During the height of the COVID-19 crisis, one of the most pressing concerns for instructors transitioning to remote instruction was academic misconduct. Professors believed that students working from home would be more likely to cheat on tests, quizzes, and exams. So colleges and universities responded to these concerns by requiring that students download and use 3rd party anti-cheating software.

These applications seemed like a comprehensive solution to an urgent issue. Now though, universities are realizing that while these applications alleviated professors' concerns, they created a host of unexpected problems for students.

Increased Anxiety

Though many professors feared that cheating would increase in a remote environment, studies show that anxiety and stress are the real culprits of academic misconduct. When humans are stressed or anxious, it activates our fight-or-flight pathways. This activation provokes us to grab communal resources without regard to fair distribution or the long term.

As anti-cheating software became more prevalent in 2020, so did the reports of student anxiety and stress. Students not only felt pressure to do well on exams, they felt pressure to sit entirely still, monitor how often they blinked, and refrain from doing any other movements the application might flag. Essentially, students had to maintain completely unnatural behaviors, and the resulting anxiety may have created the exact academic misconduct that universities initially were trying to prevent.

Privacy Concerns

Anti-cheating software works by monitoring student activity while on- and off-line. To do this, students must download the software to their private computers and give it access to their computers' cameras, files, personal data, and applications. Though the software asks for permission for this access, most universities require that students use the software to sit for any exam. So a student's ability to opt-out of using these apps could be in name only. This unbalance of power could mean that universities are violating students' privacy rights.

Bias Concerns

Anti-cheating software flags movement in a student's test-taking space as suspicious even though some students don't have the luxury of taking tests in a private room. Studies show that facial recognition software is up to 100% more likely to misidentify Asian and Black faces, so minority students often face repeated exam lockouts. Finally, students with disabilities have reported that anti-cheating software blocks the applications they need to make exams accessible. These issues could mean that anti-cheating applications disparately impact low-income, disabled, and minority students when compared to white, more-affluent students.

Protect Your Rights As A Student

Students have a right to a fair and equitable education, even in a remote environment. If you or someone you know has been accused of academic misconduct while attending college remotely, attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm can help. Joseph D. Lento has unparalleled experience defending students accused of academic misconduct across the country. If you're facing charges, let him help you ensure your rights. Call the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or contact us to schedule a private consultation today.