Here are some faculty voices on online verification:
Just as with any rule, regulation, or policy, those determined can find a way around it. Identification and accountability with the means we have available sounds like an appropriate starting point. This may be incredibly simplistic, but can the student who is registered for the course sign a contract of authenticity and adherence to honest identification. There are those who may try to find a way to cheat this, but at least if they are found out would be held accountable.
Judy G.
I basically agree with everything Chris, Constance and Dori have said so far. As they have said, I form surprisingly god connections with my online students, and in some ways feel closer to them than my on-campus students. I also make a point of asking them to write up a short bio and submit a photo so that they feel as if they are indeed part of an online community.
If a student were to decide to have someone else “pose” as the registered student throughout the entire semester, I would probably not be aware of it. Given the number of response papers, formal papers, midterm and final exam that are required for my online courses, such a poser would have to be a very good friend indeed to do so much work. I also don’t have the personal contact/direct supervision online that I have in a classroom. In other words, if someone were committed to cheating and cheating well, they could probably do it. But I don’t consider such long-term, committed identity masquerading to be a major concern in my classes.
On the other hand, I actually find it much easier to check for the more typical, garden variety cheating in online classes–i.e., plagiarism. Collecting texts electronically makes it very easy to check for plagiarized work.
Not coincidentally, there is a NERCOMP event about Academic Integrity Online coming up in Norwood in mid-November. Perhaps one or more of us could attend to come up with a bit more of a plan?
Chuck P.
I don’t think that with the current system we can verify that the person on the other end is the person registered for the course. To go one step further we don’t verify the person sitting in our courses is who they say either. We just put our faith in the integrity of the student.
Ultimately, what we will probably be forced to do for online students is use testing centers whether private or at BCC and verifying the students identity with a drivers license not unlike when someone takes the SAT, GMAT or GRE exams to name a few. It would also be a good idea also to have students presents their student ID or driver’s license when they submit exams in physical courses also. This way we know the person taking the exams is the person earning the grade.
Greg P.
I agree that this is an important topic and I’m thankful for the chance to comment… forgive my wordiness below (more than you asked for I know). I can’t offer a concise answer such as “I use a retina scan” or “I check their ID’s at an on-campus meeting” – but I feel that I do in fact have ways. Read on.
To answer your followup question below: I don’t know with certainty – my point is that it is no different in on-campus courses. In face-to-face courses, I read from the roster on the first day of class, the student says “here” and I mark them present – hardly maximum security. I don’t understand why distance courses are singled out as problematic for student identification when the problem is just as real for all classes. Why isn’t the discussion rather about how we need to confirm identities of students in all classes?
I think part of the problem stems from the fact that we find it hard to imagine someone being willing to sit in for a student and come to class two or three days a week throughout the course of a whole semester, and I agree that is unlikely. However, in an interactive online course, which required students to be logged in and participating several times a week throughout the semester, it is equally unlikely that someone would be willing to sit in for that duration (participate in ongoing discussion forums, take weekly quizzes, write 15 page midterm and final exams).
In other words, if one views online courses as a kind of hi-tech correspondence course in which students do the reading and then take a couple of tests, I agree that identity confirmation would be a problem. However, that is not what most online courses are… In a properly designed online course, a person would have to commit to four months of “sitting in” for the student, just as they would in an on campus course, rather than just taking a couple of tests.
Chris L.
I take the same measures (or lack thereof) in my online courses that I take in my on-campus courses. I do not ask for ID in my on-campus courses or in my online courses. Unless I know a student in my on-campus course from previous encounters, I do not know whether the student is he or she claims to be.
However, I should add that in many respects I get to know my online students better (personality and personal history, writing style, skill level), due to the constant individual and collective contact via email and discussion forums. It is actually EASIER for a student to “be anonymous” and “hide” a bit in an on-campus lecture course with 32 students.
Not quite what you asked, perhaps, but I hope it is helpful nonetheless. I am curious about what other online instructors say…
Chris L.
My best response is that the students registered in Blackboard are from Webadvisor, and so the name is associated with the student ID. But, could a totally other person take over from the registered student once they have logged in and do the online work for them? Yes, we have no system to prevent this. In an on-campus class, it’s the same deal. If, from day 1, a substitute person took the class in place of the person who registered, we wouldn’t know would we? I don’t think anyone checks IDs in class… but the gov’t has mandated some ID system pretty soon for online; I don’t think it’s mandatory yet.
Dori D.
I agree with Chris that you get to know the student in your online course from writing style and personal contact – I do call students, they do call me, etc. In all of my online courses I have a face-to-face first meeting with students who log in with the ID number given them during registration and then follow-up with an initial assignment. In Communication Courses (there are 2) the students come on campus again to give their individual oral presentations to me.
Who is doing the work is a good question which could also be asked of on-campus students who submit papers.
I hope this helps.
Constance B.
