Copycats of the Central Himalayas

This case study highlights practices of a rarely documented group of neo-users of the Internet or newbies from Central Himalayas, serving as a catalyst for delving deeply into the act of ‘plagiarism’ in online learning By looking at such ‘learning’ practices away from schools, namely at cybercafés in Almora, a ‘rur-town’ in the Himalayas, much is revealed of its educational system and learning in the broadest sense. There is an urgent need in educational environments to move beyond the punitive approach to ‘plagiarism’ through computer usage and instead pay attention to the actual learning and teaching that goes on through these processes with online resources. In doing so, contemplation of the relationship between information, ownership and originality in online learning and its role in how we enact ‘schooling’ through online-offline spaces becomes central to this study. This case study aims to provoke innovative educational approaches where current practices with new tools can be capitalized strategically for genuine learning to transpire.

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