Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

When thinking of online learning one of the first questions that comes to mind is how do they know who is doing the work? This is truly a great question and an issue that faces online education today.  A key element to online learning is the academic honesty programs which address the fact that when a learner SAYS they are doing the work that they are truly doing the work. 

In reality this is not as much of a factor as plagiarism is in the online courses. According to Dr. Rena Paloff plagiarism and cheating itself is nor more likely in an online environment than in a classroom environment (2011).

With all of this information aside we must still discuss what is done to prevent plagiarism in the online environment.  To begin with there is software available to help identify plagiarism when assignments are submitted. Free online search engines such as Google allow instructors to track down copied phrases, while commercially available plagiarism detection software and online services (e.g., EVE; Turnitin.com) compare individual student papers to Web documents and/or to essay databases to find and report instances of matching text.(Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006). The Turn it in software is used at Walden University.  A learner submits their assignments through turn it in which will in turn scan the documents for plagiarism.  This eliminates the instructors need to identify the plagiarism on their own.  Drs. Paloff and Pratt also discuss that there are other technology items available such as thumbprint scanning, retina scanning and remote proctoring available to help eliminate plagiarism and overall cheating (2011).

One of the keys to deterring cheating is to design your assignments in an effort to make learners wither not feel the need to cheat or make it not an issue.  Dr.Pratt discusses how he encourages his students to collaborate on assignments and tests (2011).  Having students collaborate seems to get to the essence of community building which is a tenement of online learning.  By encouraging collaboration and designing your assignments so that collaboration is a tool rather than a crutch will create better learning and more authentic assessments.  Your assignments should mirror real life. Dr. Pratt explains that in an office you would not hesitate to look in a book or go online to verify or identify something that you needed to know (2011).  This should also be true when completing online assignments. 

Another key responsibility in eliminating cheating is lies with the facilitator.  Dr. Paloff explains that it is the responsibility of the facilitator to teach about fair use, copyrights and plagiarism as well as the tools being used to identify those (2011).  They are also responsible for teaching the ways to correctly identify cited works so students don’t unintentionally plagiarize. 

The key to truly avoiding plagiarism is to teach the learners the correct ways to cite information and make assignments authentic.  Designing assignments that encourage collaboration and community with assessments that require learners to show their gained knowledge will help to reduce the need for cheating.  

Resources

Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1-15.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database

Paloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2011). Plagiarism and cheating [retrieved from Walden University].

Setting up an online learning experience

When you setting up an online learning experience it is important to be familiar with not only your content but also the tools you will be using to present this material.  Many people begin as face to face teachers and then move to online instruction. In a face to face course you are familiar with the content and figure out how each part will be presented.  In online learning it is similar you are familiar with the content, and need to establish the best ways for your learners to gain knowledge. As a face to face instructor you are aware of the ways that you can present information, as an online instructor you must rely on the technology. 

 Being familiar with this technology and the options for presentation are very important in order to accomplish effective instruction.  However Boettcher and Conrad warn against overwhelming yourself by identifying all the technology options available right away.  Start simple and build the course as you go and become more familiar.  (2011). 

Learners need to feel safe and secure in the learning environment.  Taking time to get to know your students and letting them get to know you helps build that safety factor.  Another important piece is outlining the course expectations in a clear precise manners o that they know completely what is expected and required throughout the course.

Also Boettcher and Conrad suggest that you outline areas or things that may not go exactly as you expected.  Clarifying how all this will work and sometimes might not work can help create a smooth and trusting learning environment (2011).

Palloff and Pratt (2011) offer suggestions for setting up an online learning experience;

• Get to know your learners – Use icebreakers, bios and visuals to get to know as much about your students as possible
• Give a good bio of yourself – Identify yourself on both a personal and professional level. 
• Build the sense of Community – Ways they can work together and connect.

Incorporating these elements will help to make setting up the online learning experience go more smoothly and produce a more effective online course.  I feel that getting to know your students through various forms while also sharing the personal side of yourself as well builds that sense of familiarity and comfort.  I also like the idea of using sense of humor and getting people to be more comfortable.  Building this sense of trust and safety will only help to know they will come to you with issues, questions and perhaps even motivate their learning. 

Resources

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Video: "Online Learning Communities" (approximate length: 44 minutes).
Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt define "Online Learning Communities" and highlight the benefits of creating a learning community for facilitators of online learning experiences.



Impact of Technology and Multimedia

It seems so ironic to be asking the question of what impact technology and multimedia have on online learning because where would online learning be without technology.  The ability to take courses online without even attending a class in person offers so many possibilities for people to grow through education.  As distance learning evolved into online learning the technology piece was crucial. 

In my current position as an Instructional Designer, I am taking courses that were created many years previously and updating them according to a new body of knowledge. When looking at the previous courses it seems so basic and unimaginative.  When I look at the possibilities available to me for creating product I know that I can create a much more exciting and interactive online learning experience. 

Some things to consider when using these technologies or multimedia tools within your courses are

• Some learners may have poor connections or slow connections making it difficult to use the various required tools
• Some learners may be unfamiliar with how to use the various tools.  They may not know what a wiki is or how to blog. Be sure to include an orientation or link to a tutorial site like Lynda.com where learners can gain experience in using the program.
• Just because there is an exciting new tool out there does not mean you need to require it.  Palloff and Pratt explain the importance of making sure that the technology or multimedia tool meets your course objectives in order for it to be used (2011)

The ability to collaborate in so many ways through today’s multimedia and technology greatly expands the learner’s usability and accessibility. Using technology to build learning communities through social networking can help create better learning experiences. Boettcher and Conrad explain that social networking sites encourage regular, daily and even hourly checking in and commenting and seeing where everyone is and what they are doing and thinking. This can be helpful with project work. Sharing where they are in a project and what they are thing of doing next encourages awareness of their own thinking and working strategies (2010).

 Having students building wikis, blogs and other user generated tools to collaborate can assist with getting content shared.  Palloff and Pratt discuss that a great way to collaborate is to allow the students to choose the tool that they are comfortable with or works best for them is most likely the best way to incorporate these tools (2011).

I use my phone for almost everything in my day to day life. I use the computer at work and for my coursework.  In the future I am excited by the ability to put coursework, podcasts, discussions or videos for online learning available to people via their mobile technologies – smart phones, iPods, iPads, etc. Finding ways to use this effectively will be an exciting mode of the future. Also the new ways for bringing people together visually such as Skype or web conferencing tools can add to the effective communications that are present in online courses.  In a previous course we took polls of why people may not participate in online learning. One reason was that they would miss that interaction between people in a face to face environment.  If we can use these new technologies to grow online learning we will benefit all learners.  I am excited by all the possibilities that may be available for use in online learning in the future.

Resources

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 Palloff, R and Pratt, K. 2011 "Enhancing the Online Experience" multimedia. Accessed via https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1341204_1%26url%3D

Erratic Posts

Due to some unanticipated family issues, I will be completing my required postings out of order. I will do my best to make sense of the postings and explain in between what correlation there is if needed.

Online Learning Communities

Online learning communities can be one of the most effective tools to designing, developing and sustaining online learning. Their use and interaction will be a force within any distance learning opportunity.

How do online learning communities impact student learning and satisfaction within an online course?

Online learning communities allow learners the opportunity to interact with colleagues and other learners in a positive educational environment.  The communities pull students together to construct meaning and gain knowledge of content.  Interacting with other learners serves to support, challenge, encourage, draw thing out of each other.  These communities allow learners to have a safe place where they can share their thoughts and interaction while feeling comfortable sharing and giving thoughts or opinions.

What are the essential elements of online community building?

 

Within the community there are three main parts all joined together to build the online learning community.  Each piece asks and answers a few questions.

The People – Who are the learners? How can you get to know them better? How can you develop their feeling of social presence so they feel a part of something? How can you build positive interactions?

The Purpose – We are coming together for this course what are the guidelines for communication? What do I need to do to complete requirements? What are the guidelines for communication – How often? How will they communicate? What are the requirements?

The Process – How will the class be conducted? What are the requirements? How can I be a part of something? How can I build that sense of community? How can I actively participate? (Palloff and Pratt, 2012)

   How can online learning communities be sustained?

The key to sustaining online learning communities is to build strong safe places for effective communication. 

There needs to be guidelines for communication, instructions for how to communicate, a developed sense of need for their information or responses and an overall sense that they are a part of something and their opinions matter.  They key as Dr. Pratt suggests is building that sense of community from the beginning. (2012) He states that you need to have ways for communication to take place right away.  There needs to be some reaching out by instructors to get to know their students and their situations as well as their needs and abilities.  The instructor also needs to be a positive facilitator in the online environment making sure that all interactions are in regards to the topic and positive. 

What is the relationship between community building and effective online instruction?

Community building is the key to the success of any online course.  The interaction between learners, as well as instructors, makes or breaks the course.  Because there are no face to face interactions, building communities through text can be much more difficult yet much more important.  Face to face people build bonds with the people they interact with. Online these bonds need to be managed and even facilitated.  There needs to be ways for learners to get to know each other, feel confident sharing and commenting and feel as though they have someone they can go to for issues or questions.  Learning communities are co-created knowledge and meaning centers. (Palloff, 2012) Having these communities is crucial to the success of online learning.

Resource

Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt. Online Learning Communities. 2012. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1341204_1%26url%3D

Future Perception of Distance Learning

The field of distance learning has changed so much in the recent past.  To go from correspondence or telephone courses to completely online or web based classes is a huge change.  The field continues to grow with the true future unknown as the abilities of technology and the technology itself is ever-changing.  One issue is with the perceptions of distance learning, is the perception keeping up with the changes in the field?

George Siemens explains that the growing acceptance of distance education is fueled by

• An increase in online communication overall
• Practical experience with new tools
• Growing comfort with online discourse
• An ability to communicate with diverse and global groups (2012).

This growing acceptance should continue in the years to come. As people are more familiar with the options in distance learning, the ease with its use and their ability to gain education on their time, more people will begin enrolling in distance education programs. 

The amount of programs has also grown immensely in recent years.  There were only a few courses available 10 years ago and now there are so many learning options given through distance learning.   Giving learners the opportunity to learn from a quality educational system while in their own homes will allow even more people the ability to enroll in the field they want to learn. 

As an Instructional Designer it is our responsibility to maintain the level of education offered through distance education and work to continuous improve the options.  There needs to be a high set of standards developed and followed for distance learning as well as appropriate assessments of learners and their skills. The emphasis needs to shift away from the hurry up timelines to get the courses built and making money for the institutions, to quality well developed distance learning courses.  It is our jobs as Instructional Designers to make this happen.  Time needs to be put in to build and develop exceptional courses that reflect educational best practices, teaching standards, and learning objectives.  The learner needs to be assessed thoroughly and show growth in their learning as quantitatively evaluated throughout the course.  The shift from having so many courses out there to having exceptional courses for learning should definitely be the next step in distance education

“Distance delivery is and will continue to have an impact on education in the years to come” (Schmidt and Gallegos, 2001).  I feel that this is exactly how I can impact education in the years to come. I can work to build exceptional distance courses that meet the needs of my learners.  I can teach people about the wonderful opportunities available through distance education. I can continue the future growth of education utilizing the ever-changing technology of the future.  I hope to continue to change distance education for the better in the eyes of everyone in the many years to come.

Resources

Schmidt, E., & Gallegos, A. (2001). Distance learning: Issues and concerns of distance learners. Journal of Industrial Technology, 17(3). Retrieved from http://atmae.org/jit/Articles/schmidt041801.pdf

Siemens, G. (n.d.). The Future of Distance Education. Retrieved June 13, 2012 from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_549515_1%26url%3D

Week 7 Converting to a Distance Learning Format

Consider this scenario:

A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

In order to facilitate assistance with this program, I created a Power Point presentation with information on establishing a blended program. The presentation focuses on

What is the blended format and how can it benefit my training program

Initial strategies for implementing the program including pre-planning strategies

The changing role of trainer

Communication strategies

Other tips and strategies to build a successful blended training program.

This outlines the basic needs of establishing a program focusing mainly on the considerations to take into account when building the program.

The Power Point information is listed below:

 

Best Practices for Converting Classroom Instruction to Blended Learning

　

　

Nicole Lau

EDUC 6135

Distance Learning in the Online Environment

What is Blended Learning?

A blended or hybrid course combines online learning and face to face delivery; thus 30% to 79% of the course’s content is delivered online. (Simonsen, et al, 2012).

Blended courses can be :

Cost effective

Allow for more learner interaction

Contain more active learning activities

Enhance overall course instruction and evaluation

Access to training for learners at times that are feasible for them

Initial Decisions and Pre-Planning Strategies

Clearly identify course objectives

Layout the organization for the course including which course objectives are best met through face to face or through online instruction

Create a plan to communicate with and between students

Determine assessments including ways to evaluate higher level thinking skills

　

The Changing Role of Trainer

In face to face instruction the role of the trainer seems clear. The course is outlined for the trainer with clear objectives. Students will interject with questions throughout and anything can be answered or handled on the spot.

When having a blended course the trainer becomes more of a facilitator or coach. Readings and activities are conducted online. The instructor works as a facilitator. The assignments/activities are prepared ahead of time with clearly defined expectations. The job of the trainer in this case is to facilitate the learning to make sure that learners stay on track and to answer any questions or issues as they arise.

In a blended course the Trainer will play both roles, face to face trainer and online course facilitator.

Communication Strategies

In the medium of online learning it is essential to have communication between the trainer and learners. Students need to be able to communicate an issue or need to the trainer. They need to be familiar with the way to communicate whether it be by email, discussion forum, WebCT or something similar.

The trainer needs to be able to communicate with students as well. They should clearly outline the times and ways in which to communicate with the instructor.

A great communication tool in online learning is the discussion board. It allows the trainer to learn more about the learner and their learning. Students can post responses to instructor led prompts which cause the learner to put themselves in training situations or answer questions based upon readings.

Additional Thoughts

Utilizing the blended format can be an exceptional tool for training. Utilizing the coursework outlined in the face to face course, separate elements using the blended format should be created. These should be elements that are best met in the online format with clear objectives and assessable course outcomes.

Training materials put on server accessible to all employees can serve as the resources for online portion of the class. This would allow students to become more familiar with the training materials and access it at any time.

Giving learners an option of various formats can help to meet the needs of the learner. Some may work better in one format or another. Having options allows the learner to be more successful and motivated.

Using a Blended Training Program is a great way to increase training potential

Resources

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Planning your online course pdf available at http://www.govst.edu/uploadedFiles/eLearning/Planning%20Your%20Fully%20Online%20Course.pdf

PDF link: Best Practices in Creating a Blended Learning Format