Online Classes: A+ Guaranteed?

Gabriel Garza

It would be obvious to think that in online classes, students are more likely to cheat. Believe it or not, there are studies that prove that this does not happen every time.

As the article Cheating and Online Classes states: "...the possibility of cheating seems to be much greater. The Internet is an invaluable tool, and the answers to almost any question can be found there. Since students are not physically inside a classroom but rather are at home with no one to look over their shoulder, the issue of cheating has become one of great attention." It is normal to distrust a college student who has opportunities like this. This is a very important aspect because in every institution, there exists an Honor Code. Cheating, whether caught or not, disrupts the integrity of the student.

A new study that is mentioned in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, contradicts the perception that cheating is more widespread in online classes. It states that the results show that "students in virtual courses were less likely to cheat than their face-to-face peers". Besides contributing to academic integrity, this study makes an advance in the fulfillment of the Higher Education Opportunity Act which states that "accreditors are required to monitor steps that colleges take to verify that an enrolled student is the same person who does the course work".

It is important that colleges emphasize in this issue so that more and more students taking online courses show integrity and receive legitimate credits for their courses.