"Probing for Plagiarism in the Virtual Classroom"
By Lindsey S. Hamlin and William T. Ryan
http://campustechnology.com/articles/39378/
The world of virtual classrooms is rapidly growing. In fact, this course is virtual. It has many advantages. For example, students are able to complete assignments, tests, and lectures during a time that best suites them. They are also able to do this from any location that has an Internet connection. Although it has many positives, many educators are skeptical about the preservation of academic integrity in the virtual classroom. They often assume that Internet technology and online classrooms are providing students with additional opportunities to cheat. I believe if students want to cheat they are going to find a way to do it, whether their classes are online or in a traditional setting. Besides, they are only hurting themselves through the act of cheating. In the traditional classroom, when tests are given, teachers often monitor the class making sure no cheating is taking place. When tests are posted online, students are not monitored, but there are ways that teachers can limit cheating. For example, online tests are often given a time limit in which it must be completed. In many of my courses, tests include multiple choice questions, short, and long answered questions. By providing questions like these, teachers can assess that their students are truly grasping the material or if they are not putting forth any effort. Many of my tests include questions that I could not answer if I did not read the text. Also because of the time restriction, you must read because their is not enough time to look up each question. Virtual skeptics have criticized online education for worsening a student's sense of "isolation and anonymity" Virtual skeptics have also criticized online education for worsening a student's sense of "isolation and anonymity". But I have found that their is a great opportunity for communication in teacher-to-student and student-to-student questions and comments. For example, all of my virtual classes offer discussion blogs where students can find out answers or ask questions. Another issue that virtual skeptics question is online plagiarism. There are so many online term paper mills out their, it is easy for a students to simply copy and paste or buy one of these papers to call as their own. Teachers can scan papers to see if they are plagiarized by having students submit their papers into such websites as turnitin.com or plagiarism.org. Educators are faced with the task of preserving academic integrity. Although it is nearly impossible to eliminate cheating in traditional or virtual classrooms, educators can deter it by using the tools available to them. The reality is cheating is always going to occur as long as there is the temptation to do so. In my opinion, virtual classrooms are excellent. After all, they allow me to continue my education while living in Canada. It is awesome that I can do all of my work on my own time and teachers/classmates are so understanding and helpful. For those that choose to cheat...let them...they are only cheating themselves.
1 comment:
I completely agree with your post in terms of virtual classrooms having many advantages, time convience being perhaps the most important one. I also do think that people need to realize that not everyone can aquire access to the internet whenever and whereever they want. Even though the virtual classrooms are an easy way to be efficient within the particular class one is enrolled in, I think that every aspect of these classrooms needs to be looked at and improved upon.
Post a Comment