The internet has proved to be a great tool for education systems. It is used by professors to post lecture slides, assignments, video courses, and other useful materials for students. The ease of accessibility has allowed many students to get the education they need without having to physically attend a class. This was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic when many universities and colleges had to move their classes online in order to prevent the spread of the virus. However, this created a new problem for professors: content monitoring.

With so many students accessing course materials online, it became difficult for professors to keep track of who was actually doing the work and engaging with the material. There were also cases of students cheating by sharing answers with each other or looking up solutions online.

Content monitoring is a dilemma that many professors face in the age of online education. On one hand, they want to give their students the freedom to access the material at their own convenience. On the other hand, they need to make sure that the students are actually doing the work and not just copying and pasting solutions from the internet.

4 Ways to Solve the Professors' Dilemma

There are a few ways that professors can try to solve this dilemma:

  1. Locate manually where the course contents are being used. This can be done by using Google Search Console and entering a summary of the course material. This will give you a list of all the websites that are linking to your content. From here, you can try to locate the source of the copied content and take action accordingly.
  2. Use plagiarism detection software. There are many software programs that can help you detect plagiarism. These programs can be used to scan student papers or assignments to see if there are any matches with other sources on the internet.
  3. Use watermarks. Watermarks are images or text that are embedded into digital content. They can be used to track where the content has been shared and who has accessed it.
  4. Take action against those who violate your copyright. If you find that someone has copied your content without permission, you can take legal action against them. This is usually done through a cease and desist letter or a DMCA notice.

While these steps are beneficial, these processes will take time to do and professors do not have a lot of time. What can help professors to monitor their content and ensure the quality of education they provide?

Use a Copyright Content Management System (CCMS)

CourseHealthTM powered by AssignGuard is an authority in Copyright Content Management Systems (CCMS). The platform aims to identify leaked course contents and track their usage. With the help of this solution, professors can now focus on what they're good at - teaching.

The CourseHealthTM platform uses a variety of methods to detect where your content is being used without your permission. After identification, CourseHealthTM will initiate a takedown request to the site hosting your content. This will effectively remove the infringing material and help to protect your copyright.

Additionally, the platform provides a real-time monitoring solution that can be used to track the usage of your content. With this, you can quickly identify if there are any unauthorized uses of your material.

Instead of wasting time manually performing Google searches, scouring file-sharing websites, and keeping up with long DMCA request email chains, using a CCMS like CourseHealth™, powered by AssignGuard, can help you save time and ensure that your copyright is protected.

Click the button below for a free trial on how the CourseHealth™ CCMS can help you take charge of your copyright content strategy.


Image by yanalya on Freepik