Introduction
Excerpts
My name is Bev Witten. I am South African; temporarily living in the U.S. while my spouse completes his doctoral degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was awarded a scholarship as part of an exchange program between HarvardUniversity and South Africa (S.A.) designed to develop black people for leadership positions in S.A. We have two children, a daughter who is a senior at high school and a son in the sixth grade. My spouse taught for over 25 years in S.A. and spent twelve of those as a principal at an elementary/middle school. His school was located in one of the poorest communities in S.A., and although it was built for 800 students, it had 1300 in attendance. This poor community was plagued by gangsterism and violence and had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. He developed a model that located the School as the center of broader community development and implemented projects to address the rising unemployment. This model was designed not only to respond to the learning needs of students, but also focused on the challenges in the community, which he argued ultimately impacted the School. He is now working on researching this model through his doctoral work.
Rachel Rogers responded:
What a testament your story is to the individual's ability to overcome adversity. I remember studying the book “Cry, The Beloved Country” in high school and trying to imagine myself in that story. I had only a glimpse of the struggle, but it gave me a sharp reminder of how blessed I was, and it reinforced what I'd been taught about giving back to a hurting world. Through my work in psychology, I have been introduced to immense sickness and wrong, but I have also seen how people can take their bad experiences and use them for much greater good. One of the most important tools in change is education which shows people the faults in their thoughts and behavior. I greatly admire how hard you have worked to teach and reform society, and I imagine that your present studies will have an important impact on health in South Africa. The results of your research have the potential to spark a movement that can grow beyond your expectations.
Turniton
I am not in favor of purchasing Turniton. Here are some of my reasons:
1) Educating students on plagiarism as well as providing them with courses on academic writing, effective use of sources and correct citation methods needs to part of the core curriculum for any education program. I feel that using an electronic tool to detect plagiarism appears to be somewhat of a punitive measure. Allan, G., Callaghan, L., et al suggests that education, detection and institutional policies can act as deterrents. I think however that the ‘detection’ piece included in the article really served as a marketing tool for Turniton. I feel that Turniton is a ‘quick fix’ and doesn’t really get to the root of the problem.
2) Margaret Burke states that the culture of grades and competition in the academic environment contributes to the increasing cases of plagiarism. I tend to agree with her. In my own experience, even though the incidences and percentages around plagiarism have probably increased in South Africa, I certainly did not experience the level of grade paranoia and competition as I have here in the States. My sense is that it appears to be destructive and detrimental to student learning and development and this could well be a contributor to the plagiarism problem.
3) I also think that all the material on the Web site is geared toward marketing Turniton and does not present a balanced view.
My strategies would be:
1. A compulsory core course for all students when they begin their academic life or degree, irrespective of whether they have prior qualifications.
2. I also think that professors should be promoting more critical thinking skills when designing their student work and this should be modeled in class discussions. Richard Elmore at the Ed School promotes his concept of ‘socratic dialogue.’ This, he believes, is the teacher’s responsibility to ask questions of the student in a way that entices them/challenges them to answer, and with an expectation that they have the answer! (an original answer!) I do think that technology can play a role. The dialogue can begin in class and continue online (discussion boards) with perhaps some other experts/authors/perspectives joining the discussion and further stretching and challenging the thinking and ideas. Professors could also pose their question for a complete online discussion.
3. Students should be rewarded for alternate, original views/ideas that challenge the author/s under discussion. They should be asked to present their own perspective and not be expected to regurgitate the sources that they are given in their course material. I have also experienced that students, particularly on graduate programs, who have had more work and life experience tend to bring much more of their own work and experience to bear on the academic sources that they are using. This results in more originality, practical application and expands the larger debates and work in education more broadly.
Michelle Burrill responded:
I agree with your strategy number 3 where you talked of original thoughts and having students give their own point of view and being rewarded for that. I believe this is something that should be taught and instilled in students beginning at an early age and continuing on as the student progresses through school. It promotes confidence. When I was younger and in school my teachers would constantly talk of plagiarism and would tell all of us students that we would go to prison if we plagiarized. They scared me! I know people, at other schools,who have cheated and plagiarized and they don't seem to care about any of the consequences. The only real people they are hurting in the end are themselves when they cannot intellectually express or articulate anything about the subject that they were supposed learn about.
Powerpoint
Having read these differing views I reflected on some of those presentations andI think that many of them were filled with "fluff." Yet, it was the "fluff " that impressed the mangers and executivesin the audience (Tufte, 2006).
I alsoagree with Larry Cuban that I am not certain that the resources provided to schools in terms of computers are paying off as a worthy investment. In addition, since the research data on correlating the improvement in learning directly to the use of computers is still not clear, I am only convinced that the effectiveness of technology in the classroom is all about the 'effectiveness of integration.' I believe that it is not an "either or, " but rather a "both, and" So, we need the oral pedagogy and we need the appropriate technology to be integrated into this.
Marie Altieri responded:
Hi Bev, I hope you don't stay apprehensive about powerpoint. I think it can actually make standing up in front of an audience much easier. It helps you to organize your thoughts, think through what you want to say, and give the audience some visuals to focus on. I think one message I would give is that the words on the powerpoint slide and the words that you say should be quite different. Powerpoint is high level, your words contain the detail. Powerpoint also gives you the opportunity to include graphics, pictures, and other visual information that enhance the things that you can say. Good Luck! Marie
Final project idea:
Hi everyone,
I do not have a complete picture of my final project yet and would welcome your input. In order to support my own long-term goals, I would like to create a series of HIV/AIDS workshops for principals, teachers and parents in South Africa. I am thinking that the main focus of the workshops would be to address the issue of stigma and the related affects in terms of disclosure. The broader HIV/AIDS education content can be weaved into this. Since stigma is such a huge factor affecting the increasingly high rates of infection in communities, using technology to surface collective solutions to address this could be highly effective.
Brien Walton responded:
It looks like you've gotten a great start on this one Bev!
I developed a financial management workshop for the federal government's Office of Minority Health, which they provided to the DC government's HIV AIDS Administration. In working with the health agencies however, it became clear to me that there were other issues that the staff and clinicians in the field needed to be aware of, more so than how to manage a budget for clinic.
As you prepare this workshop, I think you may find that adding a component that covers "cultural competency" will really help the participants get a grasp on the issues. Essentially, if the audience does not recognize the cultural differences between the HIV-AIDS population and their own, it can be difficult for them to empathize. By explaining the plight of someone with AIDS, from their perspective (sort of like "a day in the life of..."), it will help your message really hit home.
Michelle Burrill responded:
Hi Bev,
I am in awe of you. You are seriously going to change the world. Your idea is amazing and educating people on HIV/AIDS is essential in a time when this epidemic has become to common. I think your idea of using screen or usernames is great. This will allow people the opportunity to be honest and be heard as well as being able to hear and not just listen to what other people have to say. You're amazing! I wish you well.