College Plagiarism on the Rise
College plagiarism: it’s as easy as copy and paste. Most college presidents say that they’ve seen a spike in plagiarism at their institution, according to “The Digital Revolution and Higher Education.”
The Pew Research Center surveyed 1,055 presidents from two- to four-year schools, both private and public, and found that over the past ten years plagiarism has increased with the expansion of computers and Internet in the classroom. In fact, 89 percent of college presidents said that the Internet and easy access to computers is to blame.
Some other key findings include:
- Online classes are becoming more common as 77 percent college presidents said that they offer on-line courses.
- While more than half of college presidents, 51 percent, said that online courses offer the same value as traditional classes, only 29 percent of the public agreed.
- Online courses have become a commonplace at public universities and not at private universities. Eighty-nine percent of public schools offer them, while only 60 percent of private schools offer them.
- More than half of surveyed college presidents said that, in the next ten years, the majority of undergrad textbooks will be completely digital.
In my opinion, colleges rely too much on digital technology. The Internet has made research too easy. Students use references found in a simple Google search, rather than taking it a step further and skimming thorough archived magazine articles and reliable textbooks. As for online courses, I too believe that they don’t offer the same eminence as traditional ones. Information in these classes seemed to be watered-down, and class participation is minimal.
Both computers and the Internet are valuable tools to both teach and learn, but traditional learning methods must not be disregarded.
What do you think? Do online courses offer the same value as traditional ones? What do you think about digital textbooks? Is digital learning worth the high-risk of plagiarism? Post your comment below and give us your opinion.
Via Today.com
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