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In the days of yore (or freshman semester last year), I remember having to write about plagiarism in lengthy detail for my college composition class; all our papers were somehow based around education really. But I specifically remember having read an article before Rebecca Moore Howard’s “Understanding ‘Internet Plagiarism’” that had mentioned the website TurnItIn and the significant decline in academic standards.
TurnItIn is a website through which teachers are able to submit the works of their students in order to check and prevent acts of plagiarism. The success rate of this website, however, is questionable due to increased concern that has been placed on plagiarism; the Internet has done a decent job of making teachers worry.
And irony at its best was shown through the pay sites (which I’m also well aware of) that happen to offer papers about the nature of plagiarism for a certain fee – how much more ridiculous can one get? It appears that most students are looking for an easy way out of hard work – anything to do the least and still get that “hard-earned A.” Has the Internet, then, made us a lazy generation that simply wants to “get by.”
Unfortunately, with the ability to copy and paste, as well as the infinite space of the Internet, plagiarism is and will continue to be a concern of teachers everywhere. Will there ever be a full proof of deterring plagiarism? I’m not fully sure, but I can say that hopefully someday, there will be a better academic standard than there is now.
In the past day, there have been three seperate items in my Facebook newsfeed related to applications — specifically, demanding that people stop sending out mass invites Or Else — and since this is a technology module I thought I’d ask: Can there be too much customization? Relating specifically to Facebook, I can’t write on half my friends’ walls anymore because I don’t have the patience to scroll through their many applications. I’ve seen several people denounce applications as the beginning of the end for Facebook, and though the same was said about news feeds and we’ve all gotten over that, I have to wonder if the ability to add so many features to your profile is going to be a help or a hindrance once the novelty wears off. Any thoughts? And will someone please explain to me the point of these werewolf/vampire/zombie requests I keep getting?
Okay, down to some serious stuff. The plagiarism article was really interesting. I would imagine that there are some problems out there now because there may be teacher’s out there who are not technologically savvy. For them following up on sources can be a challenge. I think the only way to prevent plagiarism or at least to try to contain it to a minimum is through strict tolerance and continual education. If students are taught how to correctly annotate and site, how to properly word information, and the correct methods for researching and obtaining information then they will develop the proper skills and write with confidence. I think this is why writing has been moved to the forefront. Additionally, it is why our major is of such concern and importance. Our future depends on people like us who can write, who know the proper way to write, and who can teach others. One of the most common areas that students struggle in is writing. So I think if we can reach more students and teach them the proper way to write with confidence and accuracy, it will help reduce the issues regarding plagiarism.
So, I think I am getting addicted to technology when I have time to play around and check stuff out. A couple of things I saw tonight was a video pushing Diet Cherry chocolate dr. pepper. Mmmm sounds great! But the video is pretty hot. I like the beat, kind of a tech, rap, hip-hop mix. I cannot believe that this guy Tay Zonday is 25, he looks like he’s 13. But it really was worth checking out! It’s called
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