Module 7 - "But I swear it's my own work"

10/13/2013

Photo: PlaneMad flickr.com Creative Commons License

Go to Plagiarism 101 and read about plagiarism.

- What did you learn that you did not already know?
- How has technology affected plagiarism and work ethic of students?
-Your initial post should reflect deep critical thinking and reflection on this topic.

For this session, you MUST reply to TWO (2) posts.

Cristina

10/13/2013 01:49:20 pm

I was unaware that it would be considered plagiarism if you used the same sentence structure but changed the words of a sentence. I feel that when people write a paper and they use multiple internet sources they feel the need to copy and paste a lot of their work. They may change the words and structure but they still get lazy.I know that when I have different types of sources my papers turn out a lot better because I would rather type an original sentence than type a sentence from a source and then alter it. I put more effort and time into my papers when I have more sources to look at besides those on a computer.Kids today rely so much on technology that I do not believe that they would know how to use an encyclopedia for a source or any other non internet source for that matter. It has become so easy for use to just click a few buttons and viola! we have a research paper or a persuasive essay. Plagiarism is almost unavoidable if one uses the internet for each source. The more one stares at a computer screen the more tired and lethargic that person gets. So what do they do? They take a few words here and there and the paper gets done faster and they don't have to stare at a screen any longer. Things would be simpler if people used more variety for their sources.

Tori

10/14/2013 09:36:08 am

As Cristina said, I as well had no idea that copying the sentence structure but changing the words could be classified as plagiarism. Not that I always do that myself however I never heard of that being labeled as plagiarism. I believe that technology has definitely influenced the amount of plagiarism. Students that do not have a good work ethic and leave things until the last minute usually resort to plagiarism. When students are given the opportunity to look at different websites to take notice of other peoples work, they seem to think that that persons writing is the best on that topic and want theirs to be the same. Possibly not copying word for word however they steal most of that particular persons ideas and build off of that. If other peoples work wasn't up on the internet it would make students have to think of things themselves and put their own thought into it. I'm not saying everyone does this however these are things I personally have noticed in my own classes. Technology is relied on too much in my eyes. I believe it is a good factor when necessary but it doesn't need to influence the way most students do their work.

Samantha

10/17/2013 03:51:18 pm

I believe you were the only person to make the point that technology has influenced the amount of plagiarism; I thought it was a great point. Another good point you made was how people seem to think someone's writing is the best on the topic, so they want their writing to be the same.
No matter what, other people's work will always make its way to the internet. I think that students need to follow the instructions given to us on our bibliography. We were told to read the source, put it away, and then write a summary of the source. By doing so, plagiarism is much harder because it is not directly in front of you.

Jess

10/18/2013 07:37:03 am

I think most of us can agree that we were unaware that copying just the sentence structure but changing the words was classified as plagiarism. Stealing other peoples work from the internet has been something that a lot of people resort to technology for which is one of the main places teachers see plagiarism. You're right many students look at other peoples work and copy that because it is easier than putting their own thought into it.

Samantha

10/14/2013 04:21:32 pm

One thing that I learned that also stuck out to me was that the boundary between plagiarism and research can often be unclear. If it is unclear, how does one know when they are doing so?
Plagiarism and the work ethic of students has greatly been affected by technology. The best example is "copy and paste." Whether it be an entire paper or an answer to a homework question, a student somewhere has highlighted, right-clicked, and selected paste. It is that easy to plagiarize. I think technology has allowed students to become lazy with their work. Students may have become lazy, but professors and teacher have become smart. There is now technology that can detect whether or not a paper is plagiarized. Serious consequences can come to a student if they are caught plagiarizing, and do not think you will not get kicked out of college if you are caught. So, I believe technology has negatively affected the work ethic of students.

Christine Myers

10/18/2013 04:33:46 am

I love how you brought up the whole "copy and paste" action. If someone is using the "copy and paste" method, it is obvious that this is plagiarism. I also highlighted on my post about the different tools used to detect technology. I feel as if students forget that technology might help them get the answers in a quicker way, but it is really hurting them in the long run. It has definitely become an issue because it becomes harder for people to retain information if they just "google" the answers. I agree with you 100% that technology has negatively affected the work ethic of students.

Jess

10/18/2013 07:40:56 am

"Copy and pasting" is something I also brought up in my response because it is something that is a very easy, quick, and common thing to do. Many students don't think they will get caught by doing this but they don't realize that if they are caught there will be serious consequences such as, like you mentioned, getting kicked out of college. Technology has made it easier to plagiarize in this way and I believe if people became more aware of the outcome of plagiarism many wouldn't do it anymore.

Logan

10/18/2013 04:24:10 pm

I really like how you looked at this. I took a very similar approach as you because I too agree that technology has made a very negative impact on the work ethic of students. I also talked about plagiarism technology in my blog post and how teachers can find out very easily if one has plagiarized. I love how you used the copy and paste feature in your analysis. It demonstrates the simplicity and nonchalant ways plagiarism occurs.

Steven

10/15/2013 04:16:32 am

The one thing that I didn't know about plagiarism was the various different kinds that there are. I thought of plagiarism as a strictly copy and paste, or not giving another person credit on their work. Also, knowing that I am an avid user of Twitter, I did not know that simply re-tweeting another person's tweet was considered a type of plagiarism. Technology has made plagiarizing easier and easier but at the same time much harder as well. For example, a writer could go on a website and find a paragraph that they seem to like and then take it and make it their own with the copy and paste tools. At the same time, a person can find out whether or not that their paragraph is their own original idea through various websites that find exact wording in other writings. Technology has killed the work ethic of the average student. Online everything is readily available and easily accessible; if it is in a person's hands, why not use it? Not just as far as research goes either, there are answers to math problems, summaries for books, videos for labs, and anything a person could possibly need to know. Work ethic of students has been drastically changed since the come up of technology.

Samantha

10/16/2013 03:38:28 am

Now that you know that retweeting someone's tweet is a type of plagiarism, are you going to stop doing so? Even knowing this fact, people are going to continue retweeting because everyone does it. Is there a consequence for this type plagiarizing?
I agree with you that technology has essentially "killed" the work ethic of students. Also, I am in agreement about the question you raised, "why not use it?" It is true. I have been doing homework and googled the question. The answer I came across was straightforward, so I did not bother putting it in my own words. So if I copied it word for word or changed some words around, I still plagiarized.

Steven

10/17/2013 04:25:58 am

Chances are knowing that I will continue to retweet other's tweets. And clearly there is no type of plagiarising for that type of plagiarism because then millions of people would have to be punished. After thinking about what retweeting really does though, I'm not too sure why it is considered a type of plagiarism. When a person retweets another tweet, the original tweeter is the one who gets full credit to the tweet, name, date, time, and in some cases, location. Therefore, I believe that retweeting another person's tweet is actually not a type of plagiarism; it actually surprises me that "technically" it is.

Cristina

10/17/2013 05:20:25 am

The only difference between retweeting and copy and pasting something into research paper is that people can openly see that one retweeted the tweet. It's not like that person is saying that they posted the tweet first. I still agree that you technically are plagiarizing but if one copy and pastes something into a research paper they are basically saying that it is their words not someone else's. Technology has indeed "killed" work ethic because they have everything at their fingetips and they can so easily plagiarize. Technology makes it too easy for it to happen.

Tori

10/18/2013 04:37:18 am

I had absolutely no idea that by simply re-tweeting another persons tweet could be classified as plagiarism. I completely agree with your comment as to how you don't understand why it is a type of plagiarism considering the original persons name appears on your page. Also, I agree with you when you said that technology has killed the work ethic of an average student. Technology has made it so much easier for students to look up answers and barely do any work. Some students if necessary, probably wouldn't know where to look for answers if no technology was available.

Sam

10/18/2013 07:28:28 am

You would think I'd agree with you, but it's funny how I don't. Is it even a surprise at this point? Students who plagiarize do so on accident for the most part. The threat of expulsion is enough of a deterrent for students, so what option is left for them? The only option students have is to write it themselves. That's not to say plagiarism isn't an issue for students, but to say students' "work ethic" is killed by "technology" is unfounded. I find it extremely ironic that you argue "Technology has made plagiarizing easier and easier but at the same time much harder as well", yet you then go on to say "Technology has killed the work ethic of the average student." It's like you deliberately went against your own reasoning. I could understand the occasional math answer or summary for a book being seen as an example of the decay of student work ethic you describe, but the limited amounts of such information prevents students from really seeking out short cuts like these. Even more important, if a student wanted to cheat on their homework, why would they? How else would they prepare for assessments or tests? You could argue that a lot of students don't care, but why even consider them students then? They obviously lack the foresight to identify the relevance homework has to the class, and their grades will be lackluster as a result. Failing classes will turn into failing high school; failing high school will, in the eyes of the rest of society, revoke their status as a student. In summary, students who utilize online material in an unscrupulous fashion don't succeed. Your idea that technology ruins students' work ethic doesn't account for the students who realize this fact.

oooooh killem

Logan

10/18/2013 04:29:06 pm

I completely agree with what you said. An average student would never be able to complete homework like we do without tools like Google that make plagiarism so easy. Most people do not even realize what they are doing is considered plagiarism,or they are too weak to let the short cut pass them by. Also, I like how you talked about Twitter and plagiarism. Not many people would realize tha pressing the retweet button is plagiarism.

Logan

10/15/2013 06:01:32 am

Plagiarism is a very serious issue in the modern education system. With the growth in technology, there are many options available for students one the internet. There are thousands of websites advertising on school resources such as Spark Notes or Dictionary.com that allow people to pay for an essay. Obviously, the thought of throwing a twenty to save hours of time is enticing for many students. These websites, however, should be feared by students. Many of them hand out the same essays to hundreds of students, and the essays will show as plagiarism if the teacher decides to run it through a plagiarism search engine. Aside from essays, students plagiarize all the time without even realizing it. Often instead of using the book for a guided reading, students will do a Google search for the question and write down the answers they find which are frequently from sites such as Wiki Answers or Yahoo Answers; doing this is plagiarism. The availability of answers on the internet and in turn caused a decline in student work ethic. With all the resources students have, it has become a question of morals and honesty, but even the most honest of students have succumbed to these temptations at some point.

Christine Myers

10/18/2013 04:28:31 am

I think it is great that you brought up the fact that many people are paying for essays online. I think only really unintelligent people would actually fall for that scam though. Everyone knows that those essays are reused and most likely generic. Aside from that, teachers know a student's writing style, and if they were to turn in something they did not write at all, the teacher would very well know this. I also agree with you that the internet and technology has caused a decline in many student's work ethic.

Sam

10/18/2013 07:37:57 am

In your response, you mention something about throwing a twenty, presumably at the people who write essays for students in the sentence before. Do you mean literally throw the twenty? Like do you crumple it into a little ball, find the person selling essays, and throw it at them? This doesn't seem like a good business model. In any event, I totally disagree with your final statement. You said, "With all the resources students have, it has become a question of morals and honesty, but even the most honest of students have succumbed to these temptations at some point." This just isn't true. I don't know anyone who has "succumbed" to plagiarism. I'm also a really honest student, and I don't cheat or plagiarize anything. You can put what I'm writing here into one of the search engines for plagiarism, and it will be totally clean. Therefore, your argument is invalid.
Peace.

Sam

10/15/2013 08:34:37 am

I didn't know that changing the words of a sentence would be considered plagiarism. If that is true, I think I might have plagiarized before. In my defense, though, I didn't know that was plagiarizing. Technology has affected students' work ethic a lot, because students think they can just search for whatever they need on the internet. Also, students' have access to information easier, so they just take whatever they need without giving credit to the author.

Christine Myers

10/15/2013 08:41:57 am

Plagiarism is a growing issue in today's modern educational system. Whether intentional or not, more and more students are guilty of plagiarism. I was already aware that by changing the words and using the same sentence structure in a sentence is considering plagiarism. Freshman year, my teacher, Mrs. George was very cautious about plagiarism and warned us all about the different ways things can be considered plagiarism. It is one thing to use the information one has learned from a source and make it one's own, but to completely copy an idea without crediting the owner is not right.
With the growth of today's society, many more teachers and administrators are able to figure out if a student is guilty of plagiarism. It is really stupid to plagiarize in today's society. There are so many easy to access websites and tools to help someone decipher whether the work is truly yours.

Steven

10/17/2013 04:17:00 am

I must say that Mrs. George did do a good job freshman year of making many of us aware of all of the different types of plagiarism that there were. I must agree with the fact that you say it is "stupid" to plagiarize because there are a ton of tools out on the internet today that can easily allow a person to find out whether or not a piece of work is your own of simply copied.

Jess

10/15/2013 11:14:57 am

I have learned the many different kinds of plagiarism that there are through the reading on Plagiarism 101. Before, I only thought that there was one real type of plagiarism but by my reading I have realized that plagiarism can take place in various forms. Technology has affected plagiarism and work ethic of students because it has made it easier to just copy and paste instead of taking the time to type it out. Many students become lazy through technology by using this method of copy and paste which in the long run leads them no where since they are not actually learning the information or doing their own work. Without technology uses students would take pretty much the same amount of time to write their own sentence rather than copying word for word someone else's sentence. With the use of technology it is within one second that a copy and paste can occur from a website onto a word document. Also, it makes it much faster to just simply rearrange the words in the sentence to have the same meaning but different structure, which still is plagiarism. Technology makes it a lot easier to plagiarize but it also can help to prevent plagiarism because it is easier to cite websites in a works cited to give credit to the real owner if a student were to quote something from their writing.

Steven

10/17/2013 04:21:51 am

An argument can be made that a person is learning nothing from copying another source. The chances are if a person is copying they are at least looking over the information that they are writing down, or at least letting it pass through the brain before putting it back out. Copying is clearly not okay, though. Next, I would like to agree that you said technology has made the world a much easier place in order for a person so copy another's work. Before I knew what plagiarism was I can admit to taking another person's sentence and rewording it to my own (again I didn't know that plagiarism existed). Lastly, I would like to say that technology doesn't necessarily make citing work easier, it is just as easy to write out as it is to type.

Cristina

10/17/2013 05:31:08 am

I agree that technology makes it way to easy to get things done quickly ans kids take advantage of it. They just wont, for some reason, take the time to cite their sources. If they have saved so much time by copy-pasting then why can't they use the extra time to quote and cite the source? This just makes no sense to me.

Tori

10/18/2013 04:44:20 am

I agree with Steven's comment as to where even if a student is copying and pasting they are reading over the material. Of course it isn't teaching them as much information as them actually researching into depth but it is sticking in their memory. I definitely agree with you when you said it only takes a few seconds to copy and paste something into your own document. This makes it so much easier for students to wait until the last minute to do either work considering how easy technology makes plagiarism. For instance, typing a topic in on google takes you to hundreds of different sites with information about that topic. Highlighting, copy, and pasting a sentence takes 5 seconds.

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Module 7 - "But I swear it's my own work"

Mrs. Erdman

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