Those of you who have used turnitin.com in your classes before know that there used to be some problems when students submitted a revised paper to the service, since the computer would automatically mark anything retained from the previous version of the paper as a source. That has been fixed in this year’s version of www.turnitin.com. You have several options:
1. When you enter a paper assignment, you can change the indicator on “Generate originality reports?” from yes to no, this is a draft assignment.
2. Instead of calling the assignment a paper assignment, you can choose the option “Revision assignment”, which will not generate an originality report.
You also have the option this year of allowing students to critique a fellow class member’s draft, by choosing the option “Writing Review assignment.” You can select the paper to be critiqued from those already turned in, and (I believe) you can even identify which students are allowed to critique it—so you can set up private writing groups if you like.
Turnitin.com also has several new features that Winthrop users can access: you can set up discussion lists for your classes and post questions to them. You can set up an online grade-book (which only you can see), and choose from a library of online assignments (if you run out of originality). You can post a class calendar with announcements. You can also (once we get the syllabi online) link your turnitin.com pages to the syllabus for your class.
For more info, check out this page: http://www.winthrop.edu/dacus/About/facultyTIIinstructions.htm (it explains how you log into Turnitin and provides the University passwords)
For info for your students, check out this page: http://www.winthrop.edu/dacus/About/studentTIIinstructions.htm
A tutorial for faculty on how to use turnitin.com and the services provided can be found at http://www.turnitin.com/static/training_support/. I recommend clicking on the link “Turnitin Demo” if you want to see actual examples of how the service works.
The turnitin.com coordinator for campus continues to be Gale Teaster at the library (323-2311), who can provide a lot more answers than Jo can.
For the new folks: several people in the department have used turnitin.com for multiple semesters. Ask around—we will be glad to share our experiences with you.