Teacher v Turnitin: grading online is here, but is it any good?

Turnitin, the online anti-plagiarism software, has already been accepted as a reducer of plagiarism in post-secondary education where it has become a popular tool for combatting the activity of misappropriation by students... [ view full abstract ]

Turnitin, the online anti-plagiarism software, has already been accepted as a reducer of plagiarism in post-secondary education where it has become a popular tool for combatting the activity of misappropriation by students (Russell et al, 2008; Rolfe, 2011). It has also gained acclaim in improving the standard of academic writing in programmes where it is used to connect students to academic mores such as honesty and the crediting of sources correctly and accurately (Davis, 2007; Cohen, 2010). A lesser known aspect of the Turnitin suite of possibilities is its ability to allow lecturers grade papers that have been uploaded to the resource. Not only can teachers and students view originality reports but lecturers can now add comments and even record audio messages that students can access online through the programme. This research tracks a lecturer's journey learning use this technology, and it also records the students' experience of having an essay graded online using Turnitin software. More pertinently, this research questions whether this form of feedback, using online balloons, is the future of feedback, marking the demise of the face-to-face student-teacher chat. Or, perhaps it heralds a new era of mixed approaches to giving feedback which enhances the process but may increase lecturer