Turnitin opens first office in the Philippines
By Jenina P. Ibañez
Reporter
ONLINE PLAGIARISM detection and educational feedback platform Turnitin set up its first office in the Philippines in March, setting up operations just prior to the enhanced community quarantine which has moved some educational institutions to online learning.
Turnitin Southeast Asia Regional Manager Jack Brazel in an online interview on Thursday said the company employed sales representatives and customer support for their Makati office and has plans to expand to Cebu and Davao.
“We can see a very tech-savvy educational system. A lot of instructors have been going abroad and been exposed to the new education technologies. We’ve been seeing a lot of interest in (the) Philippines,” he said.
The company has had business presence in the Philippines since 2013 and has already partnered with some academic institutions.
Mr. Brazel noted how academic integrity can be retained as the educational system transfers online.
“We’re seeing right around the world, education institutes have to move to remote learning. And the challenge for these customers is how do you establish academic integrity?” he said.
Turnitin uses its access to global databases to highlight originality issues on student work.
Mr. Brazel said there has always been good demand for their products.
“What I could see in the Philippines is the education system was modernized quite rapidly and so people can see the challenges of academic integrity because recent data indicated that Filipino students are struggling with critical thinking skills,” he said.
“The demand is still there. I wouldn’t say it’s increased dramatically, but we’re still helping customers as much as possible during this time.”
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) had asked tertiary education institutions that have the resources to use online and other alternative modes of remote learning amid the pandemic.
But university student councils have asked for the suspension of classes, noting some students do not have stable Internet connections to access online classes.
Mr. Brazel said the company has been working with the education sector in understanding their remote assessment needs during the pandemic.
“In reality what Turnitin brings to any institute regardless of Internet connection is going down the path of understanding what is academic integrity. If there is a struggle with Internet connection, we still would be able to produce — be able to highlight academic integrity issues to them.”
