Cheating is a longstanding issue at schools across the nation. It's no surprise that some students cheat on their coursework and exams. However, the rise of technology poses a new challenge for schools looking to crack down on cheating. According to a recent survey by Wiley, instructors believe that students are more likely to cheat in online courses than in face-to-face courses.

Online Cheating Survey Results

Wiley's survey of nearly 800 instructors revealed that 93 percent of respondents believe students are more likely to cheat in an online learning environment. 62 percent of respondents indicated they thought students were “significantly more likely” to cheat in an online course than in a traditional classroom setting. Only 5 percent of the instructors reported they believed students were “not more or less likely” to cheat in online environments.

This survey comes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which is affecting higher learning institutions throughout the country. Many universities moved to entirely remote learning environments to slow the spread of the virus and to protect their students. The increased demand for online learning leaves academic institutions with a long list of questions about dealing with cheating. Since instructors can't monitor their students, they've had to adopt new measures to combat cheating.

School Response to Online Cheating

Schools have implemented a variety of methods to curtail cheating in online courses. Social distancing demands left many schools scrambling to implement new online learning methods and anti-cheating measures. The responses to all online learning environments show just how far administrators are willing to go to prevent cheating.

Many schools are turning to online proctoring systems to monitor students during exams. The proctoring programs have a range of abilities to detect cheating. They can record students' movements, lock students from accessing online resources, and alert instructors about any suspicious behavior. The University of Washington uses the proctoring service Proctorio to analyze students during online exams. It uses artificial intelligence to do everything from providing video surveillance to detecting how long students look away from their screens.

While useful in analyzing cheating, these new technologies are raising concerns. For one, schools are forcing students to use third party services that might invade their privacy. Another issue is accessibility. Proctorio, for example, relies on students to add an extension to their Google Chrome web browser. Some students may not have access to Google Chrome, or enough RAM to run the software. Universities have also been criticized for not providing equal access to these new technologies.

Issues for Students

Students accused of cheating on online exams encounter a range of punishments. They can be charged with academic misconduct resulting in failure of the course, suspension, and even expulsion from the school. Students can retain an advisor to defend themselves from these allegations. An experienced attorney can fight back against illegal invasions of privacy, insubstantial evidence, and infringement on student rights.

If you have been accused of cheating, you need an experienced attorney on your side. Attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm specialize in defending student rights and achieving favorable outcomes across the United States.  Call the Lento Law Firm at (888) 535-3686.