It Is Shockingly Easy to Cheat San Diego Unified’s Online Courses
Across the district, online courses are enabling thousands of students to get caught up on classes they previously failed. But students also have access to the web as they take quizzes and tests, making it possible to find answers to the exact questions that appear on tests.
Teachers and principals say they’re virtually powerless to stop it.
Googling answers in real time as you take a test. Letting online lectures play on mute while you watch a movie instead. Typing in random letters and numbers as answers and receiving credit.
Those are all moves students and educators told me happen regularly in San Diego Unified’s online credit recovery courses.
On a recent visit to East Village High School, I even watched some of them do it.
There, I saw students Google quiz questions from their online courses and pull up websites where other students have uploaded answers. I saw one student type gobbledygook where short answers were supposed to go – and watched as the computer marked the answer as complete. And I talked with students who said everybody is doing it – whether it’s an online course offered by San Diego Unified or a charter school that offers similar online classes.
“Everyone is cheating. Left and right. Up and down. No matter where you are, someone is cheating. That’s a given,” said Daniel Martinez III, a senior at East Village High School.
Across the district, online courses are enabling thousands of students to get caught up on classes they previously failed – sometimes in a matter of days. But students also have access to the web as they take quizzes and tests, making it possible to find answers to the exact questions that appear on tests.
Teachers and principals – both at East Village High, two other district high schools and a charter school – say they’re virtually powerless to stop it. In theory, instructors can monitor students’ computers as they complete coursework, making sure they’re not Googling answers to tests or quizzes. But because students can complete coursework and tests from home or anywhere else they find internet, it’s impossible for teachers to crack down on cheating that happens outside of school.
District officials have pointed to the fact the courses are vetted and approved by the University of California for rigor. But by students’ own accounts, lack of rigor isn’t the problem. It’s how easy they are to game.
Cheating is as simple as opening a second computer window, Googling quiz questions verbatim, then finding the exact answers that others have downloaded to websites designed to help students See How Easy It Is To Cheat on San Diego Unified Online Courses:
