CHEATING AMONG STUDENTS IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY : SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS VIEWS IN ILORIN SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ILORIN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Cheating in this digital age is becoming rampant. Students use the internet to purchase papers, cut and paste informations, and send instant message to their friends for sharing home work. This study examined cheating among students in the age of digital technology: views of secondary school students in Ilorin south local government, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study was limited to ten (10) schools in Ilorin south local government, a total of one hundred and fifty (150) students were involved in the study. Questionnaire was the major instrument used to gather relevant data. A total number of one hundred and fifty students were involved in the study. Thus 150 copies of questionnaire were administered. The data collected were analyzed using frequency count and simple percentage. Results revealed amongst others that: 66.7% indicated that the use of Bluetooth to cheat in examination was not new to them. 67.3% of students said some people used phones with the aim of cheating in examination. 93.3% of them said students used to swap text messages through cell phones. This means that the chance of cheating with text answers was very high. 88% agreed that data could be stored on programmable calculator just to cheat in examination hall. In addition, 94.7% agreed that Global Communication System (GSM) can be used to cheat in examination halls.
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made among others; Basic infrastructural facilities should be made available to intensify the interest of students in learning and usage of mobile technology equipments in an educational way. Secondary school students should be aware of possible penalties and sanctions against those involved in electronic cheating before, during and after examinations. Also, the issue of too much emphasis on grade should be addressed by government.