Managing the Online Classroom: Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

  

Managing the Online Classroom: Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

 

Online learning facilitators have to manage their digital classrooms effectively. Developing a routine to maintain organization and motivation is equally important as using strategies to set and share clear academic integrity policies from the beginning, which will later make detecting and preventing plagiarism easier. After all, the act of plagiarism is not going anywhere. 

Three factors to consider when managing an online classroom to help with plagiarism detection and prevention:

1.  Plagiarism Detection Software

One way to ensure the originality and authenticity of each student’s submitted work is to use a plagiarism detection tool. While many may argue that if an instructor spends enough time teaching the content and educating their learners about copyright, fair use, paraphrasing, and citing sources correctly, then plagiarism will not occur (Walden, n.d). This is simply not true. There are times when students have inadvertently plagiarized because they didn't know that they could not reuse their work from previous courses, and it was considered cheating, for example. Plagiarism detection tools are invaluable in today's digital age because information is readily available online and is constantly updating and changing rapidly. Plagiarism detectors compare a learner’s submitted content against a vast database of online sources, academic papers, and published works. They will flag any similarities found, which helps the learner maintain the authenticity and credibility of their writing and the potential consequences of academic dishonesty (AIContentfyTeam, 2023). Turnitin operates Unicheck.com and is “a full-on solution for educational institutions to detect similarity, spot text modifications, and prevent contract cheating,” which is available in LMS, as a standalone solution, or via API (“Unicheck,” n.d). Whether its learners checking their assignments or facilitators or tutors helping learners become better writers, a plagiarism detection tool provides a reliable way to maintain academic integrity and avoid unintentional plagiarism. 

2.               The Design of Assessments

Assessments should mirror real-life situations, gather information, and refer to reference material (Walden, n.d). Technology plays a vital role in the development of a successful online course. To combat plagiarism in the online learning environment, incorporating collaboration is a strategy to discourage cheating (Walden, n.d). In addition, designing original assessments that promote high-level thinking skills and original responses are common ways facilitators try to prevent academic dishonesty. Requiring learners to submit projects, video responses, group work, and complete quizzes with mixed ways of submitting answers like multiple choice, short, and long answers can assist the facilitator in identifying duplicated content. When assessments are well designed to be aligned with the course objectives and have a solid assessment rubric, it makes it difficult for learners to plagiarize. 

3.               Facilitation Techniques

As stated by Evanick (2023), creating a culture of continuous improvement is a crucial component of the success of any online learning environment in which a facilitator plays a vital role in discouraging plagiarism. When facilitators are active in their online learning community, learners understand they will recognize unusual patterns, such as sudden improvements in writing quality or identical answers from multiple students. These facilitators encourage learners to share their original perspectives and ideas openly, and the facilitator gives timely and constructive feedback to their learners to inspire them to engage actively with their learning progress. 

Additional Considerations

A consideration that must be considered is that the learner and the facilitator have the same access to most online content. Therefore, it is imperative that the facilitator, if different from the Instructional Designer, communicate regularly with the ID to constantly evaluate and refine the curriculum's content, structure, and delivery, as well as the technology used to ensure that it meets the needs of students and achieves the desired learning outcomes (Evanick, 2023). Similarly, it might only be apparent to some students; therefore, facilitators need to explain in layman's terms how they will support them in an online learning community. This might include presenting your office hours and email address regularly or sharing real-life scenarios of past student experiences on a problem they had and how you helped them. Creating an online learning community that trusts the facilitator's teaching strategies, resources, and peers can be a complex and ongoing daunting task. Still, it will help learners feel more confident and less likely to plagiarize, intentionally or unintentionally.  

References

AIContentfyTeam. (2023, October 6). Why you need a plagiarism Checker Tool: Benefits and features. AIContentfy. https://aicontentfy.com/en/blog/why-you-need-plagiarism-checker-tool-benefits-and-features   

Evanick, J. (2023, May 22). Building a culture of continuous improvement in higher education, one step at a time. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/building-culture-of-continuous-improvement-higher-education-one-step-at-a-time 

Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2010). Plagiarism and cheating [Video file].