Online Education
Our world has most certainly changed since the start of the internet; lately great interest has been showed to the changes in the education industry, with the introduction of distant and virtual education, with the beginning of high flexibility, low cost alternatives and the traditional building universities have started to worry about their future. Online education are becoming a popular way to obtain a diploma or degree and many students are turning to online education because of the materials, convenience and the level of flexibility intrinsic in distance education programs.
Some researchers claim that online instruction is better than traditional instruction at discouraging student passivity and encouraging lifelong learning. Particularly in an interactive, multimedia environment, students often find greater opportunities to learn by working through new concepts (Burgess & Strong, 2003, p. 3). There is a placed on developing and disseminating new knowledge and innovation within the continuing education distance learning profession (Edelson, 2004, p.
3) The classroom environment has changed significantly during the 20th century; classrooms are evolving from the one-room school made of wood and bricks to learning opportunities accessible in an online virtual setting. The learning environment was a face-to-face interaction among students and teachers at a physical site (Turner & Crews, 2005). According to Stadtlander (1998) in the late 19th century, distance education emerged; with the purpose of providing educational opportunities for the off-campus population who were unable to attend the formal education (cited in Turner & Crews, 2005).
Off-campus population includes individuals who are incapable to attend traditional courses due to employment, marital status, family responsibilities, distance, and expenses. On the other hand there are advantages in an online education, one is the benefits of saving travel time, given that students do not have to travel to and from a home campus, also the teacher does not have to travel and can work from home too. Other benefits are that students can work according to their own schedules and teachers can handle a larger number of students.
There are also some downsides to this web-based education; students may have problems understanding course information that is technical or scientifically oriented. Unlike the traditional classroom, online education does not allow teachers to adjust lecture on the basis of moment to moment responses from learners (Hannay & Newvine, 2006, p. 3). Online education offers an innovation to meet the educational needs of a diverse population of students; universities should be leading the way in developing online courses to sustain present online educational demands.
To develop successful and comprehensive online program, administrators, faculty and information technology experts should work as a team and must seek broad participation to create facilities needed to support the online education program. Many educational institutions are already turning to deliver courses online but they should know the importance of identifying if students are gaining knowledge equivalent to traditional classrooms through online medium.
The most primary change exists with the ways all students are engaging with their educational institutions, they demonstrate and embrace the wireless, mobile, fast-paced opportunity that can beat past generations, to the point that they can access education by just simply connect electronically whenever they can. In a time where there would be large participation by a wider range of institutions and greater familiarity with electronic learning, online education will be accepted by the people throughout the future generations. Running Head: Plagiarism Plagiarism: An Academic Dishonesty Name of the Paper’s Author Name of the University
Name of the Professor Course Code Plagiarism: An Academic Dishonesty Cagnegie Mellon Academic Development (2007) wrote the following: Plagiarism is unhappy misfortune that anyone can fall victim to. Whether the act is accidental or deliberate, it can hold grave consequences for one’s future. It’s imperative; therefore, that you understand what constitutes plagiarism and know how to avoid it in your work (p. 1). Plagiarism means taking the words, thoughts, ideas, concepts, images, sentences of others and using them as if they were your own, without crediting the author or citing the source of the information (University of Kentucky, 2008, p.
1). In The Bedford Handbook, 6th edition, Diana Hacker notes that three different acts are considered plagiarism: failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words (cited in Xavier University of Louisiana, 2008, p. 1). Students are expected to recognize the sources of ideas and expressions they used whether quoted directly or paraphrased, this was giving credit whenever you use someone else’s ideas.
There are strategies presented by some universities in order to avoid plagiarism and the most popular is to make citations on paraphrased and quoted statements. There are different citation styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and Oxford and so forth but students should make sure that they check which one is preferred with your academic department. On the other hand there are two parts for documenting a citation such as in-text citation and other list of references at the end. The most important strategy in avoiding plagiarism is to take effort and understanding on the part of the student.
There are also other strategies and practices that students should develop in order to avoid academic dishonesty such as organizing references, asking for teacher’s assistance, taking down notes and to practice writing citations every time you write an academic paper. As much as possible avoid excessive copying of passages by another author even where the source is acknowledged, find another type of words to show that the student has thought about the material and understood it, but stating clearly where they found the ideas.
It is given that a student using the work of others is typical as a basis for their own work; it is not an evidence of insufficiency on the part of the students, provided they do not attempt to pass off someone else’s work as their own. To maintain and continue good academic practice, student may possibly be given credit for their hard work and so that their own contribution can be properly appreciated and evaluated. References Burgess, L. A. & Strong, S. D. (2003). Trends in Online Education: Case Study at Southwest Missouri State University.
Journal of Industrial Technology, 19, 1-5. Cagnegie Mellon Academic Development. (2007). Fast Facts: Plagiarism. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www. cmu. edu/academic development/publications/fastfact/Plagiarism07. pdf Edelson, P. J. (2004). The Future of Online Education in the USA. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www. sunysb. edu/spd/dean_papers/finland. pdf Hannay, M. & Newvine, T. (2006). Perceptions of Distance Learning: A Comparison of Online and Traditional Learning. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 2, 1-11. Turner, F. & Crews, J. (2005).
Bricks and Clicks: A Comparative Analysis of Online and Traditional Education Settings. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www. itdl. org/Journal/Apr_05/article01. htm University of Kentucky. (2008). Plagiarism: What is it? Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www. uky. edu/Ombud/Plagiarism. pdf University of Liverpool. (2007). Advice about plagiarism. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www. liv. ac. uk/sas/administration/Plagiarism. pdf Xavier University of Louisiana. (2004). Plagiarism Statement. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www. xula. edu/english/documents/plag. pdf
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