Plagiarism and online Education

Plagiarism and Online Education

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Plagiarism and Online Education

Plagiarism is one of the major issues in post-secondary education. However, it is vital to note that plagiarism is not a new issue. Technological advancements have made it possible to present information on the internet, which enables students from across the globe to access it. Students can also access assignments and other educational material over the internet when they enrol for online colleges and universities.

Jabs (2002) details how students can avoid online plagiarism. He asserts that plagiarism is not a new phenomenon. Computers have simply made it easier for students to plagiarise information. In fact, some with “even modest computer skills can "cut and paste" a sentence, a paragraph, or even an entire article from a website into her own work” (Jabs, 2002, p. 5). They may duplicate a sentence, paragraph, or an entire article. It is vital for students and educators to know what plagiarism is, how people start plagiarising, and measures that may help in avoiding the practice.

Bowles (2013) provides a critical analysis of the issues on digital literacy. He claims that technological developments have made it easier for students to not only learn but also engage in plagiarism. He provides an explicit explanation of the issues on plagiarism. He claims that it is also vital for online students to know the consequences of engaging in plagiarism. This is because plagiarism may have a significant impact on the education of an individual. This paper will strive to discuss what plagiarism, differences between intentional and unintentional plagiarism, and measures that one may undertake to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is rampant in post-secondary education. Ison (2012) undertook a study to determine the prevalence of plagiarism in online institutions. The article provides a critical analysis of the issues on plagiarism in online institutions. The research uses dissertations that were submitted to Turnitin plagiarism detection software as the sample of the research. The findings of the research show that “72% of the dissertations had at least one case of improper paraphrasing and citation (verbatim text accompanied by a citation) and 46% had verbatim text without any citation” (Ison, 2012, p. 227). This highlights the prevalence of plagiarism in online institutions.  Therefore, the results of the study should encourage online institutions to formulate strategies that would help in tackling the rampant plagiarism (Ison, 2012).

According to Ison (2012), the word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word “plagiarius,” which means a “kidnapper, seducer, plunderer” (p. 228). It is vital for students to acknowledge the fact that plagiarism has severe negative consequences. It would pose them with various problems in the real-world if they engaged in plagiarism to maintain their academic success. Tutors usually provide students with information on plagiarism and its consequences at the beginning of any course. Therefore, it is vital for the students to adhere to the rules to avoid engaging in plagiarism. Ison (2012) claims that plagiarism began when people realised that they could copy words. Some of the most gifted writers have also borrowed words from other authors. They include “Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and Martin Luther” (Ison, 2012, p. 227). However, the emergence of new technological trends has made it much easier to plagiarise information. Plagiarism among online students is usually due to the laziness of students. However, it is vital for students to acknowledge the fact that engaging in plagiarism would have dire consequences on the student. Students should also note the difference between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. In intentional plagiarism, the writer intentional misleads the reader whereas in unintentional plagiarism the author does not mislead the reader intentionally (Ison, 2012, p. 228). Certain students may commit unintentional plagiarism since they have not understood the instructions on how they should paraphrase. The students may also not have a good understanding of what plagiarism entails or how to cite properly.