To use TurnItIn.com within your Blackboard course site, you don't need to set up a special account or any other related steps. All you will need to do is create "TurnItIn Assignments" within your course.

The following directions are also available in a Word document or Adobe PDF file.

How Do I Create a TurnItIn Assignment?

1) Login to your course Blackboard site.
2) Click on "Build" mode.
3) Choose the "Add Content Link" button (towards the middle of the screen). Scroll down the available options and choose "TurnItIn Assignment"
4) Click on "Create TurnItIn Assignment." You will then be prompted to give this assignment a title (this will be what the students see). Click "Enter"
5) On the next screen, you'll be prompted to enter the Assignment Title again. You may also assign a point value to that assignment (this can be left blank if you do not intend to post the students grade within the TurnItIn gradebook.
6) Set the Start Date: this is the date on which students can begin submitting this assignment (set the time for 12:01 am)
7) Set the Due Date: this is the due date for the assignment. It will allow students to submit after this date, but will mark those assignments in red type as "late"
8) Set the Post Date: This is a rarely used feature (allowing students to utilize a discussion board within TurnItIn.com, but this is an unneeded tool given that Blackboard already has a discussion board). Nonetheless, you must set a date. It is suggested to set it for a day after the due date (Don't worry; this "post date" is never visible to students).
9) In the textbox below the dates, enter any special instructions for the assignment. Usually, instructions would look like this: "Please upload your assignment as Microsoft Word or compatible file." Assignment-specific instructions can also be given here.
10) Below the textbox, the first question asks if you'd like to generate an originality report. Leave this set at "Yes." That's the whole point of TurnItIn.com. This allows the tool to check the student submission for plagiarism and it will generate an "originality report" for you within 24 hours.
11) Click "Yes" on the next option to "Choose Advanced Features"
a. Allow students to see Originality Reports: I recommend NO because students often do not know how to interpret this data. These are best used as a tool for the instructor to view.
b. Allow submissions after due date: I recommend YES in case of any technical difficulties. These late submissions will still be marked as late (with the date submitted in red), so you can still assess whatever penalties you deem appropriate.
c. All other papers to be checked against submissions: YES, this means it will check to see if students have used information that also appears in other student's papers (either in your class or in any of the millions of other papers that have been submitted via TurnItIn.com through the years).
d. Leave all the 4 "compare submissions" options checked.
12) Click the "Submit" button towards the top of the screen to complete this process.

This assignment will now appear linked on your course homepage (with a bulletin board pin icon). If you want to move this to another specific folder within your course, simply click on the Actionlinks arrow (the downward facing arrow) visible next to the name of the assignment.

Steps to take during the first week of class:

1) Click on the "Teach" tab.
2) Click on one of your TurnItIn Assignments.
3) Click on the "Roster Sync" button (towards the right hand side of the screen). This will synchronize your class roster within the TurnItIn tool with the roster showing in your Blackboard gradebook.

How do students submit their assignments?

1) The student will simply click on the assignment icon.
2) Then click on the "submit" button. This will allow them to upload their file or type the assignment in a textbox.

How do I check student submissions?

Once the students have submitted their assignments, TurnItIn will generate an originality report within 24 hours (and often much sooner). This checks to see if students have used information from other sources. However, that may not indicate plagiarism. In fact, it may simply be that they've cited and properly quoted their sources. But don't worry, the tool will help you tell the difference.

1) So after the assignment due date, make sure you're in the "Teach" tab and then click on the icon for this specific TurnItIn assignment. Now a list of student names will be visible and next to each will be a percentage given. This is NOT a percentage of plagiarism; it merely means that this student's submission has used that percentage of sources. Whether they are quoted or not will be seen via the next step.
2) For any students that are showing a percentage above 20%, it is suggested that you view the Originality Report by clicking on the percentage shown.
3) Once this Originality Report pops up, click the "Exclude Quoted" and then "Exclude Bibliography" buttons (which are seen towards the top of the Originality Report, right next to the percentage display). By excluding these items, you'll get rid of any highlighting of properly cited material.
a. If the percentage shown remains significant after clicking these "Exclude" buttons, this is an indication that the student may have plagiarized. Now you should peruse the document. Any phrases/sentences in colored ink have been lifted from other sources. Look to see if any kind of citation has been used. On the right hand of the screen, you'll see the specific sources from which these phrases/sentences have been potentially taken.
i. TurnItIn first checks its student paper database for these matches before checking the general internet, so if it comes up with a "hit" there, you will see "Submitted to _____ College." This does not actually mean that your student took their info from that particular student, but they clearly both borrowed from the same research source (and apparently without giving proper credit via quotation marks and a citation).
4) Once you have viewed any worrisome Originality Reports, you can now grade the assignments. Grades can be entered in the "grade" column on this page by simply clicking on the blue link shown for each student.

What should the consequences be for plagiarism?

That's up to you. Some professors fail the student for the assignment, others fail the student for the course in the more egregious, obvious cases of cheating. Either way, make sure to indicate your intended policy within your course syllabus. It's also good idea to include a line or two in your syllabus regarding TurnItIn.com. It can look like this: "Some assignments will be submitted via the TurnItIn.com database, which will check student submissions for any evidence of plagiarism. Since this is a required element of our course, you should withdraw from the course immediately if you are unwilling to submit assignments via this method." Such a statements covers the legal issues necessary and also lets students know that you will be detecting any incidents of plagiarism. In all likelihood, you'll find that use of this tool becomes an excellent deterrent to plagiarism.

When a student does commit plagiarism, the TurnItIn tool gives you an easy way to detect these instances and documents them in a report that is clear and undeniable. You can even save or print these Originality Reports to show to the students, allowing for a "teaching moment" when possible or as proof of blatant cheating when necessary.