Journal Post #5

Chapter 5 Teaching Information Literacy and Digital Citizenship

Focus Question: How should teachers respond to problems of plagiarism when students use online sources?

Teaching about Plagiarism:
            I believe that to avoid plagiarism in the classroom teachers much first teach about plagiarism. Teachers should teach what it is, how it occurs, and how to avoid plagiarism. I can say from personal experience that I did not know what plagiarism was until I was in college in my first composition class. Teaching about plagiarism at an early age is extremely crucial in getting students to not plagiarize further down the line in school. Some students do not even know what plagiarism is, let alone know that they could fail a class because they plagiarized.

How to avoid Plagiarism:
           Teaching students how to not plagiarize is an important element that they will use for the rest of their school life. How to avoid plagiarism in the classroom is by using citation. Now when I was in high school I had never even heard the word citation. My composition teacher went through an extensive lesson teaching us how to use citation. We only had class once a week but she spent about 3 weeks going over citation and how to do it and where to find sources to help use figure out citation throughout our book. My teacher also went over ways on how to avoid plagiarism. One of her methods was to read the article and takes notes as we read. Then when we were finished reading and were ready to start our essay she would have us write the essay only using our notes. We were not allowed to look at the website at all. She also told us that if the sentence we had written did not come straight out of our minds then we had to use citation and that if we weren't sure if the sentence needed to be cited then to cite it anyway just in case.

Photo credit to: glenmbaker on Flickr

Responding to Plagiarism:
           There are different ways that teachers can address plagiarism. Some teachers may just write an F on your paper and tell you that you plagiarized. I don't see how this benefits anyone though. If I had to deal with plagiarism in my classroom then I would pull the specific student aside and figure out what they needed help in when it comes to citation. My composition teacher would have rough draft sessions whenever we had a major essay due. She would let the class get in groups of two and let the students evaluate each other's work and give feedback to one another. While the class was doing this she would also go around and look specifically at the citation of the paper and if she felt you needed more help she would give you helpful hints on how to improve it. This was also the time when you could ask for help if you needed any. If I had a lot of students that plagiarized on their paper then I would go over citation and how to use it, when to use it, and what plagiarism is again. I would have them rewrite their essays if they wanted to or if they felt they did a good enough job they could leave their paper as it was.

Tech tool 5.1 Photos and Audio Resources on the Web:
           Pictures and sound are valuable sources for creative teaching. Students love it when there are videos attached to a PowerPoint and creative images throughout it. Resources, such as photos and audio resources, keep students engaged and help them concentrate on what the teacher is trying to say. One photo resource that is listed is Flickr. Here you can locate, organize, and send photos that you have taken or that you locate within the site's online collection. I use Flickr for every Journal Post that I have written. There is also LibriVox. This offers free audio recording of published books and other materials that are in the public domain. The site's goal is to make all public domain books available free in audio formats. The last one listed is Creative Commons. This site is an online clearinghouse of photo and video resources for use by teachers, students, and the general public. This site also allows students to freely copy, distribute, edit, and even remix material on the site, but they must give recognition to the authors and artists who created the material.

Summary:
           Plagiarizing in any paper that you write is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. As I said I didn't know what plagiarizing was until I was in college. I did not know how about citation or works cited pages at all. These are things that should be taught in middle school even elementary school. Granted in elementary school they may not fully grasp the idea but at least it will put a starting block on what they will learn in middle school and high school. Dealing with plagiarizing is not an easy thing to do but my composition teacher was my savior when it came to writing papers. She did not want us to fail over something that could be easily avoided.  Teachers like her are who we need and should value the most.

Resources:
           Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.