Response to comments...

Thanks for the great comments! I think you all raise some valid points. I agree, the topic of using someone else's work and passing it off, as their own work should be addressed as soon as students start doing any type of research. Plagiarism doesn't only happen when doing research on the WWW, it can also be done from using books.

Perhaps with younger children we don't have to get too far into what plagiarism means as apposed to simply explaining that it is wrong to 'copy' someone's work, whether that be the person next to you or if it is from a book or the WWW.

Cyber Ethics: The New Frontier

In response to: "Cyber Ethics: The New Frontier" by Janna J. Baum

Students have a much broader spectrum of resources at their fingers today that allow them the opportunity to use information to pass off as their own. Why do students pass off this information as their own? Is it because students are lazy? Is it because they know there is a good chance that their teacher wont be able to notice or prove it? Or is it because maybe they don't even know what they are doing is wrong?

I think all of these questions can be answered with a "yes". Some students do want to take the easy way out; therefore they will try to find a free pre-written paper on the Internet and in some cases even purchase an online paper. The problem doesn't only lie in papers, it can also just be snippets of information off the Internet that is passed off as their own and not cited as a secondary source. Most students who are computer/internet savvy would realize that it is difficult for a teacher to seek out the exact source of information that has been plagiarized, which makes it difficult to prove they have plagiarized. "As technology grows in school districts, so do the problems encountered" (Baum, Janna J).

Perhaps we should be giving some students the benefit of the doubt when smaller portions of work have been plagiarized and you are aware that maybe they don't understand what they have done is wrong. Which brings in the question of when is an appropriate time to start discussing plagiarism? Should it always be talked about - I think so. What is the harm in touching on the subject from a young age and then advancing on the topic when students begin research reports?

I have left you all with some questions throughout my post - please feel free to answer whichever one(s) you would like :-)

Here is a link with many links talking about the subject of online plagerism.

Here is a link that discusses the ethics of blogging.

Here is a link that is debating the issue of ethics of blogging.