cheating is possible
With on line education, it is much easier to get help with assignments, a nice feature is to have exams and quizzes time sensative, so it makes it more difficult to get extra help.
Good point James. Would you use the same time limit or would various course have different time limits?
For a performance based learning style, exams and quizzes are used less. Only if there is a requirement for testing such as certifications or other governmental requirements would exams and quizzes be appropriate. This cuts down on extra help. Of course in an online environment we assume the person actually does the work; a proxy or ghost writer would be nearly impossible to detect just as in an on ground course. The issue with cheating is as effective as having the police everywhere to monitor everyone. There will always be loopholes and the best we can do is provide enough due diligence to narrow the opportunities.
A thought I had about thwarting cheating is to incorporate assessment of comprehension during the process of the learning activity.
In the face-to-face classroom I use a Socratic sequence of questioning that controls the pace of progress of the "lecture" according to the mutual agreement between myself and the students that understanding of a topic has been achieved.
In an online environment this is possible if the audio software allows Questions to pause the presentation until the student responds with an appropriate click.
On a web page I've tried hidden dynamic html feedback that flies onto the page after the student has had a chance to ponder a question posed during a sequence of concept development.
Thirdly, randomized questions are hard to generate (like a math equation with varying numerical coefficients) and hard to confirm correct responses, but technology is getting closer to allowing this to be done "on the fly". Moodle Rooms allows the creation of such quiz questions by a clever instructor!
I have often pondered how in teaching an online class do I actually know who is submitting the information. How can technology like skyp be used to proctor classes. Is this being used anywhere? What are studies saying about this use of Ghost writers or students.
