Can Online Classes Tell If You Cheat? Here’s The Answer
Online college cheating has been an issue of concern in the past few years. With the proliferation of the internet, college and university students have taken advantage of this tool. Professors and university administrators are getting worried about the credibility of college exams, especially those administered online. But how did students get here, and what are the consequences of cheating in online courses? Scroll down.
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What Is Online Class Cheat?
It refers to any unethical or dishonest means of attaining top grades without following the laid down procedure. Online cheaters employ tricks or methods that the college or university does not accept. As a result, they end up using shortcuts to climb the ladder to success.
Some students get away with this; some are ‘unlucky’ and get caught in the process. The latter are unlucky and may end up facing the disciplinary committee. Trust me; this is not a place anyone would like to be in, mainly in your final year. The consequences are detrimental, as we will see later in this informative article.
What Is Considered Cheating On A Test?
Over the years, cheating has advanced, and some of the ways we will highlight here might surprise you. Students have become more innovative and bypassed the initial tricks of cheating. Some of the methods highlighted here may be outdated, while others are new.
Here are some of them:
- Failing to follow exam instructions: Every exam booklet comes with a set of instructions. If students fail to uphold any of these, it may be considered cheating. Some of these instructions may include not carrying some materials into the exam room.
- Copying from a friend: Exams should be by an individual without consulting a friend or tutor in the exam room. When students peep what their colleagues are writing or ask for answers in the test, it is cheating.
- Looking for college test answers online: Students who carry their phones to an exam room and use them to Google answers cheat online. They should instead think critically on their own and write responses from the head.
These are but a few of the several ways in which academy students cheat. Others may include carrying foreign materials to the exam room, using writing help online, and asking someone else to sit your paper for you.
Why Do People Cheat On Tests?
There are numerous reasons why students may decide to use shortcuts to success. Some may be genuine, while others do not add up at all. However, genuine ones should not be an excuse for not being honest in finding answers for their tests. Let us explore some of the reasons and judge for yourself whether students should use them or not:
- Falling sick on the eve of the exam day: People use this as an excuse for not revising for their exams, therefore, preferring to cheat instead.
- General laziness: Some students are lazy and thus cheat in every test regardless of its difficulty level. These have ‘advanced’ cheating techniques for every test.
- Pressure to perform: Students always face the pressure to perform from their parents and teachers. When they see that they can’t achieve this on their own, they opt to cheat.
- The online classes result from COVID-19: Due to the minimum supervision on such tests, students get the temptation to cheat, unlike the physical ones.
Looking at the reasons above, you can tell that cheating should not necessarily be an option for a focused student. Nonetheless, it is an addictive trait that most students find difficult to leave.
How To Cheat On Online Tests
Cheating on online tests has become one of the most straightforward ventures. However, the various sites offering online tests have continued to up their game to curb this behavior among students. Numerous ways exist on how students can comfortably cheat on online tests without getting caught: They include:
- Use the latest artificial intelligence technologies: They are crucial in bypassing most of the site’s security measures offering the online test.
- Use an online tutor: This will help you crack the difficult questions from a remote location. They can either impersonate you or give you answers directly through a particular channel.
- Using a cheat sheet: It includes pre-written lists of formulas, equations, or short definitions of various concepts. They should be on a paper that will not be seen by the supervisor or webcam.
- Hack the particular site: If you are an IT guru, you can hack the site offering the online test and get the answers for yourself. It is a risky affair though its returns are great!
When you use any of the methods above, you may get away with cheating. However, most cheaters caught online are victims of using some of the ways outlined above. Therefore, you ought to be careful so that you don’t end up on the losing end.
Can Online Courses Detect Cheating?
As we slightly hinted at earlier, most online sites are coming up to counter various cheating tricks. Most of the developers of these online sites are former ‘cheaters’ and thus know some of the schemes.
Online sites such as MathXL and MyMathLab have developed stringent security measures to ensure students do not cheat. While some of these measures are easy to bypass by students, some are still hard to crack. Look at the discussion below on how various online sites detect cheating:
- Through a webcam: Most of these online tests have a webcam to detect any malpractices in the trial. The webcam can capture the student’s body and eye movements. It can single out any suspicious activity.
- Using screen record: MyMathLab has a screen record feature that tracks every activity on your desktop during the test. If a student tries to Google the answers, this particular feature will let the instructor know and thus act accordingly.
- Through audio sensors and recorders: This feature can capture any sound during the online test. Therefore if a student poses the questions to another person verbally, the supervisor will know.
- Provision of a student ID: The essence of this is to ensure that you are the one completing your test and not an impersonator. These allow for only one login option, and multiple users cannot log in while the test is ongoing.
- The Anti-copy/paste security feature: It prevents students from copying and pasting answers from somewhere else. This feature is mainly for sites that allow students to open other tabs during the test.
- Facial detection technologies help ensure that you are doing the test from the beginning to the end. This technology can easily detect when another person comes in to complete an exam.
Therefore, students should be extra careful when attempting to cheat on online classes. Remember that technologies are advancing daily, and thus, every new trick can be countered easily by these sites.
My Teacher Thinks I Cheated: What Should I do?
Cheating amounts to one of the gross misconducts in any learning institution – students may face severe penalties such as suspension or expulsion with a wrong recommendation letter from the institution. It may deny you various opportunities in the future, including job opportunities.
Therefore, when your teacher suspects you of cheating, here is what you should do:
- Tell the truth: If it is indeed true that you were cheating and you were caught red-handed, own up to your mistake. It will save you many consequences, and if the teacher is understanding, you may receive a pardon.
- Maintain one story to the end: If you are good at words, you can maintain that you did not cheat to the end. However, it can only be possible where there is no evidence to convict you. Remember that contradicting statements can also make the teacher suspect you all the more.
- Get rid of any evidence: If you still have the proof, you should do away with it ASAP! It might land you in deep trouble if you caught with it.
However, there is no guarantee that you can get away when caught. Instead, you can get help from our online class takers to score top grades fast!
Frequently Asked Questions About Cheating
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Can Edgenuity detect cheating?
Yes, it uses security features such as cameras and audio sensors to curb any forms of malpractice during the test.
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Can blackboard tell if you cheat?
Certainly yes! With its advanced two-factor authentication and Geotagging feature, it can easily detect cheating.
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Can you get caught cheating on canvas?
Yes! It used the restricted access option to prevent multiple logins from the same account during the test.
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What to do if you get caught cheating on a test
Remain calm and do not show any suspicious signs. Resisting and denying may get you into trouble.
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Can McGraw Hill Connect detect cheating?
Yes! It employs various screen record features to track your activity during the online test.
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Can Online School track your computer?
Yes! With its Geotagging feature, it can detect where your computer is to detect cheating.
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What to do if a professor accused you of cheating on a test
Accepting that you are guilty may be a good starting point. It may get you less punishment, unlike when you deny it.
