Blog Assignment: Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

What plagiarism detection software is available to online instructors?

One of the first ones that come to mind when we think of stopping plagiarism in online classes is TurnItin. Turnitin is an Internet-based plagiarism-prevention service created by iParadigms, LLC. Typically, universities and high schools buy licenses to submit essays to the Turnitin website, which checks the documents for unoriginal content. The results can be used to identify similarities to existing sources or can be used in formative assessment to help students learn how to avoid plagiarism and improve their writing (Turnitin, n.d.).

Another service that I use that has greatly improved my writing, and also checks for plagiarism is Grammary. It is simple to use and attaches itself to Microsoft Word so that it can correct your writing, grammar, contextual spelling, punctuation, Sentence structure, style, vocabulary enhancement, as well as plagiarism. Grammarly's proofreading and plagiarism-detection resources check for a writer's adherence to more than 250 grammar rules. Grammarly carries out more than 250 grammar checks; it proofreads and detects plagiarism in the process and finally provides users with a list of possible errors for correction. During its text review, Grammarly presents potential errors one at a time, with commonly confused words or faulty sentences highlighted in light red and a text box below offering an explanation that provides good and bad examples and suggests corrections. Grammarly also provides citations when it detects plagiarism. Users can click on a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" icon to let Grammarly know whether the result was helpful (Grammarly, n.d.).

How can the design of assessments help prevent academic dishonesty?

Preserving academic integrity is an ongoing challenge for traditional face-to-face, blended, and entirely online courses (McNett, 2010). I think that when we get away from lower degree programs such as in Bachelors programs and move into more thoughtful Masters programs where there are fewer questions, quizzes, testing, assignments to turn in for grades, even concrete questioning that requires solid student input, then we require a more careful eye for academic dishonesty. Already the pressure is on when we think about online learning, it is only a short eight weeks, so students are often pressed for time. We graduate sooner because of this eight week time crunch, and that puts a level of discipline for the work of the students to complete on time. Requiring incremental submissions of a topic statement, outline, annotated bibliography, and rough drafts both prevents procrastination and deadline-hysteria and, more importantly, allows you to get to know the student’s writing style and spot any sudden changes in topic (McNett, 2010). The course is sometimes developed to aid the teacher so that we have those guidelines, framework and structured syllabus in place. Student rarely have a reason to say “my dog ate my homework” because we have the homework accessible and ready. Sadly, the only thing that would be an excuse is if you do not have an internet connection, and even then, that is a complete cop-out, because wifi is everywhere these days.

In an effort to reduce the opportunity for plagiarism or cheating, what facilitation strategies do you propose to use as a current or future online instructor?

I'd like to run all my students work through Grammarly or use the schools plagiarism tools available. It is also important to know that some papers students can download over some paper Academic cheating site. There are many out there, and they offer students services on the papers they need and some even write their papers for them right out of India, or England. It is important to check the properties of your Word documents or any file for that matter. A student's name should match up to whatever is in their properties file. One way I learned to do this is to save my file and look at the Author name, if it says my name, I am good to go. If someone else's name appears here, it means that it came from another person's local computer, and the student simply downloaded it and turned it in.

What additional considerations for online teaching should be made to help detect or prevent cheating and plagiarism?

Students who want to cheat will continue to cheat online or in a traditional classroom. Students who want to learn and better themselves know that cheating will not help with long-term goals. Cheating is not a new problem for universities, but the growth in online courses – particularly massive open online courses – has forced academics to search for new ways to ensure honesty and protect academic integrity. The causes of plagiarism are the same, regardless of where or how students are learning. Stress, tiredness, and pressure to perform are all common factors (Slater, 2014).

                                                                                       

References

Grammarly. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammarly

McNett, M. (2010). Curbing Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses. Retrieved from Pointer and Clicker Article University of Illinois: http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/Resources/pointersclickers/2002_05/index.asp

Slater, H. (2014, March 14). How can universities stop students cheating online? Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/14/students-cheating-plagiarism-online

Turnitin. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnitin

Blog Assignment: Impact of Technology on Adult Learning

What impact can technology have on adult learning?

Let's face it; online learning is today's learning, no matter if you are a dinosaur or reluctant for change. Online learning goes hand in hand with technology, and this mainly shapes the way we learn. With this learning, we have more opportunities for unleashing our creativity. Technology is simply an extension of us. Thoughtfully designed learning environments can help students unleash creativity as they work with laptops, mobile, and tablets to express their ideas. The technology is here, and as a result of its availability, we can freely speak and have the courage and bravery to be expressive and creative with our words. It also helps that there is a bevy of web 2.0 tools that can aid in expressing our voices. Think about the possibilities Wikis, video, audio, programming, and any other aids we have to help us communicate. I guess what I am trying to say is technology affords us the opportunity to “paint” our expression in the world around us.

Technology enables learning anywhere; teachers now have the ability to design lessons to take full advantage of engaging students individually, in groups or as a whole class. Learning was at a time only a place where you needed to go to and take advantages of the resources at a campus. Technology is simply at the touch of you phone or tablet. It has changed the idea of traditional school and enables students to maintain their lives with the ability to complete courses at their leisure.

What should online instructors consider before incorporating technology into the online learning environment?

Student proficiency and knowledge

Instructors should learn about their students, in any way they can to understand how well versed they are with technology and the practices of online learning. Sometimes this is taken as a step in the enrollment process, other times the student will be an empty vessel, ready for their steps into online learning. Instructors have a responsibility to ascertain what knowledge they are going to be presenting and how the syllabus and rubrics play a part in this learning process.

Vision and Plans.

Online instructors need to have a vision and plan for their curriculum. It is a crucial part of the online learning environment. Technology certainly has made it easier for us to find an easier way, but that is the trap we need to be highly cognizant of. A vision and plan will give the learners a concrete reason to be in your class. Often the online system is already in place with the syllabus and lesson pre-built for the instructor, and many times they feel that the work has already been done for them in working. This is not the case if the instructor is not fully engaged in the assignments, discussion and importantly with the students.

Curriculum

Sometimes the curriculum is supported by the school, and many time created after years of assessment from former students. There might not be much for the instructor to do. However, the curriculum is imperative, and the instructor should heed the path set forth and follow closely to the syllabus and assignments put out by it. If there isn’t a curriculum in place for the course, there will be that much more work to do to create one.

Staff Training and Support

When instructors decide to incorporate technology into the curriculum, ensure that there is a level of staff training and support for the students as well as anyone involved in using that technology. Support is often helpful when students get lost in the technology or are needed some service. We do not all have the same device and not all of us are working on tablets or traditional PCs. For this reason, there can arise many difficulties with the technology whether it is a video presentation or some software. There will always be bugs for every little thing.

Student Training and Support

Some universities or courses offer students a chance to “pretend” to take an online course. You might have seen this as a prerequisite when you enrolled in an online class for the first time. The idea was to get the students fully engaged and trained on how to use the tools, resources, and items related to the online learning environment. Online instructors need to have an idea that this aid in support was available to the students.

What implications do usability and accessibility of technologies have on adult learning?

Usability and accessibility do somewhat overlap, but have very different impacts on the learner. For those of us without a disability, not being able to get to course content easily or finding the course not useable may generally create a nuisance, a frustration or an inconvenience – this is a usability issue. For individuals with disabilities, such issues are not just frustrating, they may create barriers to learning – an accessibility issue.

Yates (2005) emphasizes that usability and accessibility not be one and the same; a website might be useable, but not accessible (p.182), or vice versa. Combining usability, or the ease of use for a website (p. 183), and accessibility, the extent a website removes barriers to individuals with disabilities (p. 184), equals an enhanced user experience for all. Examples of similar or like aspects of accessibility and usability include consistent navigation, the ability to change screen font size and links that are labeled to indicate where they lead. Attention to the nuances between accessibility and usability have a positive impact on the design of a good online learning experience, allowing ease of use for everyone, and access for individuals with disabilities.

What technologies are most appealing to you for teaching online? Explain.

I like the discussion board because it is too easy. Sometimes it is so easy that you do not need to do the assignments, and practically it would be possible to pass the class. Besides that, some of the unique technologies I like are sharing projects with the aid of sharing technologies. Anything that allows collaborative work be ok in my book. Google is famous for this and often is the best solution for group working together because they can share the same documents, or workspace.

Reference

Yates, R. (2005). Web site accessibility and usability: Towards more functional sites for all. Campus –Wide Information Systems, 22(4), 180-188. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global.

Blog Assignment: Internet-Based Multimedia Resources for Online Learning

Link

https://opentokrtc.com/

Description

OpenTok is the leading WebRTC (Real Time Communication) platform for embedding live video, voice, and messaging into your websites and mobile apps. For video use, opentokrtc Video API makes it easy to embed high quality and scalable video communications within the context of your web and mobile applications. The great part about opentokrtc is that is dynamically adaptable; that means if you are looking for live streaming video, you can be on your laptop or your handheld device taking in the video. Whether participating from a mobile device on a 3G network, or a laptop with spotty Wi-Fi, the technology optimizes bitrate, frame rate and other parameters dynamically for users. This dynamic adaptation, combined with audio fallback options, means that calls are not disrupted. 

Explanation of learning from this multimedia resources

From OpenTokrtc, I learned about the ability you can easily integrate a live streaming video into an online platform. Even thought the idea of online learning is more one-way asynchronous activity, with persons dispersed throughout different time zones, it can still be useful. I still think there can be room for online learning where people simultaneously report to a classroom at the same time. There are even particular subjects that can bode well for a webcam lecturing environment. This live streaming video is happening now can be used in so many different creative scenarios. One I might be interested in seeing is on a virtual field trip. Being able to bring along your classroom to a museum or exhibit can help learners think outside the box regarding learning.

Explanation of the concerns incorporating the resources into an online learning experience

With OpenTok and using real-time communications, it can help solve the nuances and particulars of online collaboration. My only concern would be how to connect each of the students if the true concept of the online environment is adaptable to students when they want to be there. Video has supported education for many years, and instructional videos are often a key component in online courses. Video has the ability to convey material through auditory and visual channels, creating a multisensory learning environment. Much remains unknown as to what makes a compelling instructional video, especially in the online environment (Hibbert, 2014). Live video can assist in various other functions, such as tutoring, or counseling, or one on one student interaction. I am still dubious and doubtful about how it can capture an entire classroom lesson

Link

http://www.superteachertools.us/jeopardyx/

Description

JeopardyLabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy template without PowerPoint. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template is a piece of cake. Just use the simple editor to get a game up and running. If you do not have the time to build your own jeopardy templates, then you can browse other jeopardy templates created by other people. It is quite simple to build and easy to pick up and customize to suit the needs of your classroom.

Explanation of learning from this multimedia resources

I learned that JeopardyLabs is fully customizable, and can be used in the classroom for a fun game time. It is the same concept and idea of the real Jeopardy game with Alex Trebek. That hopefully is enough that the students have the base knowledge of how to play the game. Jeopardy is simple and easy to grasp, and can include tasks that provide elements of engagement according to the checklist for an effective game simulation. Students are directly involved in making decisions and learning (Conrad & Donaldson, 2011) from the cubes of questions you make.

Explanation of the concerns incorporating the resources into an online learning experience

I would be more concerned about finding the time to manage my lessons and incorporating lessons into the Jeopardy platform. Call it lazy teaching, or whatever you want to call it, it would take some diligently dedicated work to integrate lessons into making a game.

Blog Assignment: Setting Up Effective Online Learning Experiences

Blog Assignment: Setting Up Effective Online Learning Experiences

What steps are most essential for setting up effective online learning experiences for adult learners? Explain why you believe this.

Our responsibility for setting up an effective learning experience is many. One of the best ways to start an online course on the right foot is to focus on social presence activities for both learners and faculty. Getting acquainted at the social level creates a trust and understanding for the environment it also helps with reaching out to the students so that they can freely express their ideas, beliefs and opinions. To follow with that we have to be careful when our new class begins, it is important to be clear succinct, and effective in your classroom. With that, instructors also have to consider presence, community, patience and clear expectations as an adjunct to their role in the classroom.

Why is it necessary to communicate clear expectations to online learners?

Each student comes to class with certain learning experiences, expectations, and needs that have to be addressed, and to which instructors need to be sensitive, to maximize the students’ learning experiences. However, because of the unknown make-up of online classes, the characteristics of online students may be unclear, making it difficult to develop effective online courses (Davidson, Nora, & Yaw). This notion is paramount in the online learning/instructional environment. How best can we reach out to the students so that they each know what is going on. One of the most effective ways I saw this done was via email. I had an instructor who seemingly went “overboard” with her expectations of the class. This was almost a portfolio of PDF files, MS Word docs, and images where she had typed up different topics and expectations from APA formatting, to plagiarism and copying, student rules, and even as far as dictating the font, size, and color and the use of underlining in our discussion post. She even had a rule to where we needed to title our fist post as “Name – Initial Post”. I had never experienced the level of fanatical expectations in this class before. It did take me a few weeks to adjust because I felt like I was making minuscule mistakes in my contributions as the rules, framework and expectations were almost akin to living under a dictatorship. It was relentless, but I also see the key advantages to letting your students understand your clear expectations of them in the online classroom.

What additional considerations should the instructor take into account when setting up an online learning experience, especially one that targets adult learning?

One important consideration that needs much focus is the participation of the students. With online learning, you can actually see who is participating, who is giving minimal effort, and who is doing more than what is required. Instructors are more able to use the LMS and the technology to make notes of each student. Especially when discussion boards contain time stamps, you will see who meets deadlines, and who ignores them. I think this is vital if you want to hold everyone to the same standard, and expectations of assignment work you already have a built-in system of checks and balances to assist your grading. Online teaching takes a lot of work; you just have to be ready for every situation with your students that appear. It can be even more difficult in the regard that you as an instructor need to juggle the technology, the students, the expectation, rubric, and syllabus to meet the demands of the course. Additionally, online classes are typically eight weeks; you will also need to manage your time well to fit all of these aspects of the course on your plate.

References

Davidson, M. M., Nora, R. T., & Yaw, D. C. (n.d.). The learning styles, expectations, and needs of online students. College Teaching - http://web.simmons.edu/~brady/CE/Reading%202.pdf, 185-189. Retrieved from The learning styles, expectations, and needs of online students: http://web.simmons.edu/~brady/CE/Reading%202.pdf

Blog Assignment: Online Learning Communities

Blog Assignment: Online Learning Communities

What are the essential elements of online community building?

The involvement of the learner in the online course, whether one calls it interaction, engagement, or community building, is critical if an online course is to be more than a lecture-oriented course in which interaction is primarily between the learner and the content or the learner and the instructor (Conrad & Donaldson, 2011, p. 5). Online community should be one which people come together to accomplish some goal. The key aspect of a community is that it maintains some semblance of a social group of any size; the members reside in a specific locality. The essential elements to bring an online community together is people, the guide or instructor, The social presence of each individual, and the method for how the content is delivered to the community.

How do online learning communities significantly impact the learner’s learning and satisfaction with online education?

Students cannot be passive knowledge absorbers which rely on the instructor to feed information to them. In an online course, it is imperative that they be active knowledge generators who assume responsibility for constructing and managing their own learning experience (Conrad & Donaldson, 2011, p. 5). I can personally attest to this as I have experienced various levels of interaction from 30 to 2 students. A balance of students is also an important factor when being able to have a satisfactory learning experience. I contend that the right number is about 10 to 15; where students are not too many, to get lost, or too few, to offer no learning in return. I am currently attending a course at AMU, where it is myself, the instructor, and another student that missed participating for three weeks. I can say, that I learned nothing in that class because I am talking to myself in there!!

How can online learning communities be sustained?

Online learning is a great thing, in so many ways because it takes the participation of a community. An online learning environment can be sustained because we are all vessels of learning. Once operational, there will be instructors, students, monitors, and various other roles that are responsible for ensuring a strong community for learning. Learning can be profoundly and personally transformative when it occurs within a community. Creating knowledge in learning communities can facilitate innovative solutions to increasingly complex problems in today’s knowledge society. Designing the right environment to sustain online communities is a complex task that has implications for designers, facilitators and participants. When the community is able to function effectively, learning for the individual learner can result in a profoundly transformative experience where they can view their practice in an entirely new way (Sall’ee Ryman, 2009). 

What is the relationship between community building and effective online instruction?

Online courses offer the opportunity to create a highly social learning environment, characterized by participation and interactivity for both students and instructors. Online learning is as much a social activity as an individual one. However, the quality and quantity of interactivity can vary dramatically from course to course. Swan (2001)

 ReferencesConrad, R. M., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the Online Learner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Sall’ee Ryman, L. B. (2009). Creating and Sustaining Online Learning Communities: Designing Environments for Transformative Learning. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 46-58.Swan, K. (2001). Virtual interaction: Design factors affecting students’ satisfaction and perceived learning in asynchronous online courses. Distance Education, 22(2), 306-331.University of Illinois. (n.d.). Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/: http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/overview/strengthAndWeak.asp