Feb 29 2008
No you can’t copy that!
A couple of weeks ago I had this, what I thought, brilliant idea – have my students write blogs of their own on social or human geography issues (Here’s the link – Students With a View). This would serve two purposes. First it would break up the day to day class of memorize this and memorize that. In doing that it seemed like I was just creating sheep. Creatures that follow my every whim but have no thought of their own. Second it would help and motivate them to improve their writing. A skill that most had very little of. Well two weeks letter, the writing is coming around and they are starting to think on their own, but another problem has occurred – cheating.
They see nothing wrong with copying others words and arguments and passing them off as their own. They think that if the piece together a bunch of different people’s ideas, it then is their own. WRONG!!! The point was to get their thoughts down on paper, not somebody else’s.
HELP ME!!! How do I get them to understand that there is moral wrong here, they don’t see it that way, and get them to grasp the seriousness of the problem.
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Yeah, there seems to be a real generation gap about intellectual property.
There’s a lot of discussion about this on the internet. I remember one guy who talked to an assembly of hundreds of students and only two or three raised their hands when he asked if there was anything wrong with copying music or videos. He was stunned.
Of course, you’ve got a tougher problem, trying to get your students to think, even to reflect on history info and make their own judgments. I do wonder if video games, iPods, and so much CONSTANT sensory input is really hurting kids’ development in that area.
I wonder if peace & quiet would seem like torture to most kids these days?!!