Plagiarism in Online Education free essay sample

These days, with all of the information that is readily available on the internet, and many students opting to obtain education from online colleges and universities, the prevalence of plagiarism is on the rise. In a 2005 study conducted by the Center for Academic Integrity (www. academicintegrity. org), it was concluded that 40% of the 50,000 undergraduates asked admitted to having plagiarized from the internet. This is a very large jump over a span of six years, from only 10% in 1999 (Badke, 2007). It is becoming clear that educators, as well as students, need to become more familiar with what plagiarism is, what constitutes it, and how it can be avoided in order to ensure students are getting the most out of their online learning experience. Plagiarism is committed when someone takes the words or ideas of another and passes them off as his own. It is, essentially, intellectual stealing, and is not only ethically wrong, but prohibited by all educational establishments. Many people commit plagiarism without even realizing it. They may follow all the rules, paraphrasing, summarizing, etc. , but not properly cite the source where the idea was derived. Unfortunately, ignorance is not an acceptable defense. It is the same, for example, as being pulled over for driving 65 mph and telling the officer you did not know the speed limit was 35. The officer will most likely still issue a citation for speeding. Likewise, innocently taking credit for the work of another is plagiarism all the same (Alsaffar, 2006). More commonly, plagiarism is committed knowingly by the student and as a result of sheer laziness. In the vast world of the internet, information abounds for online students, as does the opportunity to reproduce, distribute and even share papers and projects. Students often find the desired information on the web, then cut and paste it into emails, class forums and assignments. Term paper websites are also out there, as well, advertising A+ papers for sale for a nominal fee per page (Villano, 2006). Plagiarism is not only prohibited, but hurtful to students for a variety of reasons. First of all, it violates federal copyright laws. Many students are blissfully unaware that information found on the web is, by default, copyrighted the moment it is put into a fixed format. What this means, is that any information on a publicly-accessible website is just as protected as an article found in an academic journal, and should be treated as such and cited appropriately. In the light of recent lawsuits against students infringing on the copyrighted material of record companies and movie studios, it is in the individual’s best interest to always give credit where credit is due. This should not, however, discourage students from taking full advantage of all of the information that is out there. Copyright laws were intended to promote the expansion of education and the enrichment of the population, while protecting the origination and originator of the words and ideas (Alsaffar, 2006). Plagiarism is also damaging to the students who commit it, as well as to the students who take the time to research and complete their own work. A student who is lazy and does not put in the full effort, is only hurting himself in the long run, because he is not thinking on his own and taking away the intended education from the assignment. On the other side of the spectrum, the student who puts in an honest effort and submits an original paper may receive a lower score than she actually deserves. This is often the case if plagiarism goes undetected and raises the bar for all others to receive an A on the paper. Legitimate work may seem inferior when compared to a paper that has sampled the ideas of more advanced and sophisticated authors (Villano, 2006) When considering the effects of plagiarism and copyright in an online environment, students need to proceed with caution. In an article titled, â€Å"Copyright Concerns in Online Education: What Students Need to Know, â€Å" Jackie Alsaffar says it best: â€Å"Engagement with the content of a course is what higher education is all about, is at the heart of an intellectual life, and is an objective of every course taught, whether face-to-face or online. Yet far from being an abstract concept in the online course, copyright is an integral part of the online operation. † Nearly everything that is read, observed, watched, listened to or written by the student in an online class is protected by copyright. It is for this reason that students enrolled in online colleges and universities need to be educated in ways to avoid plagiarism, not only to protect themselves from the possibility of copyright infringement, but to guarantee they are facilitating the learning process and receiving the knowledge from the course that is intended (Alsaffar, 2006). But what can be done to stem the rising tide of plagiarism? Teachers have been losing a technological war with their students over plagiarism for many years. Since the times when term papers and other assignments were written by hand, students have been willing to present work completed by other people as their own. Today with a greater array of tools available to students the plagiarism problem has exploded (Auer, 2001). From the simple cutting-and-pasting from un-cited sources to the use of searchable collections of term papers available for purchase, students have a huge selection of information and techniques that make it easier for them to commit plagiarism (Auer, 2001). However, teachers and educators are now starting to use the same technology to combat plagiarism. Software companies have heard the cry of teachers and have developed plagiarism detection software programs. Detection software products use various methods to accomplish and analyze papers written by students. The processes used by these programs include text matching, indexed sources, and style analysis of content (Kennedy, 2006). Each of the methods used to detect plagiarism has advantages and disadvantages. However, all are similar in that they attempt to detect plagiarism after it has been committed (Kennedy, 2006). Text matching software searches the internet looking for matches in words with indexed sources (Kennedy, 2006). Style analysis looks at the style in which a paper is written and then compares that style with work available on the internet (Kennedy, 2006). Both of these methods also compare phrases to help detect plagiarism (Kennedy, 2006). Detection technology based on matching text and style analysis from previous papers written by other student and the Internet has inherent limitations and does not always work (Johnson, Patton, Bimber, Almeroth, Michaels, 2004). There are many reasons why detection software may not work. There are three reasons that are the most common as to why plagiarism is not detected. The first reason is the web sources cited may have been removed from the internet between the time it was cited in the paper and when the paper was checked (Kennedy, 2006). The second reason is there is no set image of the web. This means the web is ever changing and the software can lag behind the current state of the Internet. It is possible that a web source cited in a paper is a new addition to the web or is located in a newly developed section of the web (Kennedy, 2006). The third reason for failure is the software does not have access to all subscription web sites that contain sources of information on the web (Kennedy, 2006). In reality, only a small fraction of total Internet content can be analyzed by the plagiarism software (Kennedy, 2006). There is some detection software that can enter a limited number of subscription sites. However, these sites are few and far between. Most sites including such as Lexis-Nexis, EBSCO, Swets, and others do not allow access into their databases by detection software (Auer, 2001). Some educators and teachers find another problem with plagiarism detecting software. They feel that text matching technology does not help differentiate between the inadvertent act of plagiarism and from the intentional plagiarist (Johnson, Patton, Bimber, Almeroth, Michaels, 2004). The software cannot provide the teacher with any insights as to the intent of the student. Some teacher feel that this will lead to an atmosphere of guilty until proven innocent where students are forced to prove their innocence and that they did not commit plagiarism (Auer, 2001). Teachers still feel there is a place for plagiarism detecting software. Having the ability to compare student’s papers with plagiarism detecting software is an iatrical part of a prevention program when coupled with punishment. The punishment of students that commit plagiarism serves two purposes. One it punishes the student that violate the rules and it deters other students from committing the same behavior (Johnson, Patton, Bimber, Almeroth, Michaels, 2004). The best way to deter students from committing plagiarism is to publicize the fact that student’s work will be checked for plagiarism with plagiarism detecting software and students found cheating will be punished (Johnson, Patton, Bimber, Almeroth, Michaels, 2004). If students are completely unaware that detection software is being used and punishment of plagiarist will occur, there will be little or no deterrent to students from participating in this type of dishonesty (Johnson, Patton, Bimber, Almeroth, Michaels, 2004). On the other hand, where deterrence is prevalent and it is known that the students work will be checked, little or no punishment may occur. Plagiarism has become an ever increasing problem since the introduction of the World Wide Web and online research. Teachers and educators can sit back and do nothing or they can take a stand to combat the problem. Teachers can use all the technology available to prevent and detect plagiarism. Educational institutions can publicize the fact that work submitted by student will be checked with plagiarism detecting software and violators will be punished. However, the only true prevention is ethics. Student’s ethics and academic integrity must be taught at an early age to instill these values in students (Kennedy, 2006). Teachers and educators all agree that the best way to avoid plagiarism is to create an atmosphere in which it is unlikely to occur. It is important for parents, teachers, and the academic institutions to promote academic integrity and student ethics (Kennedy, 2006). Without ethics and integrity today’s students will continue to commit cut and paste plagiarism.