and multi media for online courses.

One of the considerations for choosing technology and multi media is accessibility and usability. What implications do accessibility and usability of technology tools have for online teaching?

Lets examine what accessibility and usability are. Usability is the extent to which a system can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use (Karat, 1997). Usability and accessibility are intrinsically linked together. So, this means that if accessibility of the technology tool is low then it's usability is also low. For example, you have a learner who lives in a rural area and he/she does not have access to high speed internet. As a result, using streaming audio and video tools will not be usable for this learner.

And what about learners with disabilities? Sloan suggests that usability should play an important role in accessibility testing, since a resource presenting usability difficulties will generally present significant accessibility problems for disabled users (Sloan et al., 2002). Even sites with a high level of accessibility can nevertheless have usability problems that may prevent people with disabilities from using them efficiently. For example: a video with audio but no subtitles for the hearing impaired will not be an effective learning tool for that particular learner.

Obviously, as an online instructor we need to be cognizant of accessibility and usability issues and challenges. If we fail to consider accessibility and usability then we have forgotten the focus of online teaching...online teaching is learner centered. We must provide our learners with the tools, information and resources needed to be successful.

Check out this video: Creating Accessable Lessons

OK, now that we have all that out on the table, what technology tools do you find most appealing as you move forward with your Instructional Design career? Here we will need to consider our comfort level with technology. For me personally, I am on the high side of beginner low side of intermediate when it comes to technology expertise and comfort level. For my next client project I plan to utilize discussion forums, a blog, DIMDIM for synchronous course presentations, and quizzes and surveys. I also plan to begin refining and consistently applying social networking sites for my professional marketing strategies.

Please share a comment regarding what technology tools you plan to utilize as you move forward?

Summary

What is the significants of using technology in online learning? Online learning is delivered using technology, however it is not all about the technology, it is about the learner. Any technology used needs to be aligned to the learning goals and objectives and needs to be accessible and usable for all learners. For me an easy to remember take away to help plan and implement effective online strategies is "Keep it simple, Practical and Effective"

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. I hope you have learned something new and will share that information with others.

Bye for now,
Danielle

Resources

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter 4, "Phase One: What's Happening, Themes, and Tools: Starting Off on the Right Foot in Course Beginnings" (Review from Week 3).

Chapter 6, "Phase Two: What's Happening, Themes and Tools: Keeping the Ball Rolling in the Early Middle"

Cooper, M., Colwell, C., & Jelfs, A. (2007). Embedding accessibility and usability: Considerations for e-learning research and development projects. ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology, 15(3), 231–245.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Article: Roblyer, M. D., & Wiencke, W. R. (2003).Design and use of a rubric to assess and encourage interactive qualities in distance courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 17(2), 77–98.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Media - "Enhancing the Online Experience" (approximate length: 20 minutes).
Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt discuss how technology/multimedia can enhance the online learning experience, as well as the importance of feedback.

Creating accessible lessons for student with disabilities using softChaulk, Jarrrow, J., Phd., Retrived from YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYvkgdAmNTQ