Why plagiarize when programs will cite for you?

How Refworks Changed My Life.

There are a number of free online resources that will format your references into a number of formats either by providing you with an easy to follow online form or allowing you to search for your resource and it will generate much of the information for you. With any of these programs you do need to double check that this is formatted correctly. However, refworks takes what sites like bibme.org can do and then simplified even in text citations.

Plagiarism is completely unnecessary. Should you not have a brilliant idea of your own, simply research to discover one, and cite your source. Giving credit where credit is due isn’t terribly difficult but if your thinking about formatting how to give that credit I can understand the temptation to simply want to leave that next bracket out. Especially if you’re using APA or MLA with the intrusive brackets and random last names that infiltrate your paper with the jarring announcement that you didn’t have anything intelligent to say in this sentence or the next. Despite my partiality for Chicago and Turabian, there is simply no excuse to not cite your source when it’s as simple as refworks makes it. The ability to punch in your reference and have it format for you alleviates all the stress that may have plagued the potential plagiarizer.

The folders in refworks were also impressive, providing the ability to save sources for the various papers you may be working on and allowing a source used in a previous paper to be easily accessed. The practicality and simplicity means you need to be willing to put in an effort plagiarize instead of stressing that you may have missed a citation or cited something wrong, inadvertently plagiarizing.

School? – There’s an app for that!

Utilizing Technology Left In Our Lockers

There are many cases where classes have incorporated technology into the classroom. We have discussed ITC literacy and the use of technology that students already have to further their school experience. However, how do you utilize the ipods and smart phones in your classroom?

Knowledge Quest Inc. is “a leading provider of online educational resources and curricula for the home schooling market.”[1] Knowledge Quest recently launched a website, www.apps-school.com, directed at home schooled kids to support them in identifying and using the best mobile technology applications for schoolwork. The website makes it simpler to find the best applications for school by providing a list of links to the top learning applications. Some of the notable applications are Mathboard, QuickReader, and iHome Educator. Website users can browse by subject, such as math, science and language arts, by company, or by price. The prices of applications range from free to $4.99. However, most of the applications are free.

One of the catch phrases from the Knowledge Quest press release was: “faster than installing software on a computer, and there is no mouse, no cords, and no heavy books to lug around. Quality learning can be accessed from one handy little device so this is truly education on the go."

There are educators who will push to use the technology we already have in the classroom. The expensive equipment that goes unutilized, as it sits in a student’s locker or purse, could prove useful if you’re willing to accept the responsibility that comes with bringing them into your classroom. Applications like those found on this website may allow for educational resources to be downloaded onto a student’s iphone or blackberry but as the teacher you need to ensure that your students are able to ethically use this technology in a classroom setting. What they do with it out of the classroom is up to them and their parents but when you invite the ipads, pods, and phones into your room you need to keep students engaged with the intention you had for these devices. The responsibility of having to monitor handheld devices with small screens makes it more difficult than just scanning the room or peeking over a shoulder or two. Looming over a student trying to get a glimpse to gage if a student is really on task is not only awkward but time consuming. When gauging the usefulness of apps to assist we need to also gage if our class is responsible enough for the task.

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[1] Johnson, Terri. "Website Helps Home Schooled Kids Get Their Education on the Go." San Francisco Bay Area — News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds: SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

[2] "TheresAnAppForThatHeader 9 to 5 Mac TheresAnAppForThatHeader Apple Intelligence ." 9 to 5 Mac Apple Intelligence . N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. .