Moving Toward a Paperless Classroom
Just another Edublogs.org weblog
When asked to consider both sides of an issue and dealing with the one that I have chosen around plagiarism, I’ve come to realize that I sit on one side. It is very hard for me to see the other side of the story. In other words, is it okay to copy someone else’s work from, say the Internet, and then call it your own? As I indicated in my first entry, I tend to cut and paste myself, then adapt and place in my own words. If I use someone else’s document in my “Mr. Miller’s Survival Guide to Grade 7,” then I give credit to where credit is due. So, in a logical manner, as I am so apt to do I am going to consider the following ideas in order to guide myself through the process:
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Could retelling a story (like prehistoric humans did and aboriginals do today) be considered plagiarism?
- What were the origins of printing?
- Did the printing press cause issues of copying other people’s work?
- When was the term plagiarism coined and is there a connection to what was going on at that time?
- When were texts and other first writings plagiarized and noticed?
- When did Internet plagiarism become an issue?
- What is public domain and can others use my data if I don’t copy write it?
All one has to do is search the internet or look in an encyclopaedia about the history of storytelling. There are records of stories being handed down from generation to generation in many languages ranging from Sanskrit, Old German, Latin, Chinese, Greek, Latin, Icelandic and Old Slavonic and there are of course paper records from Ancient Egypt to Gilgamesh in Sumerian history to the first story of Beowulf in the English language. All of these stories had the purpose of telling what had come before (Ramsey).
Ramsey also indicated several reasons for storytelling, but I’ve only included the ones that seem to be most important to my article:
“…That it evolved from the human need to communicate experience to other humans… That it fulfilled an aesthetic need for beauty, regularity, and form through expressive language and music. That it stemmed from the desire to record the actions or qualities of one’s ancestors, in the hope that this would give them a kind of immortality. (op cit)”
It would seem that the original intent of storytelling was, therefore, honourable and worthy of partaking. Did people see it as plagiarizing? It was probably not considered as such as the person(s) were long dead and maybe before their deaths came to realize a sort of immortality in the knowledge that their story would be passed on. William Scurrah tends to agree, when he wrote, “Likewise, prior to the introduction of the moveable-type printing press, knowledge was not conceived as either owned or originated by individuals but as given to all humankind-as a kind of intellectual commons that all shared in and drew from (Scurrah 4)”
Cuneiforms in Mesopotamia and paper became methods of transforming words into something a little more permanent. Scribes would laboriously copy work so that others could read what was once spoken word. (Wikipedia)
Did people consider this plagiarism? People seemed to want to get their words and opinions out to the world so that others would agree with them. Scribes didn’t take ownership of the writing and Churches and monasteries were the only places to find books and speech was still the preferred way of communication. A writer’s market was small, so his profit was limited to those close to him (Scurrah 4, 7).
With Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press ca. 1431, it was not long after that the word copyright came into existence. In Britain in the 18th century, copyright was pushed forth to deal with the concerned with the unregulated copying of books (Wikipedia). Interestingly enough, Merriam Webster’s dictionary indicates the word plagiarism came from about the time of 1621 and came from the Latin word for “Kidnapper” and was adapted for those who kidnapped the use of someone else’s work. References also indicate that the Industrial Revolution brought new headaches to copyright issues (Scurrah 7).
With the advent of the Internet becoming a fast growing technology tool in the 1980’s and onwards, plagiarism took on a whole new role as I indicated in my first blog entry about cutting and pasting.
So what is the final word on free online use and the right to copy other people’s work? It seems that there are people out there who are willing to copy work based on the freedom of censorship of the Internet. An example can be seen at http://rooferauthor.blogspot.com/2008/06/because-i-think-i-need-to-do-this.html where a gentleman helps someone else write a paper and justifies why it wasn’t plagiarism, but helping someone edit their work. A major discussion thread ensues and the argument goes on.
In closing, I believe that this issue is far from over. Alan November mentioned at a recent speech at Magee that the Internet is opening students up to a whole new world of information and dealing with plagiarism will be at the forefront.
What do you think? Should one be able to cut and paste at will because we have gotten to the point of “there is nothing new out there, we need to rehash the old ideas?” To coin a section out of the short story, “The Machine Stops,” E.M. Forester writes through the eyes of a future human who thinks, that,
“Those who still wanted to know what the earth was like had after all only to listen to some gramophone, or to look into some cinematophote. And even the lecturers acquiesced when they found that a lecture on the sea was none the less stimulating when compiled out of other lectures that had already been delivered on the same subject. “Beware of first- hand ideas!” exclaimed one of the most advanced of them. “First-hand ideas do not really exist. They are but the physical impressions produced by live and fear, and on this gross foundation who could erect a philosophy? Let your ideas be second-hand, and if possible tenth-hand, for then they will be far removed from that disturbing element – direct observation.”
When will we become a world with no ideas? Will our machine stop too? For the whole story, go to the link:
http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlich/forster.html (Copied from an unknown source, as it wasn’t in Project Gutenberg….)
Works cited
Copyright [online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright, July 1, 2008 download.
Copyright [online] Available http://rooferauthor.blogspot.com/2008/06/because-i-think-i-need-to-do-this.html , July 1, 2008 download.
Forster, E.M. “The Machine Stops” Copyright [online] Available http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlich/forster.html , July 1, 2008 download.
Plagiarism [online] Available http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism , July 1, 2008 download.
Printing Press [online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press , July 1, 2008 download.
Ramsey, Inez. Handbook for Storytellers [online] Available http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm, July 1, 2008 download.
Scribes [online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribe , July 1, 2008 download.
Scurrah, William L. (Ed.). (2001) Plagiarism, Enclosure and the Commons of the Mind (Report No. Cs 510 540) [Electronic Version]. Annual Meeting of the College Composition and Communication. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 451 570)
I have been pondering the reason why elementary school children often cut and paste information from the Internet into their reports and essays. Every year, I experience the same situation: There are at least 5-10 of my students who get caught copying work off the Internet. I suspect that some are smart enough to not get caught, so the percentage might be even higher. Why do students plagiarise?
When I ask my students, they claim innocence and that they didn’t know better. I can almost relate to that, but I talk about plagiarism in my “Mr. Miller’s Survival Guide to Grade 7″, where I indicate why I think plagiarism is not appropriate:
“One of the easiest ways to make notes is to copy exactly what someone else says or writes. Now, before you get out your pen and start writing, you should know that using information from someone else’s books, papers, projects, internet sites, encyclopaedias, etc. is called Plagiarism! It is actually against Canadian law and people can be tried in court for plagiarism because you are breaking a copyright law. As a teacher, I see plagiarism every year. I quickly learn the abilities of each and every of my students. I will know immediately if the writing is yours or not. If I suspect it is not, I will use your bibliography to check the source. If you have no bibliography, then I will give you your report/essay back – bear in mind that you may get a 0 if there is not a logical reason why there is no bibliography. In other words, WRITE ONE!
While you can’t copy other peoples’ work, you can use some of their words if you give them credit and use what is called direct quotation. The sentence(s) that you wish to use MUST be placed inside quotation marks and a page number where you took the quotation:
“Good science fiction is like tomorrow’s news, just a little further into the future (Clark 39).”
Notice that the quotes have the author’s name and page number inside the quotes. This is mandatory in virtually all reports and essays that you will have to write. You will have to have a bibliography at the end of your essay, project or report that indicates the title of the book and the author (in this case, Clark). For bibliography formats, see the bibliography section in this guide.”
Again, I indicate why I think it is wrong, which is my morality speaking and the values that my teachers, parents and community leaders instilled in my when I was young. To be truthful, I hadn’t checked the actual Canadian law on using other peoples’ work without giving them credit… Maybe I was being a little hypocritical and getting on a soapbox to try to get my students to fall into line…I can honestly say (with my halo tightly fastened above my head that I didn’t plagiarize as a child! Adult, that’s another story… (Which I will get to later! Yikes!)
I asked a friend, David, who works at a reputable advertising agency in London, England on his thoughts about plagiarising:
“Well, technically every report is plagiarism because all thought on any subject isn’t original. It’s taken from somewhere and copied but said in your own words – chewing up the words of someone else and spitting out your own dribble… What’s original anymore?”
I thought that was quite true – there is so much information out there these days that it might actually be hard to come up with some original thought or idea that someone hasn’t already discussed, researched or copyrighted for their own.
So, why do students do it? I mean, some of them don’t even change the multitude of fonts from the Internet or even take out the hyperlinks when they cut and paste! Don’t they have a sense of shame or guilt?! Where is their sense of morality? Well, maybe it has to be instilled in them and gently re-affirmed when they do it the first couple of times…
What are the consequences?
Well, I checked Canadian law, using my trusty Google search engine and came up with a link:
http://www.canadalegal.info/ref-intellectual-property/ip-it-law.html#plagiarism-definition
Which said,
“Appropriation of the literary composition of another and passing off as one’s own the product of the mind and language of another. . An example of the offence of plagiarism in the law is INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT, which comes into being when the work allegedly copied is protect by copyright.” [quote p.170 Canadian law Dictionary, 2nd ed., by John A. Yogis, Q.C. (adapted fr. Law Dictionary by Steven H. Gifis), © 1990 Barron's Educational Series, Inc.; ISBN #-0-8120-4308-1; Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 90-34213]
This link was useful too:
http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol32.2/edmonds.html
Someone has spent a lot of time working on a paper on plagiarism. I am assuming that the author followed his or her own rules and came up with their own original ideas and put it in their own words…
Many universities state that consequences can be
…an awkward confrontation with your instructor to expulsion
(http://www.lib.unb.ca/instruction/PlagiarismBibliography.html )
The above link contained a “Plagiarism: How-NOT-to-Guide”, which I immediately felt the impulse to cut and paste it into my Mr. Miller’s Survival Guide to Grade 7.” Of course, it was for the better of my students, right? Well, I didn’t actually cut and paste it. I certainly read it though! (http://www.lib.unb.ca/instruction/Plagiarism.html )
What I found helpful, was their tips on avoiding it – which I already had in my philosophy, that students start their research early, use citations and use a specific format of citation (I use the Canadian Writer’s Handbook.)
They also suggested to:
· Paraphrase properly
· Use direct quotes sparingly
· Keep in mind that facts that are “common knowledge” do not need to be cited.
· Make your own argument
· Know where to go for help.
Again, these seem to be common everyday suggestions that most teachers would use! However, am I plagiarizing that website by listing the headings directly from their site? (Yes, I cut and paste, but I edited and used my own bullets.)
When I have plagiarized
The above point I made about cutting and pasting useful educational materials strikes back to the point about times when I have plagiarized (I can just hear all the TSKS! as other teachers read this!) But then again, maybe not because many of them have done what I have… cut and paste educational materials that someone else created in order to educate our students. I’m sure that we have all heard and used the saying, “Why re-invent the wheel?” when creating lessons… Is this right or wrong?
Whoa! My head is starting to spin…
What resources are there for teachers?
Doing my research, I came across a few resources that teachers may want to use:
www.PlagiarismScanner.com Software for your computer
www.Turnitin.com Use their facilities to check if your students’ work is honest
http://www.plagarize.com/ Information on plagiarism and resources
http://www.plagiarism.org/ More resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism The “Almighty” resource on the web…
http://www.cln.org/themes/plagiarism.html Links and resources
The links go on and on and on…
(A non-copyright animated gif – irony not lost on me)
So, to get back to why students plagiarise, I think that they do it because they are either not prepared or they don’t know better. They need to be educated about the proper methods of citations and using other peoples’ ideas. Secondly, they need to be shown how to use them and practice using their own words. Finally, they need to learn about time management and setting priorities in order to get the work handed in on time and not feel the impulse to cut and paste.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
