While Turnitin is a familiar anti-plagiarism tool within the tertiary education sector, it also has its role to play within secondary education. Using Turnitin at this level helps to cultivate literacy skills in learners, while providing the necessary tools that support best practice. In essence, Turnitin sets learners up for success in school and beyond. Bishops Diocesan College recently implemented Turnitin at their school. We checked in with them to learn how Turnitin is helping to equip leaders for the future.
Bishops ICT Programme
A few years ago, Bishops College adopted a one-on-one laptop programme. This involves Grades 9 through to 12, where each boy is required to bring a working laptop to class daily. All users have access to a robust network and wifi for internet access. The boys also have access to all teaching content and resources through a customised LMS.
Why implement Turnitin
Turnitin was implemented into the school’s ICT Programme to address the frequency of internal plagiarism amongst the boys, i.e. copying assignments from one year to the next and across classes. Bishops is rolling implementation out in phases. The initial focus involves concentrating on Grades 10 to 12, specifically in Life Orientation and Business Studies.
Features and benefits of Turnitin
The school is using Turnitin to educate Bishop’s boys about plagiarism. Teachers guide them on how Turnitin can be used to generate similarity reports while teaching them the necessary skills to cite their assignments correctly. Alongside this, the programme is guiding them through research processes, internet research skills, and the ethics around plagiarism.
Feedback from Bishops
“We are about to get our Grade 12 boys to submit their final LO assignments through Turnitin and have no doubt that the benefits of Turnitin will become very apparent to both boys and teachers alike. We believe that we would be doing our boys an injustice by not introducing them to Turnitin before university and feel obliged to equip them properly for their tertiary education.”
Ultimately, Turnitin is about more than plagiarism. Through a process of constant feedback, Turnitin helps improve writing skills, while fostering critical thinking skills and creative writing skills. As a result, students gain confidence in their authentic writing style, equipping them for their future.
Find out more here.
