Cheating???

Cheating is all about the assignment and the expectations of the assignment. For instance. The ACT and SAT are about what a person can do without the assistance of others or tools such as the Internet. So cheating is well defined.

Now what about writing a paper on Microsoft office. Would it be cheating if Bill Gates was your cousin and you talked to him about the paper and had him proofread it? I don't think letting someone proof read your paper is cheating. You would want someone with knowledge of the topic to proofread your paper. Should we be punished or called a cheater because we know people or are good at finding information on the Internet? Of course not. But again the idea of cheating is based on the assignment expectations. If a teacher says "write a paper about gravity on mars, but don't interview anyone, just use scientific research", then you have an idea about what cheating is.

On to the point of the blog which is the topic of online cheating. I suppose as an online instructor you should assume students will have access to other people, the Internet, books, interviews, videos, and chats. Those could all be ways to cheat obviously. But wait. Those things all exist for people in a regular classroom based class also. So any assignment that is to be completed outside of a regular classroom setting would be subject to the same possibility of cheating as online courses. So papers and projects that require work to be done outside of the direct supervision of the teacher are no different with traditional classrooms or online delivery courses. But what about exams or performance in class.

This I think is where the cheating online can occur. A traditional classroom may have a quiz, test, or quick write that students have no time to consult other people or sources. I think most online courses lack this. For instance, every time I log on to blog, chat, or do any assignments I could have my brother sit next to me. Or my wife. Or my son. Whatever. There is no way for a teacher to know that what I am doing is just me. Technically with great effort someone could replicate the same sort of cheating. An earpiece, tiny camera, and microphone could possibly allow you to "bring someone" with you to class. Online delivery courses just seem to make it much easier and almost impossible to stop. Perhaps with microphones and web cams it could be limited somewhat.

In the end, if a teacher understands what they want and gives assignments with clear goals in mind then cheating isn't a problem. But I also admit that my cousin Ted could have taken all of my online classes for me without me every doing anything and no one would know. I would get the degree I want without doing anything.