University Wire
06-07-2007
(Independent Florida Alligator) (U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- When University of Florida senior Tony Kolt's professor announced to his Russian politics class that papers had to be submitted to Turnitin.com, the students groaned in unison, but no one was worried about property rights.
Turnitin detects potential plagiarism by comparing submissions with online articles, journals and its own growing database of student papers.
High school students in McLean, Va., have filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement because they feel using students' papers on the site violates their rights to their own intellectual property.
The students copyrighted their papers before submitting them to the Web site. On their own Web site, dontturnitin.com, they argue that because Turnitin charges for its service and keeps all submitted material, it makes a profit from students' work without their permission.
Kolt, a political science major, said he sympathizes with the high school students' cause, but he doesn't think a battle over intellectual rights will erupt at UF.
UF has been using the service since March 2003, said Doug Johnson, manager of e-Learning Support Services. He said it is an effective way for the university to assert its credibility.
"Can you cheat your way to a degree at UF? In some cases, probably yes," he said. "Turnitin decreases that chance."
The cost of UF's initial three-year license was about $40,000 and was paid for by the Office of Academic Technology. The service was integrated with WebCT within the first year.
Johnson said there was a demand from both the administration and students for an anti-plagiarism service because the Internet makes cheating so much more difficult for instructors to detect.
848 professors have created Turnitin accounts within the last four years, and most have been satisfied with the service, Johnson said.
The university renewed its license in March 2006 and will probably continue its use as long as there is a need, he added.
Although Johnson said there is a possibility that the arguments brought up by the lawsuit could cause the service to be terminated, he believes the benefits outweigh the negatives. By keeping all submissions, Turnitin protects a student's work because other people won't be able to plagiarize it in the future, he said.
Weighing credibility over property rights is not a clear-cut issue, and people in the communications fields take different sides, said Laurence Alexander, a professor who teaches law of mass communication at UF.
"It involves honesty and integrity, things that we cherish and instill in students," he said. "And at the same time, it involves discerning the rights of these individuals."
Fair use, which allows for copyright material to be used for educational or news purposes, creates a huge exception to the law, Alexander said.
Without a legal precedent, the courts could rule either way.
"A case like this could bring a wrinkle in the law," he said.
Alexander doesn't use the service and said plagiarism has never been a problem in his classes.
Kolt said he sees the site as a good resource for teachers because of how easily students can cheat.
"I think it's a way of protecting the trust between student and teacher," he said. "It breaks it, but the trust has been abused."
The service probably deters students from cheating and does more to keep them honest than simply having an honor code, he said.
But he remains pessimistic about just how much the site would prevent those who are already dishonest.
"For every few people who turn in legitimate papers, there's probably another student who would find a new way to cheat," he said.
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(C) 2007 Independent Florida Alligator via U-WIRE
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