The Cheating Debate

Every year eLearning/ITC hosts a somewhat formal debate on a burning issue in the area of distance learning. Last year was Blackboard vs. Moodle. This year the argued statement was "cheating is rampant in distance learning courses."

There was an overwhelming consensus that cheating is not such a big deal. The arguments against the claim really focused on the word "rampant" which he took to mean "unchecked and widespread." This allowed him to focus less on whether or not it existed, but how much everyone was already doing about it. The message was that it's there, as it always has been, and we are dealing with it.

I did find one argument presented by the against side compelling. He claimed software like Turn-It-In created a culture of cheating and is ultimately illegal. We value, and pay for, a service that asks us to publish our students papers without their permission. It's interesting. I wonder if any student has thought to file suit, or if institutions have sought blanket permission from students.