We stole that title from a column written by Sarah Wilensky in the Indiana University student newspaper. We read about Ms. Wilensky's work in an article today about the new face of plagiarism in the digital age.
Today's article was indeed revelatory. . .about seven years ago. We find it hard to believe that anybody with even a passing interest in education was taken aback by the news that students today plagiarize more prolifically thanks largely to your friend and ours, the internet. The gist of today's report seemed to be that some students no longer recognize the outright poaching of the work of others as plagiarism.
Throughout our career, we've encountered different levels of plagiarism. Some students certainly have a cavalier attitude toward creative appropriation. Others, though, seem to view plagiarism simply as an efficent way to give the teacher what he wants. If asked for an analysis of, say, Obama's healthcare policy, why should a student not simply provide material from the Brookings Institution instead of his or her own admittedly inferior insights?
Our only major complaint about plagiarism is that the relative ease with which it can be done has dulled the natural instincts of our less academically-gifted students. They don't seem to realize that the web's simplicity works both ways: In other words, the students are not the only ones who can find things quickly on the internet.
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