Teaching in the Modern Age 

Teaching in the Modern Age

The American Constitutional Law course is going very well.

The U of T makes available a web site that will check student papers for similarities to an existing data bank of papers. Obviously there is an opportunity to check for plagiarism; just as obviously, the main point is that students know this is being done, in the hope that it is a deterrent.

I have tried to set up my end: identifying myself as an instructor, setting up the course and some individual assignments with deadlines. Now it should be possible for the students to submit their papers electronically.

If this works, it is, as they say, way cool. The site is www. turnitin.com

In a similar vein, the last time I taught, there was really no such thing as the Internet. (I was fortunate to teach at one college in the U.S. that was an early adapter of e-mail).

Now I can refer students to specific websites
(slate, kausfiles), for a discussion of the California recall and recent court decisions.

I had a lot to say, and kind of ran out of time, so I didn't really open things up for discussion very much, but it is obvious there are some bright and well-informed people in the class. Maybe some of them even did the assigned reading!