Abstract:

The Internet has had a dramatic impact in all facets of our lives, from how we communicate to how we perform our jobs. Using the Internet to deliver goods, services, and content has created a paradigm shift in business models and mindsets. As the Internet has changed every industry because of its reach and richness of information, so, too, has it changed education in how content is delivered to students. Today, more and more students are enrolling in online courses because of the flexibility and convenience of having the Internet provide them with the course content. While most faculty agree that using the Internet as a tool for delivering course content may be more convenient for students and provide greater flexibility than teaching in a traditional format, most of these same faculty are concerned about maintaining academic integrity in these Internet courses. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate what measures of academic integrity are being used, if any, by faculty who teach online courses. In this fast-paced world, many students have learned to become multi-taskers out of necessity, juggling work, school, and family responsibilities. In this context, students might be tempted to take "short cuts" when completing assignments or taking exams in online courses. "Short cuts" translate into unethical behavior. Examples of unethical behavior would be copying another student’s homework assignment, having someone else take his or her online exam, plagiarizing assignments, and so forth. Campuses offering these online courses may have ways to prevent these situations from occurring. Schools and instructors can establish preventative measures to ensure academic honesty in the online courses they offer. In this research project, instructors who taught at least one online course were surveyed about the types of academic integrity techniques, if any, that were used in their courses. This research focused on the types of hardware, software, and other techniques that were being used in online courses. Issues such as cost, availability, accessibility, and other issues were considered during the compilation of the final report. A recommendation was then offered as to which techniques were the best and most practical for maintaining the academic integrity of online courses.

Keywords:

Academic integrity techniques, online courses, unethical behavior.