Currently viewing the tag: "Turnitin"
The LearnTech team have added a widget in the top right corner of the NILE screen to display the current time and date in the UK. This is to help overseas students to determine the correct deadlines to work to for online submission.
We have also added a box on the login page to notify users that the NILE and Turnitin services are (or are not) working normally. We will change the image to a red cross if there are any problems with either of the systems. At all other times a green tick will be displayed.
If you are using Internet Explorer and encounter problems uploading your document or viewing your submissions, we recommend you ensure the following sites are added to the “Trusted Sites” setting:
https://*.submit.ac.uk
cdn.submit.ac.uk
cdn.edgecast.net
In Internet Explorer, to add sites to the “Trusted Sites” zone:
- From the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
- Click the Security tab, and then click the Trusted sites icon.
- Click Sites. In the text box beneath “Add this website to the zone:”, type the URL for the site you want to add, and then either press Enter or click Add.
Note: To add sites that begin with http rather than https, uncheck Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone; otherwise, you’ll only be able to add https sites.
- Repeat the previous step until you have added all the sites you wish to add.
- Click Close and then OK to close all dialog boxes.
Finally, Turnitin currently officially supports the following web browsers:
- Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer 7.x & 8.x, Chrome 4+, or Safari 4+ for Windows machines
- Firefox 3+, Chrome 4+, or Safari 4+ for Mac OS machines
If you are not using a supported web browser it is recommended that you either update your existing web browser to the supported version or download the appropriate web browser for your computer.
Contact the Learning Technology team if you need more help.
We have recently discovered that some assistive technologies do not work well with Turnitin. Screen readers like JAWS work when non-standard settings are selected, but are hard to follow and navigate.
So, if you anticipate asking a student with additional needs to submit their work online, please contact the team for advice, at least two weeks before the first submission is due.
The following bug has been brought to our attention today. Some files created in MS Word 2007, which have charts pasted in from Excel, cannot be reopened by other users because the chart corrupts the file. This results in the following error when you attempt to open the file:
According to Microsoft website this is a known issue with Office 2007. You can see more details about this on Microsoft’s support website.
This error has affected some tutors wanting to download student assignments that have been submitted through NILE. For files submitted to Turnitin, there is a workaround for this, which is to choose to download the submitted files in PDF format rather than the original (.docx) format. You may also be able to open the files using Word 2010 if you have access to this. Please note that this bug does not seem to affect those using the online grading tool (Grademark).
We would also recommend that any members of staff asking students to submit files containing charts should advise them to convert their file to PDF (e.g. using the Save As PDF option in Word) before submitting it.
If you encounter this error and would like advice, please contact the team.
The day was split into two main parts – an update on the roadmap and two case studies from Turnitin users:
Roadmap
December 2011 – Blackboard Direct to be released. This will be an enhanced version of Turnitin for Blackboard users
Spring 2012 – Ability to grant extensions, expanded rubric, audio comments (record and playback on pc and tablets)
Summer 2012 – Better Analytics and reporting
Winter 2012 – Translated matching – checks matching over languages – online grading for iPad and android devices.
iParadigms offer a range a training sessions to support users of their tools the full list is available at: http://www.plagiarismadvice.org/advice
Question and Answer Session with iParadigms
For interest, Barry Calvert noted that Wikipedia had the highest number of matches from all systems – 12% of all matches.
Multiple access for groups in Grademark is planned but no release date yet
There was a question over the single quote marks being included – this seems to be a UK issue and we need to vote for this on the feedback forum
Non numeric grade scales also appear to be a UK issue only and can also be voted for in the feedback forum.
Case Study 1 – Efficacy of turnitin in support for an institutional policy – Simon Starr – Canterbury Christ Church
Simon suggested the following guidelines for Turnitin use:
- Educate first – punish second
- All information should be up front
- Use in a formative manner first to allow for time on rich feedback after this the policy at CCC indicates that it may be used summatively.
From his research he noted that students mainly feel that Turnitin is about detection and policy rather than about education. Some students felt that the use of Turnitin separates students who try to write and reference correctly and those who do not.
Simon noted that students still had problems interpreting originality reports. He noted that Oxford Brookes have created some good videos which may be of use – noted that these are currently being updated at https://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/ce6/Turnitin+help.
He noted that most student information comes from the tutors rather than any central guidance. This shows the importance of tutors having correct and up to date knowledge of the tools.
Case Study 2 – Implementing Grademark – Lessons from Cardiff University – Nathan Roberts and Judy Cousins
Cardiff have about 50,000 papers submitted per year
Grademark is being used to address NSS scores at Cardiff (Assessment Matters project)
The project has shown how a technologist and an academic working together can achieve more than either alone.
They had to provide many training sessions for the assessors on Grademark – these worked best when the actual assessment was due. If the training was done too early then information was not retained. It was noted that the technologist role was crucial at this point.
Each school developed their own rubrics within Grademark – these were checked through the quality committees.
It was found that students liked Grademark – finding it equitable and clear
Cardiff had technical problems with Internet Explorer / Grademark – they advised staff to use firefox !!
Students liked the annotation facility – however they did not like comments such as good/bad without further feedback.
Assessors were all very positive about grademark – it was noted that this could save up to 30% in time with better feedback. Some technical problems slowed this down E.g. NHS assessor had problems access the Grademark tool.
The team noted that modertation and second marking is a problem – they do not have a solution yet. It was also noted that assessors wanted a spell check facility.
Despite the reservations listed above it was stressed that Grademark generally works well and was valued by staff and students.
Rob Howe
This case study looked at introducing students to Turnitin and how to use the Originality Reports for revision support.
This case study looks at the recent use of the Turnitin tool within an Occupational Therapy course.
