Cheating and dishonesty of students is a problem that plagued teachers since the beginning of formal education, and it seems that it will continue to do so for centuries. This particular problem turned out to be surprisingly persistent and difficult to overcome. Fortunately, the advent of new technologies provides us with a number of useful functions and mechanisms that can help teachers and instructors combat this problem as long as they are willing to implement them.

To answer the question of how eLearning software can help us eliminate, or at least decrease, the number of cheating cases in any particular exam situation, we must first understand its causes and the circumstances that facilitate it. In short, we must analyze how and why it happens.

How do students cheat on exams?

Today’s teachers and examiners have to deal with more ingenious and diverse deception tactics than ever before. Some students still rely on traditional, time-tested methods, such as writing crib notes and hiding them on their person, sometimes even in intimate places to prevent examiners from checking. Others have embraced the wonders of the information age and found new and wonderfully devious ways to cheat. A thread on social media Quora revealed some of the ingenious ways students, in search of the highest grades, use to cheat on exams. Invisible ink, hollowed out pens, writing responses on the inside of water bottle labels are some of the crudest ideas. Among the more sophisticated are printing a water bottle label design and replacing the original text with cribs, flesh-colored headphones that are virtually invisible unless you’re in close proximity, and memory-enabled calculators. On top of all that, smart phones and watches with wireless internet access give students all the information they need to pass an exam.

One of the most extreme examples has been reported by The Telegraph, in May 2016. Arthit Ourairat, Rector of Rangsit University, Thailand, announced that some 3,000 students would have to retake the entrance exam since sophisticated devices were discovered. cheating. Namely, three students had glasses with built-in wireless cameras that they used to take photos of the test and send them to a group of conspirators, who then sent responses to their smart watches.

Why do students cheat?

Students face serious consequences if they are caught cheating, at best they instantly fail the test; in the worst case, they could be expelled. Yet research indicates that a staggering 60-70% of college students admit to cheating. One has to wonder why someone would go out of their way and risk serious penalties when all that time and effort could be invested in learning. The answer is simple; There is an inherent flaw in our educational system that evolved to emphasize the importance of high grades rather than actual learning. Both students and teachers feel that one’s entire future depends on their GPA, while the learning process has taken a back seat. Students no longer study to acquire knowledge about the subject; they learn to pass tests. The goal of tests is no longer to evaluate one’s progress, but rather that passing a test has become a goal in itself. When students adopt this mindset, it is easy to see why they are ready to do whatever it takes to pass the test, especially if they feel desperate or abandoned.

Changing the way we view grades and tests is the only way to eliminate cheating entirely. Changing everyone’s perspective on testing is crucial, but it would be a long and arduous process, so let’s see what can be done right now.

How to avoid cheating during class exams?

Cheating and dishonesty of students is a problem that plagued teachers since the beginning of formal education, and it seems that it will continue to do so for centuries. This particular problem turned out to be surprisingly persistent and difficult to overcome. Fortunately, the advent of new technologies provides us with a number of useful functions and mechanisms that can help teachers and instructors combat this problem as long as they are willing to implement them.

To answer the question of how eLearning software can help us eliminate, or at least decrease, the number of cheating cases in any particular exam situation, we must first understand its causes and the circumstances that facilitate it. In short, we must analyze how and why it happens.

Enter the elearning software

The effectiveness of eLearning software depends on the level of measures implemented, but in general it has a number of advantages over the traditional approach. Most of the benefits have to do with the efficiency and economy of eLearning systems. Creating virtual learning environments, lesson discussion forums, providing students with immediate feedback and statistics on their courses enables both a synchronous and asynchronous learning experience, allowing everyone to study at their own pace. This could potentially neutralize the urge to pass a test and make cheats completely out of date. Most importantly, scoring is much faster in this regard, since everything is done electronically, which means that the probability of human error is also much lower.

In the market you can find a couple of good virtual learning environments with features like test generator, response generator, limited access to specific IP addresses. But only some of them have built-in features, such as the Complex Problem Processor, a unique, programmable feature for creating questions using coding. You can also connect to external sources and APIs and use their data to generate unique problem types. One of those VLEs is Classroom 2020.