The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

English Department Shifts to Turning in Papers Electronically

The English Department has decided to use www.turnitin.com for essays and other written work in all English classes. Many other schools, such as Mountain View High School (MVHS), have already moved to using this website, and LAHS has decided to incorporate it as well.

The English Department had noticed a lot of across class plagiarism during the last few years and decided to use the website in hopes of preventing more cheating amongst the students.

“There needs to be a clear barrier against [digital plagiarism] and if it works in a way to actually help students to not do it in the first place, then that is better than the process of catching the student,” English teacher Galen Rosenberg said.

The decision to use this website had been discussed for many years, because it costs money for the school to use this program. Currently, the MVLA parent foundation of the district is paying for the school’s usage of www.turnitin.com.

Story continues below advertisement

English teachers will be teaching students how to use the various functions within the website, such as peer-editing and reviewing in class with the lap-top carts.

The teachers have decided that all students can turn in their completed essay by 11:59 p.m. the day it is due for this year as a trial run. This may or may not change in the following years.

The teachers of the English Department may eventually rely only on the usage of www.turnitin.com. However, that is the personal preference of the teachers and has yet to established here at the school. The department will continue to see how this system will work for this year under a trial run. Future decisions on whether or not the school will keep the program are to be determined after this year.

“I’m hoping that students don’t even bother cheating,” English teacher Keren Robertsen said. “I just think that it’ll make [the student’s] work more authentic and they know it’s not even worth it trying to cheat.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Talon Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *