Week 6 Assignment 2 - Plagarism

I thought the Laureate video featuring Drs. Pratt and Palloff was so very interesting.  They introduced very modern thinking concerning the outcome of cheating in online courses.  As Dr. Pratt stated, it would make sense to design your assessment so that questions require knowledge of application.  What I thought was modern about it was.....the he considered some forms of "cheating" collaborating.  Students need to learn to collaborate in the work world to find answers to questions they don't know, and it behoves them to learn to do that in their cousework as well. 

Of course Dr. Palloff brought out the fact that collaborating and downright claiming someone elses' work are two different things, and the latter needs to be addressed directly and professionally.

I also believe it helps to subject the learners to a short quiz concerning Plagarism at the beginning of the course so that they are aware of exactly what it IS and what is IS NOT.

 Plagirism Software.Net is software that categorically searches each sentence and displays the results sequentially. No matter who is using it, and it is free. I also took a lot at  iThenticate. According to the website,  iThenticate is a service offered by Plagiarism.org, but is geared more toward professional writing and scholarly research. Publishers like Oxford University Press use iThenticate for its Cross Check software, which includes a database of more than 31 million articles and 67,664 books and journals.

Week 5 Assignment 2

• What impact can technology have on adult learning?

Technology allows learners to have flexibility with their learning process. Students can utilize iPads, tablets, cdll phones, or portable laptop computers.

• What should online instructors consider before incorporating technology into the online learning environment? 

In an online learning environment, we cannot assume that learners know how to communicate effectively with an instructor or their fellow students." (Boettcher 2010, p. 72)   As part of our readingmaterials, Dr. Pratt states that instructor should only use tools that would meet the course objectives. What we dont want to do is inudate students with unnecesary tools that will not benefit them. Instructors also need the know their students, and understand the level of comfortability they have concerning the use of technology.  Are we using Wikis? Does everyone know what a "wiki" is?  Those are issues that should be considered.

• Do usability and accessibility of technologies have on adult learning?

Usability is a genuine concern where adult learners are concerned. Many GED students may not have access to computers or have the ability to purchase software.  There are neighborhood libraries that have computerrs availablel free of charge , or students could avail themselves of the learning centers at most colleges.

• What technologies are most appealing to you for teaching online?

I am inclined to use Blackboard because that is what I am most familiar with.  Blackboard has technology that offers a creative environment for the student-learner and learner-to-learner method. Students can communicate not only with the instructor, but with other learners which encourages strong community learning. Blackboard offers several components that encourage community learning:

• Discussion Board where questions and answers can be traded in the community of learners.
• Course Information
• Class Cafe