David Pritchard said that lots of students commit a little bit of cheating while a few cheat a lot. Pritchard is a professor in physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he researched the academic dishonesty in online colleges.
When you cheat, you don’t only put yourself at risk of getting caught. You also cheapen your degree. Justin Harding, Arizona State University-Tempe instructional design and new media senior director, said that a student isn’t cheating the school as much as he cheats himself out of the education that he was intended to get.
Despite that and many other reasons, academic dishonesty still happens. So, online instructors use current technologies to keep their students in check.
Proctoring
Verifying a student’s identity can be challenging when they take their tests at home. So, online schools often hire online proctoring companies such as ProctorU, Examity, and Proctorio during exams. The student is required to show proof of identity like a driver’s license or student ID before the test begins. Then, the proctor watches the student and his computer screen through the webcam while taking the test.
Software for plagiarism detection
According to Harding, the most noticeable form of cheating in online classes is plagiarism. Thanks to technology, this is also among the easiest to catch. Plagiarism detection software has increasingly become part of the learning management systems that students use. A simple mistake, such as citing a source improperly, can get a student caught.
IP tracking, keystroke recognition, and biometric scanning
Cheating has become more sophisticated these days. Now, some companies offer services to complete a student’s class. So, to catch these impostors, online schools track the IP address of their student’s device, use biometric identification, or track a student’s keystroke. Experts say that cheating online will be even more difficult because of evolving technology.
