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DISCOVERY

The last time I looked in a mirror, I certainly didnt look like that! However, the DNA slide looks familiar. Oops, it looks like a slide from my DNA of a 21st Century Educator (Version 2) presentation. Awesome! Someone in China has translated my slide, and is sharing it with a group of local and international educators attending a conference (or seminar) exploring the future of education at the Luoyang International School (17 Oct, 2012). Here is another picture that reveals a bit more about this event:

Yesterday evening (9 Jan, 2013), I got an e-mail from my Norwegian (online) buddy Stian Håklev (Co-founder of Peer2Peer University) informing me...

 Important Links:

WOW! Thanks, Stian for sharing this Pretty Hilarious news with a CSI kind of reporting of the event. Initially, I thought this whole thing was really cool, and I was kind of thrilled that someone would actually go to such lengths to reuse and translate slides that originated from me (WOW, the slides must be really good!). 

I have heard and read that translated plagiarism is a BIG BIG BIG PROBLEM in China, but not in my wildest dreams did I anticipate it would happen to me. Certainly, not like this.

Lets break down the case.

I first gave the DNA of a 21st Century Educator talk during the Annual Teaching and Learning Seminar 2012" at USM on the 26 June, 2012. However, the slides that have been reused and translated are from the second version, which was published 19 July (2012) on SlidesShare. Here is my original version:



Since, the Chinese version was presented on the 17 October (2012), we can presume based on existing evidence that I am more likely the author. 

Also, based on the time between both these events (19 July - 17 October), Mr. Copytran (Code name for the author(s) of the Chinese version) had more than sufficient time to translate the presentation slides to Chinese.

The English version has 81 slides compared to 28 slides for the Chinese version. Interestingly, 26 (out of 28) or 92.85% of the Chinese version seems to be visually similar compared to the English version. However, we have to give credit to some critical thinking taking place here, as the 26 slides have been filtered (from 81), shuffled and organized a bit differently compared to the English version. 

Moreover, unless Mr. Copytran used only Google translate (or outsourced the translation), he/she/it/they must have spent considerable time to translate these 26 slides, which I assume requires masterful language ability. Though, since my Chinese is practically zero, I would need some expert to verify this.

Also, we have to give credit to Mr. Copytran for showing amazing ability to manipulate, redesign and delete important aspects of the 26 slides that will be revealed one-by-one next.

Here we go:

Yes, the DNA word has moved from one side to the other (Originality?). Also, the Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) license has simply vanished from all 26 slides. Also, you notice that the IMU logo(s) are no longer there. 

Interestingly (red arrow), the General Plan logo appears for the first time. As we explore these slides, you will notice that this logo will appear, disappear and even move during its journey over 26 slides. I assume the General Plan logo is suffering from some kind of appearance disorder (perhaps feeling guilty, or perhaps wanting to be associated with important slides and points).  

You notice the logo has repositioned itself on slide 2, as if it is the solution to the question (Say no more!). Besides the translations, not much more to say. Awesome slide, though!

I cant believe that the LIC Facebook poll slide, identifying what (a few) members of this group think are the ingredients of a 21st Century educator was translated. Mr. Copytran please explain; "Why did you include this one?"

 Kudos! I mean, I just reused a stunning mind map explaining Howard Gardners 5 Minds for the Future. Mr. Copytran on the other hand, must have spent considerable time translating and manipulating the image. Also, he didnt delete the links (URLs) to the relevant resources, which is good. Though, if he did, surely someone would question Mr. Copytran how he managed to visualize the mind map so nicely.

Oops, I mashed up that graphic in 2009 (Evidence) based on Lucifer Chus wise words during his Keynote at the 2nd International Conference of e-Learning hosted by UiTM (ICEL 2009). So, Mr. Copytran, how did you develop this graphic? You certainly dont have any reference links to support your case, if you didnt develop it.

 Notice that the logo has reappeared and moved strategically beyond my comprehension to a new location. No doubt, my original slide looks better, right?

Now, the logo appears again and has amazingly moved again, too. It is as if the logo is playing a hide-and-seek game with us. Correct me if I am wrong!

I was really happy with this mash-up of mine, and Yes Mr. Copytran does provide a link to my blog post, so thanks for the reference. It is nice to reference our own work, but even better when others reference our own reference. What do you think?

Mr. Copytran, not a bad translated copy of the original one. What software do you use to edit graphics? 

Thanks for including this slide, because this is the one that enlightened Stian Håklev to discover the rest. 

This is where I draw the line. Where is your reference to my Recap? Also, why is the logo suddenly appearing again? At least this time it appears the same place as the last time.

Of course there is much more, Mr. Copytran you still have another 55 potential slides (81 - 26 = 55) to translate. LOL!

I just cant believe that you cant even create your own Q&A slide! Take a risk and use your imagination a bit. Come on! Is that too much to ask for?

Seriously, Mr. Copytran you must have spent hours translating and manipulating this presentation to meet your desired goals. We should be celebrating your effort for all your hard work? However, that might not be the case, especially if this story goes viral in a negative sense. Maybe, in your mind you didnt do anything wrong, and just maybe you had every right to do what you did.

I am actually not bothered by you reusing the 26 slides from my presentation (That is why I share!), but I am angry and irritated based on the observations shared above that you seem to have deliberately plagiarized some of my content, ideas and recommendations, without giving any form of recognition for it. Also, when I read the Google translated version of the conference report, my ego of any doubt vanished (like the CC license did in your slides). 

 Didnt you realize that the DNA of a 21st Century Educator (version 2) presentation has been viewed more than 31,000+ times by now? Actually, by day 3 or 4 (after publishing it on SlideShare - 19 July) it had already been viewed more than 15,000+ times (was featured as Top Presentations of the day), and cited by numerous of bloggers and educators around the world through varies social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, blog posts, etc).

More importantly, didnt you realize that this presentation has been published under a Creative Commons license (Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike or CC BY-NC-SA) empowering anyone for free to reuse and remix for non-commercial reasons with attribution. Most of my learning articles, presentations and artifacts since 2008 have been published with such a license, and hundreds of educators around the world have been reusing or remixing them as they like (with attribution), and that is one major reason why I love to share.

However, when a person representing a corporate e-Learning company (General Plan) literally takes my presentation (or 26 slides from it), and presents it at a conference (translated version) without giving any credit (at least on the slides). And then has the cheekiness to put his company logo, and even delete the Creative Commons license from all the 26 slides translated, is something that I find really unacceptable.

It might be flattery (to some), but it is also totally against any principles of professionalism (that I know of).

The best way (in my opinion) to deal with people with such integrity and professionalism is to expose them to the world and remind others that doing such things are not worth the risk.

 

In the 21st century you can easily copy or plagiarize, but you can easily get caught, too. And you certainly cant hide online for that long! That is for sure! 

Why potentially waste your career and credibility just for one presentation?

What were you thinking?