Turnitin at Oxford

Turnitin now accepts PowerPoint files, so that student presentations can be checked for similarity and tutors can provide feedback and comments using GradeMark.

See the Turnitin Academy newsletter: Submit & Evaluate Powerpoint.

The newsletter also proposes a workflow for efficiently evaluating live presentations.

Further good news for Turnitin users is that the Originality Report download is now in colour – an enhancement that has been requested amongst the Turnitin community for a long time.

Contact IT Services for more information on the use of Turnitin, GradeMark and PeerMark: turnitin@it.ox.ac.uk

What is GradeMark?

GradeMark is part of the Turnitin suite of software. GradeMark enables electronic marking and comments on a student’s piece of work, including audio comments and the use of rubrics.

Turnitin’s interactive GradeMark tutorial allows the user to try out inserting comments, quick marks and audio comments on a sample document. When you activate the tutorial link below, scroll down in the document that will appear in the left-hand panel to find out what to do next. Try out all its features…

GradeMark interactive tutorial (from turnitin.com)

Oxford University – useful links:

• Staff support site: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/info/plag
• Student support site: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/skills/plag
• Contact IT Services: turnitin@it.ox.ac.uk

1. Powerpoint ‘present’ from Turnitin

If your students are going to demonstrate what they have learnt this term via a PowerPoint presentation, Turnitin now accepts PowerPoint files. The text on the slides can be checked for similarity with electronic materials on the massive worldwide Turnitin repositories. The text and images are available in the Document Viewer for you to evaluate and provide feedback to students in the form of comments and voice comments. Check Turnitin Academy for more information and the ‘gift’ of a proposed workflow.

2. iPad app from Turnitin

On the ski slopes or somewhere warmer this holiday season, you can mark your students’ essays on your iPad using Turnitin’s new app, which enables both originality checking and electronic marking. Have a look at the great natural settings on view on their simulated iPad and watch a demo video at Turnitin.com.

For more information, contact turnitin@it.ox.ac.uk

Turnitin ran a series of webcasts on various aspects of student feedback during the recent Student Success Week:

Topics include:

• The state of feedback under the Common Core
• Practical presence: giving interactive, formative feedback in online learning
• Organic feedback: growing through consistent adjustments
• Aligned assessments: Effective formative assessments to meet common core standards
• Data-driven decisions: using rubrics for programmatic assessments

Recordings of the webcasts are available on the Turnitin website: List of Webcasts

The latest Turnitin newsletter includes the following articles. Click on the newsletter link to go to the webpage and scroll down to find these links:

This issue of the Turnitin newsletter concentrates on using GradeMark (part of the Turnitin Originality Checking suite), to mark student work electronically and provide comments and feedback.

There is also an item on getting started with Turnitin for iPad, as well as details of forthcoming events and webinars.

This issue of the Turnitin newsletter focuses on ways in which to gain student attention and encourage them to engage with their writing and learning.

Watch webcasts on the following topics:

• Engaging students in socially and linguistically divers classrooms
• Engaging the online learner
• Online tools to improve student retention and success
• Defending the blending: the benefits of the blended classroom

 The newsletter contains links to further noteworthy items (such as “Grade anywhere on Turnitin for iPad”), events and webinars.

The August newsletter is now available from Turnitin. It contains a lot of information and useful links to training and support material, in the interests of ‘Getting Started’ for the new academic year, including video demos, tutorials and resources for instructors.

It also contains details of forthcoming events in the form of webinars, user events and conferences. Click on the link above for all the details.

Turnitin has published the August edition of their regular newsletter “Turnitin First Draft“, which contains information about:

1. Using Turnitin for iPad, including a live webcast scheduled for: Tuesday 20 August, 18:00 BST
2. “Moving Feedback Forward” – a virtual conference on student success: 28 October to 1 November
3. Free webinars
4. User events and conferences.

Full details can be found in the newsletter.

In keeping with the model employed by the IT Learning Programme for all their courses, the Turnitin Fundamentals course will continue to be offered free of charge. However a printed copy of the course book will no longer be included. Instead, the booklets will be available for reference during the face-to-face course, and will be available for sale at cost price (£5). Of course, the booklets are available online and can always be downloaded from the ITLP Portfolio (http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/).

All lunch-time sessions, including the popular “Plagiarism: Interpreting originality reports using Turnitin”, will continue to be free. Where relevant, handouts of the slideshow may be provided, free of charge.

The same arrangements apply to WebLearn courses: See the blog post: WebLearn courses and course books.