Pro /con - Essay Example

This option is obviously a much better method to solve the actual problem of plagiarism. Electronic systems like turnitin.com can help to detect plagiarism, but they cannot by themselves fix the reasons that it exists in the first place. Because the Internet is everywhere now, students will sometimes use sources from it without even realizing what they are doing. Surely this cannot be fixed just by using a piece of software that will tell a teacher when a student has plagiarized. That is not to downplay the usefulness of such software, however, as it is quite useful if used in addition to better teaching methods.

As noted by John Barrie, “Digital plagiarism is a digital problem and demands a digital solution.” (Barrie) However, it is important to note that Barrie is the president of turnitin.com, and so he probably does not have a very unbiased opinion on the subject since he would like people to use his service so that he can make money off of them. On the other hand, if educators take the time to explain plagiarism in great detail, and to show students some examples of it, then they would know how to avoid it.

First of all, a problem with the electronic solution is that “most cases of plagiarism result from honest confusion over the standards of academic discourse and proper citation.” (Wilhoit) In other words, the main cause of plagiarism is probably not, as Barrie suggests, somebody trying to build “a foundation of shaky ethics while cheating their way to a degree.” (Barrie) Instead, it is usually because students simply dont understand what they are trying to do. There are many reasons for this situation, ranging from a teacher who does not want to teach, to a student who does not want to pay attention.

The more realistic approach to take, however, is probably to assume that most teachers do not explain plagiarism