May 18th, 2006
Colleges Fall Behind in High-Tech Race Against Cheaters
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
In the old days students would try to write answers on their forearms, or pass notes back and forth … or just plain copy from other students. In this era of text messaging, cell phones with cameras and iPods, colleges are struggling to keep up with the new breed of cheaters.
At the journalism school at San Jose State University in California, students tried to use spell checkers on their laptops when part of the exam was designed to test their ability to spell.
And at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, after students photographed test questions with their cellphone cameras, transmitted them to classmates outside the exam room and got the answers back in text messages, the university put in place a new proctoring system.
“If they’d spend as much time studying,” said an exasperated Ron Yasbin, dean of the UNLV College of Sciences, “they’d all be A students.” Source: The New York Times via IHT
We Say: Maybe now they’ll allow cell phone jammers in the U.S. 
I’ve often said it would be great to put a jammer in movie theatres for those folks who don’t get the idea that most people want to watch the movie (and jammers for personal use are legal in many other countries). There are also companies that produce paint that block RF transmissions.
Of course, this is about more than just cell phones. Whatever happened to the old days of the Honor System?
Rob says:
“Whatever happened to the old days of the Honor System?”
Us Americans are to Self Centered/Arrogant/Cant wait to get what is mine NOW NOW NOW NOW to let that happen.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Colleges Fall Behind In High-Tech Race Against Cheaters
Michael Santo of RealTechNews writes: In the old days students would try to write answers on their forearms, or pass notes back and forth… or just plain copy from other students. In this era of text messaging, cell phones with cameras, and iPods, col…
May 19th, 2006 at 2:00 am
Sergio Pereira says:
That’s another example of fighting the effect instead of the cause. Why students feel the need to cheat? List the answers to this question and try to remedy those. It’ll be more effective (and cheaper) in the long run.
May 19th, 2006 at 4:09 am
MissingFrame says:
Yep, it always amazed me someone is paying to learn and then avoids learning.
May 19th, 2006 at 6:53 am
Lewie says:
The fact is, cheating pays. Students can see it in athletes, politicians, journalists and industry executives. A few well publicized trials do nothing to dispel the idea that ethics are for suckers.
May 19th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Al Coholic says:
When I was in college I wrote notes on the inside of my eyelids.
May 19th, 2006 at 8:53 am
Stu Kopelman says:
Once, when information was quantifiable, there was only one school of thought: study hard and pass the test. Then you would be eligible to join the workforce. Today, where information is so abundant, people must use any means to pass the test so that their skills can be discovered in the workplace—the library, if you will, where on-the-job-training is provided with pay. Because job procurement is so competitive today, people have side-stepped ethics to make a buck without realizing that the heart has become bankrupt. Today is a place where reputation—something that is tweaked on the outside so that others cannot see inside—has replaced character, where core values and honesty reside. Therefore cheating means not getting caught instead of doing what is right. Today is all about making others believe that you have good character without actually having any. Since this is no longer a secret but instead a way of life, those in positions of authority simply appoint those who are better liars, better cheaters, better thieves, and better con-artists—those who have adapted and found ways at not getting caught. Once found out however means that suddenly he is guilty of doing what everyone else must now lie about and fiercely deny ever having done themselves. Worse, those in kingly positions are practicers themselves.
Where does it come from? It comes from a naturally degenerate heart that continues to spiral downhill. The only deterrents are establishments such as the law, churches and other public institutions that throw light on an otherwise dark society. Can these institutions change anything? No. The change cannot come from society’s corrupt heart, where corruption is fed to her members, but rather from a source outside and not a part of the corruption. Cheating stops with the individual who is not afraid of the the light and who is concerned with his character rather than his reputation.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:08 am
Victor says:
This reminds me of when my friends are bummed out because they dont get a signal in Science class.
May 21st, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Snopesman says:
There’s always the simple solution — ban cell phones during exams. Ban laptops, too. Anyone caught using either gets an instant F. Just 10 years ago, the vast majority of college students got by without cell phones and wifi. Having a network drop in your room was considered hot stuff. The year before they didn’t even have that!
And for any prof who has a test that requires a laptop (or a cell phone?) — that’s what you get. I thought conscripts, er, graduate students were used to grade the tests anyway?
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:28 am
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May 26th, 2006 at 2:50 pm