Stop distance-learning cheaters

Congress is well along in its revision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 with the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (HR 4137), which passed 354-58 in the House and is now in a Senate committee. As planned, the legislation gives the distance learning business a boost. It specifically calls for "developing and improving facilities for Internet and other distance learning technologies."

That's the good news. The bad news, according to researchers from Troy University, distance-learning students cheat (no startling news there; they also cheat in the classroom), but they have more tools to cheat with.

One underhanded method used by unethical distance learners is to pay proxies to take their tests. Many distance learning operations rely on a Web cam to show a remote proctor that the right student is sitting behind the computer taking the exam.

However, claims Matt Shanahan, senior vice president of marketing and strategy with AdmitOne Security Inc. (formerly BioPassword) in Issaquah, Wash., using one method to verify a user's identity is inconclusive. For example, with a wireless remote keyboard, having a proxy nearby offscreen is simple to do.

Shanahan argues you need a multi-factor approach to prove the student taking the test is actually doing so and doing so in the location you expect him to be in. Needless to say, AdmitOne's software can do both by using advanced techniques to determine a person's unique typing patterns and the ability to track an originating IP address's physical location.

But self-interest aside, Shanahan contends that if a university's or certification organization's online operations get a reputation for being lax on cheaters, they put their reputation at risk and can easily lose students.

"The switching costs from one school to another are low," he says, noting students don't have to move to attend a more reputable distance-learning institution.

Shanahan even envisions online blacklists of schools that don't meet rigorous standards in everything from class content to how well they screen out cheaters.

Indeed, HR 4137 calls for a single content standard for both distance learning and on-campus coursework. And it authorizes the Secretary of Education to investigate distance learning organizations to assure that the course credits and certifications students earn are equal.

Keeping a sharp on eye cheaters is a good step on that path.