Google Classroom plagiarism check unreliable

Posted Oct. 6, 2022

By Emilia Gutu

News Editor

Google Classroom’s plagiarism detection option has proven questionable and unreliable to teachers.

The definition of plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work and claiming it as one's own. Plagiarism checks help avoid that from happening. It is often used in schools, universities, and colleges. Having a reliable plagiarism check helps teachers know who has cheated, and it helps students stay away from copying work. It’s helpful, but teachers at David Douglas and elsewhere have not been able to  rely on Google Classroom's plagiarism option.  Even though it’s handy and accessible to use, sometimes it does not have the intended results.

Although some teachers use alternative options to check for plagiarism, such as Turnitin.com, there is still a large number of teachers who continue to use Google Classroom regardless. Many fine arts teachers, career classes, language classes such as Spanish, French, and ASL, tend not to have a very big need for plagiarism checks in the first place. Therefore, Google Classroom remains a big use for most teachers at this school. It is mostly intended but unreliable to English teachers, teachers who have students write big essays or research assignments.