XplanaZine

Each year, thousands of students begrudgingly labor through the old-English of a Shakespearian play or the complex language of A Tale of Two Cities, clutching to meager hopes of receiving a passing grade on essays evaluating tragic flaws or the symbolism of knitting. While these diligent students struggle to earn their deserved grades, some of their peers ace essays without ever opening a book. In a time when the internet is considered a household staple, students can bypass the actual reading and simply point-and-click their way to the head of the class.

The birth of the internet spawned a learning revolution. Following years of learning obstacles ranging from outdated encyclopedias, to the Dewey Decimal System and limited library hours, the internet provided access to a seemingly infinite number of resources and a wealth of information, all from the comfort of a home computer. However, from this well of knowledge springs countless temptations that detract from learning and glamorize academic dishonesty to students.

The benefits of the internet significantly outnumber the detriments in terms of educational value. In addition to hosting countless reference sites, study or survey results and various credible sources, the internet is home to sites of supplemental learning and clarification. Many sites offer quizzes, study guides and practice questions to prepare students for exams. Other sites tout in-depth analysis of classic literature that can clarify complicated subject matter or broaden learning. Though these sites herald the best intentions of learning enhancement, the truth is that they are more often used in lieu of, rather than in addition to, reading or studying.

In theory, CliffsNotes and similar “supplemental study guides” are ideal learning tools, as they expand students’ knowledge and understanding of a particular book or subject. In reality, the slogan for CliffsNotes should be: Helping kids avoid reading the classics and pass their classes since 1958. However, as the internet expands, so do the alternatives to learning. From the seeds of CliffsNotes flourished websites such as Sparknotes and Bibliomania, which offer chapter summaries so explicit a student never has to pick up a book. Between the summaries, theme explorations, symbol identification and character descriptions, anyone can easily ace an exam, write a detailed essay or contribute to class discussions without ever laying eyes on the words “forsooth” or “methinks.”

And if the internet is a virtual marketplace for the exchange of ideas, then it seems as though many students are shoplifting.

For those whose laziness exceeds the simple act of writing an essay from detailed outlines and guides, there also exists a solution. The simplicity of internet navigation combined with the novelty of the cut and paste options allow students to assemble a cohesive essay comprised entirely of chunks of stolen material.

And if simple cutting and pasting seems like a tasking feat from which a person might (gasp!) accidentally learn something, then students still have options that don’t violate any ‘no effort required’ rules. For a nominal fee, paper mills dispense pre-written essays by the ton. Not only are students who utilize paper mills cheating the system, but they’re cheating the original author and themselves.

These seemingly limitless opportunities to avoid learning and homework raise the question as to whether or not anyone really values learning anymore.

The answer increasingly appears to be no. For every few students who genuinely enjoy learning, there are scores of others who are proponents of gliding through life with as little effort as possible. And since the internet made cheating so effortless and appealing, who can really blame them? Plagiarism.org states that a national survey published in Education Week found that 54% of students admitted to plagiarizing from the internet and 74% of students admitted that at least once during the past school year they had engaged in “serious” cheating. Meanwhile, a Gallup poll published in October, 2000, revealed that the two biggest problems plaguing the U.S. were the education system and the decline of ethics. The two go hand in hand.

As the internet spurs the decline of morals in education, who will thwart expanding academic misconduct? The sad truth is: probably not the teachers. Due to the sheer enormity of the internet, it is difficult for instructors to identify plagiarized material. This daunting task deters many instructors from actively checking questionable student work, and the subsequent draining disciplinary process for proven academic misconduct is not exactly motivational either.

But while internet plagiarism runs rampant through a lackadaisical educational system, there remain a few instructors and institutions that refuse to sit idly by while students lie, cheat and steal their way to good grades. In an effort to curb online property theft and plagiarism, some institutions are subscribing to Turnitin. Turnitin provides educators with a means of checking the authenticity of a student’s work. Turnitin draws from three databases of content ranging from published works to student papers. An educator submits a suspicious paper and Turnitin produces an “Originality Report,” which in turn highlights unoriginal text found existing in the databases, and provides links to the original work. And for those cheaters that conned their way into successful careers in the real world, there exists iThenticate- the commercial version of Turnitin aimed at apprehending plagiarizers in publishing, news agencies and corporations.

Though there is some initiative being taken in regards to preventing and punishing online plagiarism, the issue continues to plague our schools. The internet simply offers students too many alternatives to earning good grades through hard work. The general apathy illustrated by instructors in addition to declining ethics and a lack of widespread prevention methods against online plagiarism do not bode well for the future of our educational system. Significant steps must be taken to prevent online plagiarism and homework avoidance before the internet becomes one big world wide web of deceit.