You join your Microsoft Teams call and suddenly realize that you forgot there was a test today in one of your classes. Instead of the usual panic you would feel in a physical classroom, you simply pull out your cellular device to give you a helpful hand.
Schools across the globe have transferred to eLearning due to the ongoing pandemic, burdening teachers with the disadvantage of not being present in class with their students. Due to being at home instead of in a classroom, students have increased accessibility to technology that they can use to unfairly benefit them on their assignments or assessments.
As a result of this distanced setting, teachers are unable to prevent their students from cheating or participating in any misconduct. The obstacles of not being able to see what their students' computer activities are and what they are up to have contributed to some teachers already noticing that some students’ work is uncredible.
“I have found some students sharing the same work and submitting [them] onto Canvas,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School drama teacher Melody Herzfeld said.
Herzfeld is just one of many teachers who have noticed students completing their work in a dishonest manner. As a whole, various teachers are under the impression that students no longer have an interest in thoroughly learning the material, but simply in ensuring that they receive a good grade.
“When I give standard exams, I have found that students are not doing well even when it's open book and done through an online testing site,” Herzfeld said. “It’s actually kind of surprising as students have been given more opportunities to succeed. The general feel for success has been lackluster, almost like giving up.”
It is a trend that academic dishonesty is often accentuated when test dates come around, as the results often do not reflect the grades of the classwork.
“I try not to take it personally but when students cheat, it is essentially an admission of ‘I don’t care about your class’ and ‘I don’t respect you enough to be honest with you,’” English teacher Sarah Howell said.
Howell has experienced many cases of cheating over her years of teaching from both her regular and AP classes, and now makes it a priority to speak with her students about dishonesty and the credibility of their work.
“I frequently talk to my students about cheating in all forms, from looking up answers to plagiarism,” Howell said. “I've explained to them how they are just hurting themselves and that if they put in the work, there is no need to cheat.”
With online school giving students more opportunities to cheat, teachers are questioning if eLearning is benefiting their students academically.
“Students are benefiting from eLearning because it is better than nothing,” U.S. History teacher Matthew Wargo said. “However, eLearning does not even come close to in-person learning. Students have less distractions and are more focused in school compared to at home in front of a screen.”
As cheating has greatly increased throughout this school year, many teachers are concerned that students are not comprehending the material as they would do in a physical school environment, which is essential for succeeding in end of the year and AP classes.
“For my class specifically, it concerns me knowing that students are more inclined to take the easy way out and share answers with one another, especially when my students have to take a high stakes EOC at the end of the year,” Wargo said. “My colleagues and I are already preparing for doing extra review this semester before the EOC because we know that students have not gotten the same comprehension and understanding of the content as they would in school.”
With concerns continuing to rise, students will have to decide for themselves if they should complete their work credibly or dishonestly, knowing that they will eventually be tested on the information.
“I noticed myself [getting] the urges of cheating and [using] other resources that could be used, which causes studying to be unnecessary,” sophomore Mya Ryan said. “Personally, I have not used these external resources; however, it’s obvious that online school does form a gap in academic honesty.”
Being aware of the temptations that come with eLearning, students are prepared to face this school year’s challenges, whether it is assignments or big exams such as EOCs and AP tests. The continuation of submitting dishonest work and having a lack of drive could cause a negative outcome to this school year.