Journal # 3

"A War of Words" by Jim Paterson
September 2007 from www.thejournal.com

In this article, Jim Paterson presents the views of both parties on the plagiarism issue - those for new computer or web tools to discover plagiarim and those against these same programs. Who would have guessed that both sides of the issue comprise educators? Educators like Maribeth Mohan of Glenbard HS in Glen Ellyn, IL love a new software program called PaperToolsPro which helps students organize their research like the traditional index card method. Instead, they students turn in neatly printed note cards which also helps students understand the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism as they write up the research on the computer notecards. Teachers like Mohan love it, and plan on using it indefinitely. "A real breath of fresh air," comments Mohan. On the other hand, educators in the organization called "Conference on College Composition and Communication" or "CCC" for short believe that these software programs or web-based programs find "students guility until proven innocent of plagiarism." This group is againt the progam Turnitin.com by iParadigm for this reason. They believe that educators should be teaching their students how to paraphrase, collect research, organize notes and bibliographic information not some random software program.

Would I use PaperToolsPro in my classroom? Would I use turnitin.com?
I would absolutely use both tools and any other new technology that came up during the classroom discussion on research papers and essays. I would first have my students create their notecards the traditional way, and then show them how easy and excellent it is to use technology to save time. That's what is being created for! Also, the smarter students in college were more familiar with the library as a "resource center." At my job, it is no different. Those with tech-savvy get promoted. Next, I would introduce them to my friend, turnitin.com to see how I will check their work just as their professors will in the future.

How would I use turnitin.com in another way in my classroom?
I would take something by a current history writer, and scan or retype some of their words on the website turnitin.com(which will be displayed by projector in my classroom)and see what happens? Guess what? More than likely, some of these professional writers would be caught plagiarizing making the case agains the use of these websites! Students need to be exposed to both sides of the issue althoug I lean in favor of using websites and new programs to aid me or my students in the quest for learning.