Technology in Education

By: Austin S. 

Online Learning by LeanForward If 
on flickr.com under CC By-SA 2.0

Today, technology is changing the way we live. Rather than going to the library to read books for research, we need only to search the Internet for the information. Technology is changing every aspect of our daily lives, including education. NCVPS is a great example of the role of technology in today’s education. Technology is giving students the opportunity to learn beyond standard curriculums, practice and study in new ways, gain clarification on different topics, and even to accelerate their education through different courses. 

With technology, students can take courses they otherwise might not have had the opportunity to take. For example, if someone wants to learn Mandarin, he/she can take the NCVPS courses for Mandarin, while the language is not typically offered in public high schools. If a student wants to take an AP class that is unavailable at his/her face-to-face school, he/she can take the course through NCVPS. Online courses also allow students to accelerate their education. For example, an eighth grader can now take Math 1 and Math 2 in the same year through online courses, while most middle schools only have Math 1, and some don’t even have that option! 

In addition to providing the opportunity to accelerate education and providing new opportunities to take different courses you otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to take, technology is helping students find effective ways to practice their newly learned skills and to apply newly learned information. Some great tools include Khan Academy and Quizlet. These tools also help students study the material taught in their courses. Creative students can even use technology to develop their own study tools! For example, a student can create a quiz game through Scratch by MIT, an extremely straightforward programming language that consists of blocks with English phrases on them. Students can also utilize tools that have already been developed for such games, including Kahoot and Quizizz. In the past, students had to use worksheets, handwritten notes, and problems that were created by either them or their friends or family in order to study for their upcoming tests. Now, technology has made studying exciting for some by providing competitive games designed to practice their skills. 

Scratch 2.0 Screen Hello World.png by DevinCook on
Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0

Finally, technology allows for helpful programs such as the NCVPS Peer Tutoring Center to exist. The PTC gives both students and tutors new opportunities to learn and apply the material learned in their classes. It allows tutors to help students in their education, to learn more about technology through videos designed to give troubleshooting tips, and even to write articles such as the one you are currently reading through TutorTalk! The PTC also gives students the opportunity to ask their peers about topics in their courses and to gain clarification on confusing questions that they missed on an assignment. The PTC is an amazing program that should be utilized before it becomes unavailable for you to use. If you have any questions in your course, I would encourage you to go to https://ncvps.upswing.io, login, and find a tutor to help you understand the material you are learning. Technology provides incredible convenience for seeking clarification on topics addressed in your courses, both online and offline. 

Technology is shaping our lives, including in our education. Technology is providing opportunities at an unprecedented rate! Students can accelerate their educations through online courses, take classes that are not provided at their face-to-face schools, practice new skills and application of information through online tools, and ask peer tutors questions to gain understanding on specific topics through the NCVPS Peer Tutoring Center! Technology is powering our modern world in more ways than can be counted; it impacts every aspect of our lives! All of this starts with education.

Plagiarism

By Unknown

According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, plagiarizing is the process of “using the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas”.¹ Commonly known as a form of cheating, plagiarism can lead to serious disciplinary action, such as suspension and expulsion. Plagiarism is something that you should avoid in your NCVPS classes, in-school classes, and at any other point when you are gathering information from sources.

What constitutes plagiarism?

Plagiarism can be less obvious than you imagine.  While it is obvious that copying an essay from a website is plagiarism, there are more subtle forms of plagiarism, each of which can be equally as severe. Changing a few words from a source rather than paraphrasing and contributing your own analysis is not an acceptable practice, and you need to make sure to provide credit where it is due. Providing direct quotes from individuals is acceptable when providing information in your work, but only when the individual who coined the quote is properly credited and cited in your work.² Even summarizing a passage and failing to cite it is plagiarism. If you are taking content or knowledge from a source and not explaining in your own words and properly citing sources, it is likely that you are committing plagiarism.³

Why Plagiarism is Wrong:

Suppose you wrote a book about jellybeans. You spent hundreds of hours performing research on the various types of jellybeans, visiting many manufacturers of jellybeans, and gathering input from thousands of people to determine the most favorite jellybean. After you released your book to the public, several news outlets reported on the data and conclusions that you found, but failed to credit you with the research.  As a result, other people were unrightfully accredited with your research, and your book faded into oblivion, forcing you to give up your lifelong dream of becoming a jellybean connoisseur.

While this example may be a bit unlikely and extreme, it does portray one of the reasons why plagiarism is wrong.  People deserve to be credited for their original research and work, and failing to cite sources can be the same as claiming the idea or information as your own. Whether or not the author of a topic is affected by plagiarism, you should not commit plagiarism.  Plagiarism cheats not only others, but also yourself if you commit it, as you are robbed of the knowledge and experience that you could have had.⁴ When you plagiarize, you do not give proper credit to whoever wrote the source from which you obtained the information. Whoever reads your work may be unable to determine if your information is accurate without knowing the sources from which you obtained the information. As plagiarism is considered ethically wrong and frowned upon in academic settings, you should strive to avoid committing it.

Tips on how to avoid Plagiarism:

• Whenever gathering information that is not commonly known, always ensure that you cite information. Cite in the text as well as on a works cited page at the end.

• Take notes!!! Taking notes on the information that you have gathered can allow you to remember where you found the information. When you are forming citations, you will be able to properly attribute information to the correct sources.

• Use an appropriate manual for the citation format that you plan on using in your paper. Websites such as citationmachine.net can help you in creating your citations, but you should still verify the citations using the official rules of a citation format.  Purdue University has a helpful chart that compares several citation formats at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/949/01/

• Know the difference between direct quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing.  Direct quotations take the exact words from a portion of a work, and are surrounded by quotation marks.  These are often helpful when looking at works such as speeches.  Paraphrasing involves changing the subject matter of the work into your own words.  An example would be explaining an old English work in a manner that is more modern.  Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, but involves only the main points of a work.  You should still put the work into your own words, but you only need to provide an overview of the work.  Remember, each of these should still contain citations so you do not plagiarize.

Examples:

-George Washington was our nation’s first president. (This does not require citation, as it is a commonly known fact)

-George Washington’s teeth were not made of wood, even though this is commonly thought.  Several of Washington’s dentures consisted of human and animal teeth, lead, and ivory.⁵ (This does require a citation from the source you found it from, as it has specific facts that are not common knowledge.)

Conclusion:

Plagiarism can prevent students from practicing skills that can be very beneficial, not only at school, but also in many careers. There are several different methods of citing sources, including MLA and APA.  These are two of the most common citation styles that you will likely use in school and beyond.  Make sure to check with your teachers to ensure that you are using the correct format for the work that you do.  Whenever performing research, make sure to always give proper credit and not plagiarize.  Someday, others may be citing information from you!

Works Cited:

¹ "plagiarize." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2013.

Web. 25 October 2013.

² "Avoiding Plagiarism." Purdue University. Purdue Online Writing Lab. Web. 25 Oct 2013. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/930/01/>.

³ "Plagiarism." University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Writing Center, n.d. Web. 25 Oct 2013. <http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/plagiarism/>.

⁴ "Why Plagiarism is Wrong." Penn State University. Teaching and Learning With Technology. Web. 25 Oct 2013. <http://tlt.psu.edu/plagiarism/student-tutorial/why-plagiarism-is-wrong/>. 

⁵ Etter, William. "False Teeth." George Washington's Mount Vernon. Alexandria, Virginia: 2013.