From Slate: How I use the Internet to combat plagiarists, fabulists, and cheaters

Here's an interesting article from Slate, by Adam L. Penenberg on the subject of student plagiarists, and how to beat them.

Kind of obvious really. If they Google for their essays, you can Google to catch them out. There was probably a brief window of time, from 1996-2000 say, during which period a student stood a good chance (especially in the UK) of getting away with such antics. But one would hope now that your University and School teachers are a bit more clued up.

I marked some essays when I did some teaching during my PhD studies. On the whole, the quality was so low that I didn't suspect anyone of actually cheating. On the other hand, I did know several lecturers who were so in the dark with regard to computers that anyone could have gotten away with it.

One of them was told that he had to start typing all his documents and using the computer in his office, and he started to pay a student in another faculty to do his typing for him. He was so in fear of his computer that, under pressure to use it, he opted to have a nervous breakdown instead.

I think there's still a high level of technophobia among teaching staff. I know this because my wife (a school teacher) has been referred to as "the computer whizkid" by her colleagues. Which is hilarious, because I consider her to be mildly technophobic as well. In the kingdom of the blind and all that.

The idea of students cheating by copy-paste enrages me, I can't tell you. I spent 7 years studying and producing original and interesting work. The idea that someone who did a couple of Google searches could achieve the same qualification as me makes me want to climb into a bell tower and start shooting.

If all the plagiarists would care to wear red t-shirts next Thursday, that would be great.