Blog Assignment: Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

Plagiarism is using someone else’s words exactly as they said it or wrote it.  To avoid it, you must either use your own words – paraphrasing – or use quotes around those people’s words and then cite it at the end and after the quotes.

 

According to Purdue’s website, “There are some actions that can almost unquestionably be labeled plagiarism.  Some of these include buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper (including, of course, copying an entire paper or article from the Web); hiring someone to write your paper for you; and copying large sections of text from a source without quotation marks or proper citation.”  (The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. April 10, 2014).

So, if you want to use someone else’s exact words, you have to use quotes and cite it.  If you want to use a picture that is someone else’s, you have to cite it.  You can use free sources that are free to use, share, and modify.  You could use Google and just put on those advance search filters.

 

You can paraphrase stuff.  If you do paraphrase, just make sure all the words you use are not what it is in that person’s sentence.  Change the words, use your own.

You can take your own notes by looking at something that is written or as someone is talking.  Write down what you think they are saying in your own words.  If you’re interviewing someone, same thing, use your own words.  But, if you want to use that person’s exact word, use quotes, and get their permission and then cite it.  You could use direct quotes but just have to cite it and quote it in quotation marks.  You could use other people’s work but it just has to be quoted and cited so they get the credit.

A lot of universities use plagiarism software to check if students are or have plagiarized.  A “facilitator’s role is to educate learners about copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and cheating.”  (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d., "Plagiarism and Cheating") 

References:

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. April 10, 2014, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/

"Plagiarism and Cheating".  Dr. Palloff and Dr. Pratt.  Laureate Education, Inc.  (n.d.)

Blog Assignment: Impact of Technology and Multimedia

What impact does technology and multimedia have on online learning environments?

          “Multimedia learning occurs when students build mental representations from words and pictures that are presented to them (e.g., printed text and illustrations or narration and animation). The promise of multimedia learning is that students can learn more deeply from well-designed multimedia messages consisting of words and pictures than from more traditional modes of communication involving words alone.”  (Mayer 2003)  Students sometimes need to see information and how something works instead of just looking at words in a book.
 
          “Computer-based multimedia learning environments - consisting of pictures (such as animation) and words (such as narration) - offer a potentially powerful venue for improving student understanding.”  (Mayer & Moreno 2002)  This is so true.  Like they say, “pictures are worth a thousand words.”  Students do not always understand or grasp things by reading or a teacher standing in the front of the class talking.  Students need to actually see what is being taught. 

          As stated by Tay Vaughan, “Sound is perhaps the most sensuous element of multimedia.  It is meaningful “speech” in any language, from a whisper to a scream”, (Vaughan, 96).  Sound comes in a variety of tones from music to special effects.  Sound can set the tone for a great learning experience or not. 

          As stated by Tay Vaughan, “Video is the element of multimedia that can draw gasps from a crowd at a trade show or firmly hold a student’s interest in a computer-based learning project”, (Vaughan, 192).  Choosing video for a multimedia project depends on the computer system.


What are the most important considerations an online instructor should make before implementing technology?

          The most important considerations an online instructor should make before implementing technology would be that the instructional environment should be viewed as a system, a relationship among all the components of that system – the instructor, the learners, the material, and the technology.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 151. 2012)   

          “The scope of the content for a course needs to be sufficient to ensure the entire learning experience will lead to the desired outcomes.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 157. 2012)  Also, “the instructor needs to focus on selecting instructional strategies that engage all the learners in active learning”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 157. 2012) by “de-emphasizing the “informative” part of the instruction for more “discovery” of information.” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 159. 2012)  The instructor will need to incorporate media into the training program.  Also, visual information will need to be created.  “Visuals also help learners by simplifying information.”   (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 160. 2012)  The use of charts and diagrams are great for understanding course content and the use of technology, equipment use and resources available to / for students available at a distance also aide in learning.


What implications do usability and accessibility of technology tools have for online teaching?

          Implications for usability and accessibility of technology tools for online teaching / technology considerations – when to use and when not to use and finally, choosing a delivery method which can be classroom based, instructor-led synchronous course, instructor-led asynchronous course, learner-led synchronous course or learner-led asynchronous course.  Dr. Piskurich states “activities should provide ample opportunities for online learners to explore on their own.”  (Laureate Education, Inc. "Planning and Designing Online Courses")  Technology considerations, “ensure that the learners and facilitators have access to the technology selected and ensure that the learners will know how to use whatever technology is selected”  (Laureate Education, Inc. "Planning and Designing Online Courses") story board (maps out flow of course into weeks / days & by assignments) (Laureate Education, Inc. " Developing Online Courses") & sitemaps (shows how students will move through the course).  (Laureate Education, Inc. “Developing Online Courses”)


What technology tools are most appealing to you for online teaching as you move forward in your career in instructional design?

          The technology tools that are most appealing to me for online teaching as I move forward in my career in instructional design are:
                    •    Social media
                    •    Audio
                    •    Comics
                    •    Wikispaces
                    •    iAdventures / WebQuests
                    •    MindMaps
                    •    Storyboards




References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) "Developing Online Courses".  [Multimedia Webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3467850_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) "Planning and Designing Online Courses". [Video Webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3467850_1%26url%3D

Richard E. Mayer .  The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media.  Learning and Instruction, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2003, Pages 125-139.

Richard E. Mayer & Roxana Moreno.  Aids to computer-based multimedia learning.  Learning and Instruction, Volume 12, Issue 1, February 2002, Pages 107-119

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Vaughan, T. (2008). Multimedia: Making It Work (7th ed., pp. 96—131 & 192-225). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.