Devices Enable Cheating

     Technology is creating new ways for students to cheat on quizzes and exams.  No longer are crib notes and answers written on shirt sleeves necessary for deceptive children.  Phone text messages and multi-media players are now banned in many public schools and institutions of higher learning.  I agree these devices should not be allowed in classrooms during assessments, but they may prove useful for study purposes.  You may remember my post about Grammar Girl.  Her podcasts would have been approved for use by my students!

     Another streamlined device I spotted today might be a cheater's dream.  Check out this pen-sized document scanner.  A clever student may discover a way to forward copies of a quiz or test to a good friend (or paying customer), should they be taking the same assessment at a later date. . .

Comments

[Barbara Madden]

As a high school teacher working in a district which allows students to have personal technology at school as long as it is not used during school hours, I recently mandated "all hands on desk", requiring that I am able to see both of a student's hands on the student's desk during the entire class period. This simple idea has eliminated hoody-texting and purse-texting as well as any of a dozen methods used to illegally communicate during class time via technology and has overwhenlmingly cut down on the number of technology incidents in my classroom.