Schools
D228 Agrees to Use Website for Students' Papers, Essays
The district's board approved Tuesday a three-year contract with Turnitin.com, an online paper and essay submission site that will check for plagiarism and reduce paper costs.
Students and teachers in Bremen High School District 228 are going to have an easier time submitting, grading and reviewing papers for the next few years thanks to the district's new agreement with Turnitin.com. The three-year agreement, which was approved Tuesday, will allow every student in the district to submit papers and essays to the website, which can then be reviewed by peers and graded by the student's teacher.
“A lot of major institutions are using it, so we're preparing out kids for college,” said Cori Williams, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.
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The district's board of education approved Tuesday, March 19, the $33,660 contract with Turnitin, which costs $1.90 per student for the first year, $1.80 the second year and $1.70-per-student the third year. The contract is expected to save the district more than $6,000 over the life of the contract, Williams said.
While Turnitin can be used as a resource to check for plagiarism in students' essays, that's not the main goal of the district's use, Williams said.
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“You submit your paper to the database, and it checks for originality,” Williams said. “We're not using it to catch students. We're using it as an opportunity to teach them about proper citation. About taking other people's work and properly citing it in your paper.”
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Turnitin also allows the district to cut down on paper costs throughout the district and create a standardized rubric when grading papers, she said.
The district used Turnitin during a pilot program through the first semester of this school year with positive results, Williams said. Implementation of Turnitin will take place during summer courses throughout the district, she added.
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