Ethics of online classes

[bkahuna]

Hi All,

I'm in my final class and I think more than one of the students are cheating. Some are posting material that looks like it was from a previous version of the course including citing annual reports from 2008, when the question clearly asks for the newest annual reports to be used (2010).

In fact a person today cited a source in a discussion posting from echeat dot com.

I value my degree and though its only this one class I feel like its cheapening the validity of my degree if the people get away with it.

Should I mention it to the professor or just leave it alone?

[FinancialWorld]

They could be using a ghostwriter, although that ghostwriter would seem pretty dumb for using a website like that (echeat.com). I don't know exactly what you should do, because if you're wrong I don't know what the consequence could be. Do schools have HR departments. I don't remember the protocol for plagiarism or using previously submitted work. Every school has a section on the website or in the syllabus about those types of issues.

[burbuja0512]

Hi All,

I'm in my final class and I think more than one of the students are cheating. Some are posting material that looks like it was from a previous version of the course including citing annual reports from 2008, when the question clearly asks for the newest annual reports to be used (2010).

In fact a person today cited a source in a discussion posting from echeat dot com.

I value my degree and though its only this one class I feel like its cheapening the validity of my degree if the people get away with it.

Should I mention it to the professor or just leave it alone?

Wow.... that is a difficult question and serious dilemma. If you want to say something, perhaps a subtle comment to the professor rather than direct finger pointing. The prof may already be aware and may have chosen not to do anything about it. If this is the situation (and I hope not!) then you could actually jeopardize your grade by pushing for the teacher to do something about it.

I wouldn't say that it cheapens your degree because it does happen at every school, but it is not a good situation. Kids who really wanted to cheat did so well before the internet was available, it just makes it a little easier now whether you're in an online or B&M setting. Ha - I think the only situation that I can think of where it's almost impossible to cheat is when you're taking a CLEP test!!

Good luck and let us know what you decide..

[marianne202]

I'm sure the teacher knows, at least I hope so. As an online instructor I have had students cut and paste exams answers from online sources with even different colored text and font - talk about obvious cheating. I have had students copy journals and online resources and pass them off as their own. We use turnitin, but honestly some students don't care and some teachers don't even use it. Most schools have students sign plagerism policies but don't enforce them. I would recommend that you drop a note to your instructor and inquire about the plagerism policy being enforced. I wouldn't point fingers, but you can say that you have seen it and wonder how it is enforced. Just keep in mind that if you mention knowing about these types of websites you may open your work up for review, as they may wonder how you know about such sites if you don't use them. The value of your degree isn't diminished unless the school develops a bad reputation for cheating or if they lose their accreditation. Like other's have said this is a fact of life. Some people will find a way to cheat on anything. Just realize that you will value your degree much more than these other people and most likely they will get caught when they can't produce the work in the real world! Congrats on being so close to the end!

[alleycat]

Hopefully the instructor will pick up on it.

[bkahuna]

I think I'll just wait a few more weeks and see if it continues or if the professor notices.

[bkahuna]

Ok so lets do a follow up on this.

The student who did the original post citing echeat dot com, i let that go. Turns out that was the only time that occurred, and I think it was probably because the student had a difficult time finding sources for the topic.

I do have another thing I'll post up about the ethics of online classes once I get my grade in a few days, its still in a pending state.