Online Cheating

Posted on January 11, 2008 by David Gray

Here’s a hot topic many might advise me to avoid: online cheating. Traditional marketing and public relations advisors tend to agree that by bringing up a troublesome issue a person runs the risk of having the issue associated with them and their institution. I, on the other hand, think the readers of this blog are smarter than that. And, I think that only by discussing things – even some hard things – can difficult issues move toward better understanding and potential resolution.

The issue of cheating online comes in and out the news from time to time. The most recent episode, reported here, involves Florida State University (FSU) student-athletes taking an online music history course. While no wrong-doing, if discovered, has been reported, much is being done at FSU to tighten the system. That’s a good thing.

But I wish to raise the issue and contribute to the conversation by making two very important points. One, I think cheating methodologies mutate eternally. By that I mean new ways to do the same old things will likely always be evolved by students determined to shortchange themselves. And two, I don’t think the online learning world is any more or less susceptible to cheating than the traditional world. If a person wants to find a way around the system – including the honor system – he or she will find a way, at home, in a classroom, and yes, even in a proctored testing center.

But the assumption that cheating online is easier fuels the debate for those who are predisposed to question the online trend across the board. But while every provider of distance learning offerings must not minimize the issue, and must seek new and improved ways to measure and monitor test-taking authenticity, that creative cheaters exist in every endeavor is no reason to favor the wholesale dismissal of online learning and its many advantages.

Lastly, in the news item, it says some 900 student computer records were examined and that some 23 students were the focus of that review. By contrast, FSU offers nearly 3000 online courses. My point? The vast majority of college students aren’t interested in cutting corners. They don’t cheat. They don’t have to and don’t want to.