Why the hottest trend in online education already has a cheating problem

[n2doc]

By JAMES LANG

In August of 2012, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a story about a baffling phenomenon in the world of online higher education: students in a non-credit bearing MOOC (massive open online course) were cheating on the written assignments. The honest students complained about the plagiarized work they were seeing from their peers; in response the professor teaching the course gave a stern written lecture on academic dishonesty.

But the incident raised a question that educational theorists and cheating scholars have been puzzling over since: Why would a student cheat in a course in which they voluntarily enrolled, and for which they earn no tangible rewards? Jonathan Haber, a blogger documenting his efforts to earn the equivalent of a four-year college degree with a year’s worth of MOOCs, wrote that “during a period when MOOCs still carry uncertain external value, behaving dishonestly makes no practical sense (especially since students who can’t keep up with the work have other alternatives—such as simply dropping the course—an option that carries little to no social stigma).”

We should not jump too hastily to the conclusion that MOOCs carry no real stakes.

Composition theorist and plagiarism researcher Rebecca Moore Howard points out that stakes do in fact exist for some MOOCs, even if they do not come in the form of college credit: “There actually are stakes for students in non-credit-bearing MOOCs, in that Coursera and other proprietors actually connect successful students with prospective employers.”

more

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/lang-MOOC-cheating-online-education/?curator=MediaREDEF

[Ka hrnt]

1. No (big) surprise...

I suspect there's rampant cheating in online classes; it's bad enough in the high schools. You practically need a cell phone jammer to prevent cheating these days.

[Goblinmonger]

7. Or create assignments

where they cannot just look up the answer. Multiple choice tests are generally bullshit anyway. I write assignments that can't just be Googled. Can't plagiarize and it's better for their critical thinking and assesses their knowledge better. If you're a shitty teacher that just gives MC tests or asks "what's the theme of Huck Finn" then, in my opinion, you give up the right to complain about kids just "phoning" it in because that's what you're doing.

[mbperrin]

2. Students cheat and have always cheated in all venues.

Time will take care of them. If they don't have the knowledge, they can't do the jobs their degrees say they should. They will end up jobless and lonely, as befits cheaters.

[warrant46]

3. Not always

There are lots of unqualified dunces with jobs

Just look at Bush 43

[mbperrin]

5. He didn't cheat. He has the correct (wealthy and powerful) DNA.

That's a pass anytime in this country.

If you look closely, the rest are the same, except those who actually will wash out.

Thanks for your post!

[warrant46]

6. I stand corrected

Thank you, although I still think few people fudged for him.

How he could possibly write a paragraph baffles me ?

[BadgerKid]

4. MOOCs have great potential.

They could level the playing field of learning to some extent: if you can't afford $1000s per year at school, learn from the internet on your own. Lots of people have internet access, except for possibly people in the lower income brackets.

I know the instructors for one of the science courses. They teach some basic tools and concepts -- nothing that readily translates directly into employment.

I wonder if the jobs claimed here are more so a result of the employer's perception of the candidate's drive to self-educate, etc. I wouldn't rule out considering hiring someone who had MOOCs who also had relevant hands-on experience.