Would involving technology in the English classroom make plagiarism easier? If a student is writing on their laptop, tablet, whatever they are using, would it be easier to just copy and paste something from the internet and use it as their own? Of course, in recent times, students would be able to copy and paste information and change some sentences and claim it as their own. But are we allowing that to happen? I would like to think that everyone is an honest writer, but what if you have other work to do, and an essay just slipped your mind. Now you have to do it at two o’clock in the morning. So wouldn’t it just be easier to copy and paste something? Do we have the technology to stop this from happening? Is the internet marring students from writing proper essays?
I wrote in a previous post that one of my college professor was telling us how to write proper essays. Not you use “u” in place of “you” and such, so if the internet harming our writing and reading skills? Is it making it too easy to cut corners when writing and reading? Is the internet, social media, and our texting going to hurt the future generations? If so, how do we stop this? Do we even stop this or become accustomed to it? Is this what we have to look forward as English teachers of the new generation? It worries me that children are constantly on their phones, on the computers, shortening their writing just so they could type faster. But in reality it is going to harm them when they don’t know what proper “to” and “too” to use.
Sorry for so many questions, this has just been boggling my mind for a bit, and I wanted to see what you thought about this situation.
I think you have a point Amanda. However, as you mentioned we may be allowing this to occur. If we teach students from the start to be honest then they should have no issue of behaving in that manner. For example, if they are using the technology during class, perhaps the teacher can create a set of rules with them. This would involve the students in the "rule" making process and then when they break these rules the teacher can simply say:"You've broken your own rules." This would hold students accountable and in turn make them more cautious of their behavior. Also if from the start we are introducing to them what they "shouldn't do" instead of what they "should do", children are always prone to go against the rules. Therefore, I think if we, as teachers, approach the situation in a careful way it will allow them to feel comfortable and do their own work.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post, and I have seen several of our fellow English majors write about this issue on their blogs. While there are many downsides to social media, I believe that it brings us tremendous benefits as well. Whether we like it or not, social media is here to stay. Even if social media sites get less popular, something is going to take its place. The impact of social media is something that is going to last forever. One of the benefits of social media and texting is that we are writing more now than we ever have as a society. In my Technology Autobiography, I wrote about how social media is so heavily important on my life. On my Facebook, I tend to post political links and people tend to have a dialogue on my page. Not many people agree with me, but I do engage in a debate with them. I believe that if students choose to get involved in the democratic spirit of social media, there are so much teachable moments to be had. I encounter many people who disagree with me, and that can be quite difficult for me to find in other places. By engaging with people with different views, I found that my debate skills have most certainly improved. The only way we improve our writing skills is by writing. The other forms of writing students usually do is in the classroom. Why would we want to discourage what has become a crucial venue of writing? However, I do think that the debate comes to what is more important in the English language: ideas or grammar? I think sometimes we tend to overemphasize grammar's importance, and then students do not come up with good ideas. I believe that if we can read the text we are given and it has good ideas, it is a good essay. We cannot fix everybody's problems. I think as educators we need to figure out how to navigate around how language is changing with the Web 2.0, and how we can teach around it. I think you do have legitimate fears; however, and this allowed me to ponder interesting thoughts. Technology just has such an impact on the non-technological aspects of life. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post indeed. I have to agree with Nick Mimikos. Social Media is here to stay. Developing a strategy on battling with short text language as “lol, OMG, ttyl, etc.” is in fact challenging. Teachers should make it clear to students that there is a difference in social conversations and submitted classwork.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that technology provides an easier avenue towards plagiarism. However, do not agree that the Internet is promoting it. Before the easy accessibility to Internet recourses, people went to the Library. What stopped them from coping the text word for word then? If a student wants to cheat, I do not think writing the text word-for-word would stop them. Technology however, provides a new avenue of detecting plagiarism. TurnitIn.com is a helpful tool to use for detects plagiarism. Students who know that their work will be evaluated by a computer-generated software will be less inclined to cheat.
You pose some interesting questions and make some valid points in this post, Amanda. I agree with you that technology today is making it very easy for students to plagiarize, especially in English classes. However, I also believe that as teachers we need to make the decision to either allow our students access to computers to write their essays or to have them take notes with paper and pen. On the other hand, if we allow this it still gives students an opportunity to plagiarize when they write their papers at home. So, which option is the right one? I do not think there is an answer to that. As teachers in a technological society I think we have to trust our students that they are completing their own work and not publishing another person's work. I also think it is our duty to make sure we are teaching the concepts that our students need to learn in order to move on to the next grade. If we can do this and use technology to enhance our lessons, students will not see the urge to plagiarize because they will be so engaged in the lesson and be enthusiastic to write their own work.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a very good point, I feel technology is hurting the future generation in many ways, writing being one of them. Students no longer know the use of proper grammar or spelling because their phones and the internet automatically autocorrect it for them. Students also no longer know how to tell time on a regular clock since all they use and see is digital clocks. Maybe the use of knowing this information is going to eventually become obsolete.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, this is a great post. I feel that our current forms of technology and the way we can be so accustomed to writing in shorthand could be harming us as well. This pertains to writing prompts across all fields and subjects. I do agree that the internet can be harming honest intent at completing an assignment without plagiarism. Having access to the plethora of information on the internet can serve as a convenience for those awake at 2am realizing they have a paper due; it's when that convenience turns into abusing the privilege of having this access that can turn academically sour for students.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I think that this blog post poses two great and important questions! As for the first question about plagiarism, I definitely think that the internet does make plagiarism easier for students, and it needs to be encouraged somehow for students to always be honest writers. I think that if someone is caught plagiarizing, immediate action must be taken in order to set an example that plagiarizing will get you into trouble! As for the question about texting and social media affecting future students' writing such as "u" versus "you," I definitely think that this too is becoming a problem because as you mentioned, many people are starting to have trouble with such grammatical distinctions like the difference between "too" and "to." I think that schools such definitely force grammar upon their students in order to engrain in the students' mind, the formal rules of proper grammar.
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