Crib sheets and glancing at someone else's paper could be a thing of the past. Instead, today's students have found new electronic ways to get the answers they need.

This can make it more difficult for schools to prioritize and preserve academic integrity. However, it can also make it more difficult for schools to know when students are cheating, when proctoring software glitched or when a student accidentally didn't power off their phone during an exam.

What types of technology are today's teens using — and how are they connected to possible academic misconduct?

Some of the most common potential avenues to problematic academic behaviors include:

• Texting during exams. Some students are able to hide their smartphones under their desks and text outside help for answers, timing their typing when the teacher isn't looking.
• Storing notes on smart devices. External help isn't always required; some students simply pull together digital cheat sheets and reference them when the teacher is on the opposite side of the room.
• Crowdsourcing assignments through social media. In other cases, students snap a quick pick of their exam or assignment and post it online. They may not receive help in time — but they're providing unauthorized access to their peers, which gives others an unfair advantage.
• Helping themselves through homework websites. Websites like Chegg and Course Hero often post the answers to popular textbook and exam problems — and there are many sites and apps out there (such as Photomath, Cymath, and Wolfram Alpha) that solve equations for students or foreign language translators that make actually learning a language for an exam nonessential.
• Outsmarting proctoring software. Savvy students can find workarounds if a teacher uses AI proctoring programs to monitor students through online, remote, or even in-person tests. For example, students can provide alternative identification to take tests for others, use screen-sharing or secondary devices as cheat sheets, or find a way to access the internet in a way the proctoring program can't detect.

Stuck in Stressful Cheating Investigations? Attorney Joseph D. Lento Can Help

Using unauthorized technology during a test can result in an immediate fail grade — or worse.

At some schools, getting caught cheating with technology can result in a suspension (or even a dismissal). This type of discipline on a student's permanent record could wreck their academic future. (There are colleges and even employers who take one look at a student's disciplinary history and immediately conclude the consideration of their candidacy.)

Your student and your family have invested a lot in your student's education. You can't let cheating allegations — especially unsupported ones! — ruin your child's future.

That's why you call attorney Joseph D. Lento. As a premier nationwide student and education defense advisor, Joseph D. Lento and the team at the Lento Law Firm have the experience necessary to help your student protect their future. Call attorney Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686, or contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team online, to discuss your case.