Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology

Paper Info
Page count 3
Word count 1012
Read time 4 min
Subject Education
Type Essay
Language 🇺🇸 US

Introduction

Recently the whole world faced the realization of fundamental role of modern technologies in the development of society. Modern technologies make lives of people easier facilitating a number of every-day processes. Computer belongs to one of the greatest innovations of the twentieth century. Initially it was based on two separate technologies, namely, programmability and automatic calculation. The computers contributed greatly to a study process and positively affected other spheres of human life but at the same time their use entailed serious consequences including plagiarism which became one of the most wide-spread problems of today.

Use of computers in modern society

It is a common knowledge that namely students and people involved in any kind of studies benefit greatly from the use of computers and everything connected with them. Since the invention of the first computer, which was in the middle of the twentieth century, numerous improvements and innovations have been introduced to the sphere of computer technologies. The first electronic computer occupied almost a whole room whereas these days it can be of the least possible size. Modern society uses computers for everything and there is hardly a person whose life without a computer is possible. Comparatively rare in the middle of the twentieth century it became an object of necessity nowadays since most of offices use specialized computer programs, most of hospital equipment is computerized and students are allowed to pass their written works only when they are typed. The whole world depends on computers and different software easy to cope with any kind of assignment is being worked out daily. The use of computers, like any invention of this kind, has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

One of the greatest benefits of the computer is that it offers a variety of entertainments. None of the adolescents will argue with the fact that computer can entertain you all day long and together with amusing it serves as a means of education. Moreover, computer, if connected to the Internet, plays the role of an intermediate in the interaction process. Today one can communicate with people all around the world without leaving the house. And, as it was already mentioned above, computer is of a greatest benefit to students and anybody involved in the study process contributing greatly to “improving revision and editing skills, conducting purposeful Internet research, communicating via e-mail, engaging in on-line collaboration with instructors and classmates…” (Dana Ferris, John Hedgcock, 2005).

Disadvantages

Disadvantages of using computers are very significant and harm the computers can cause is sometimes irrefutable. Together with the cell-phones, another problem of the present, the society has become dependent on the computers as well. Most of people forgot what it is like to go to a library and cannot even remember when they last had a book in their hands. Most of the monitors, even the safest ones, are very harmful for sight, they produce certain effect on the brain let alone the fact that today’s children are addicted to computer games. Students tend to use computers for everything. Searching numerous databases and availability of any information developed into the absence of desire to do something on their own and thus plagiarizing other people’s works. It can be surely stated that modern computer technologies opened the way to plagiarism.

Modern technologies and plagiarism

These days plagiarism is widely observed in different educational establishments. Though being aware of the fact that it is punishable, some of students still resort to it: “Plagiarism, for example, is a major problem faced by universities when marking work, with students simply stripping information off websites and passing it off as their own thoughts” (BIRMINGHAM POST, 2007). Namely modern technologies are to blame for plagiarism as incalculable search engines and availability of the Internet help the students plagiarize somebody else’s works. Internet web-sites abound with tempting offers to download a ready essay or a term-paper and they are hard to resist. There is nothing easier than cutting information from the web-site and pasting it directly into the work; such an uncomplicated process “is referred to as “cyber-plagiarism” (Suzanne R. Becker, Michael W. Watts, 2006).

Expressing thoughts or ideas on this or that subject a person as a rule protects them by copyright as original discoveries in different spheres of knowledge are considered to be intellectual property. This is why using ideas of another person is actually stealing them which is a serious offense. Plagiarism or stealing somebody’s ideas is punishable and, in case the stolen information is used to gain money, can develop into legal punishment.

“Borrowing” of information is another point. Using somebody’s piece of writing as an example or reference one must know certain rules for borrowing the information in order to avoid plagiarism. Properly used citations and well-organized footnotes containing information about the sources used will help avoid plagiarism. There is one more way to avoid plagiarism which is to paraphrase idea but one should be careful when doing this paraphrasing the ideas completely as similar words and structures are also considered to be plagiarism

Detection of plagiarism

Strange as it may seem, but the ways of fighting with plagiarism can also be found in the Internet. The same search engines which help plagiarize can show the ways to the software which helps detect plagiarism. The use of such programs by instructors has already “nabbed dozens of university plagiarizers but only those foolish enough to hand in papers downloaded directly off the Net” (Iain Steinberg, 2000). One can even check the text for plagiarism online by pasting the excerpt from the work or the work itself and find out whether the cases of plagiarism are present in the paper.

Conclusion

The present century witnessed a number of innovations which have both positive and negative influence on the human lives. The invention of computer and modern technologies trying to modernize it resulted in reluctance of people to make their own contributions to the science and they started plagiarizing. What bred this problem, namely the Internet, is what is currently fighting with it offering numerous software which helps detect plagiarism.

Reference List

  1. Suzanne R. Becker, Michael W. Watts. (2006). Teaching Economics: More Alternatives to Chalk and Talk. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  2. Dana Ferris, John Hedgcock. (2005). Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Routledge.
  3. Iain Steinberg. (2000). Of Academic Fraud and the Education Crisis. World and I, 15(9), 284.
  4. (2007) BIRMINGHAM POST: Education, Education, Maladministration, The Birmingham Post, p.11.

Cite this paper

Reference

EduRaven. (2021, October 19). Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology. Retrieved from https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/

Reference

EduRaven. (2021, October 19). Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/

Work Cited

"Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." EduRaven, 19 Oct. 2021, eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.

References

EduRaven. (2021) 'Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology'. 19 October.

References

EduRaven. 2021. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.

1. EduRaven. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.

References

EduRaven. 2021. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.

1. EduRaven. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Plagiarism and the Use of Modern Technology." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/plagiarism-and-the-use-of-modern-technology/.