The Rhodes Guide

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Social media and education … now the dust has settled

Social media and education … now the dust has settled: (2016). Social media and education … now the dust has settled. Learning, Media and Technology: Vol. 41, Social media and education: Now the dust has settled, pp. 1-5. doi: 10.1080/17439884.2015.1115769

American Journal of Distance Education

Friday, February 12, 2016

Cheating and Distance Learning

A few years ago I did some research on the predominance of cheating in higher education. I don’t remember all of the statistics, but the one piece of information that stood out to me was that more than 75% of all college students cheat (75-98% of College Students, 2011). Wait, what?! Yes, you read that right. As a college instructor, this number is startling. Maybe there needs to be a study on the correlation between cheating college students in the medical field and the number of medical mistakes they make.

As many of us in the education field know, cheating comes in all sizes and types. As online education grows, there are added concerns about cheating and ways to prevent academic dishonesty. In the traditional setting, examples of cheating include, cheat sheets on paper, hands, wrists, arms and/or inner thighs. Some simply resort to writing the answers on the desk. According to Zach Oldham of the Campus Chronicle, students also cheat by plagiarizing. Examples of plagiarism include, “buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper, copying from another source without citing (intentionally or by accident), cutting or pasting text or graphics from Internet sources without proper citation, or hiring or asking someone to complete coursework or take a test” (Oldman, 2015, para 30). Over the years, I have heard stories about filing cabinets full of tests in fraternities, stealing tests, and making copies of exams. In modern times, students try to get away with a cell phone in their lap during the exam or listening to audio files with the answers through earbuds while taking the exam. I am sure I haven’t seen a fraction of how resourceful students can be when they are in a program that has competitive enrollment and need an A to get in.

Since distance learning is becoming more and more popular, instructors are faced with the challenge of creating course content that assesses the student in ways that make it difficult for them cheat. To help with this obstacle, tech companies have developed anti-cheating software that is meant to reduce or even eliminate the opportunity to cheat when taking exams online. Before the test date, students are required to download special anti-cheating software. At the start of the test, students verify their identity through webcams and are watched through the live video for the duration of the test. The “live image...in miniature” is present on the computer screen to remind students they are being monitored (Singer, 2015, para 3). There are complaints that these types of safeguards are intrusive and distracting (Singer, 2015). One example is called Proctortrack. The technology is similar to airport security scanning. Algorithms are used to determine if the behavior or movements of the student taking the exam is suspect. If the system recognizes abnormal behavior, it will flag the exam. Proctortrack is referred to as the “world’s first automated remote proctoring solution” (Singer, 2015, para 12).

I have taken many online courses and 90% of the coursework I completed was done at 10:00 at night in my pajamas. The thought of being watched closeup on camera is unsettling to me. I certainly understand the need to police exams and prevent academic dishonesty, but I would rather go to a testing site than be watched on my computer.

The process of relying on a computer to determine if my sneeze or yawn during an exam indicates that I have low integrity is scary to me. I tend to shift my body frequently while taking an exam because I have lower back problems and my legs fall asleep. These programs give the student virtually no freedom during the exam. They can’t look away from the computer, they can’t change facial expressions, they can’t stand up, and they can’t pick up a pencil that rolls off the desk. All of these things will flag the student as having possibly cheated (Singer, 2015). The argument from the universities is that they need to verify the integrity of the program, the degree, and the college brand (Singer, 2015). However, I think the solution would be to allow students to utilize testing sites that don’t want the stress of the computer monitored exam.

In addition to exam monitoring software, colleges also utilize programs that check written papers for plagiarism, such as SafeAssign and Turnitin. This type of software “scans students’ papers for copied passages” (Singer, 2015, para 11). From personal experience, using a system like this is a great help. For all the papers I have written, my top priority has been to not plagiarize. SafeAssign gives the student immediate feedback on what percentage of the paper might be copied. Students can check their paper before submitting it for grading to be sure they are within the college guidelines on plagiarism.

Without a doubt, cheating is a serious problem in colleges. Students are on a quest for the grade and not the knowledge. This fact scares me and it should scare the readers of this blog as well. Having worked in the medical field, I know how important it is to be well educated. Graduates, specifically ones entering the medical field, need to be able to solve complex problems while sleep deprived and stressed. I believe academic dishonesty is just the beginning of a domino effect. If students aren’t prepared for their job, they will make mistakes and in the medical field, that means life or death.

References:

75 to 98 Percent of College Students Have Cheated. (2011, June 29). Retrieved from

http://study.com/articles/75_to_98_Percent_of_College_Students_Have_Cheated.html

Oldham, Z. (2015, December 2). Online learning presents new opportunities for cheating. The

Campus Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.campuschroniclenews.com/?p=1747

Singer, N. (2015). Online Test-Takers Feel Anti-Cheating Software’s Uneasy Glare. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/technology/online-test-takers-feel-anti-cheating-softwares-un

easy-glare.html

Friday, February 5, 2016

Why I Say YES to Online Education

Overview

When I first started college in 1998, I took traditional face-to-face courses. It was the only way I knew how to learn. It was the only type of learning that I had ever experienced. Like most current community college students, I worked full-time, took care of my growing family, and sat through long lecture classes. I finished my Associate’s degree in Allied Health in 2002. I knew that I would not be able to work through a Bachelor’s degree the way I did my Associate’s. I had more obligations with work and family and was not able to devote a dozen hours a week to sitting in a classroom. I settled in with my new career as a Medical Laboratory Technician at the local hospital.

Although I was hearing more and more about online courses, I did not start to research the idea of distance learning until 2012. I heard about a college that offered all the classes I would need in order to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Allied Health. All of my Associate’s credits would transfer and the program was entirely online. I would not have to attend a class each week. I was hesitant. I know myself pretty well and I was afraid I would not be able to stay motivated without someone feeding me the information face-to-face. Apparently the saying is true, if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to succeed. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in 2014 (entirely online) in Allied Health. I learned to make a schedule, keep it, and ask questions. These were all big obstacles for me.

In my opinion, there is no downside to distance learning. I feel that I gave 100% in every part of my education. I am better at what I do because I completing the online Bachelor’s program. However, there are some that believe that distance learning is a sham and that it is a degree that is “paid” for. When I hear people say this, they are reducing the value of the education I received.

What Online Courses Do for the Student

Distance learning taught me to be organized, it taught me to stay focused, and it taught me how to master the concepts that were presented. It also taught me to be self-reliant.

It has been said that online education is the next big thing. It is becoming more and more popular as each semester ends (Fedynich, 2015). There are conflicting opinions about online degree programs. I believe that taking courses online is not for the faint of heart. Students must have the drive and focus to stay on a schedule. Many of the articles I have read outline two specific advantages of e-learning. The first explains that online courses are a sound financial decision for the college. The second, outlines the convenience aspect for students of not having to attend face-to-face instruction (Fedynich, 2015). While these are great examples of why online courses are becoming more popular, I have more to add. Having experienced my entire Bachelor’s program online, I feel that there are plenty of other advantages to online learning that should be mentioned. Specifically, students learn critical thinking skills, how to research, how to analyze, how to communicate effectively, and how complete projects under deadlines. In addition, taking courses online requires students to be familiar with, and sometimes master, certain technologies such as Google Drive, Microsoft Office, the Internet, and other digital applications. These are all real-world skills that some students lack upon graduating college. Although students may learn these things in a traditional college setting, we should not underestimate the power of distance learning.

Some instructors have been able to successfully integrate online learning into their face-to-face courses. Dr. Jose Bowen, Dean of Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of the Arts, explains his idea of teaching naked (Bowen, 2013). Not in the literal sense, but stripping down the classroom lectures to a more interactive and engaging learning experience (Bowen, 2014). “As faculty, if we are primarily concerned with transmitting content, then our value will only decrease. The internet contains a much broader selection of lectures, demonstrations, animations, and examples on more subjects, in more languages, and with a greater variety of approaches, methods, and pedagogies than any professor, department, or even entire university can provide” (Bowen, 2014, pp 18, para 3).

Every semester, there are new ideas and applications being introduced to improve student engagement and retention rates. “The engagement premise is straightforward and easily understood: the more students study a subject, the more they know about it, and the more students practice and get feedback from faculty and staff members on their writing and collaborative problem solving, the deeper they come to understand what they are learning” (Student Engagement, 2014, pp 6, para 2). Distance learning does not necessarily mean a student is learning at a distance. In fact, the instructor and students are able to interact synchronously and asynchronously. Applications, such as Google Drive allow students to collaborate in real-time. These are used in the workplace as well, giving students real-life experience through distance learning.

I should point out that there are different variations of distance learning. College programs have been created that are entirely online. There are also individual courses that are online and there are hybrid courses. The latter of the three has students meeting for 50% of the time face-to-face. This time is used for assessments or laboratories experiments (Distance Learning).

Conclusion

The fact remains, online education is here to stay. The convenience aspect is undeniable. There is definitely a different interaction that happens in a face-to-face course versus the online venue. But there are, in my opinion, more advantages than disadvantages when it comes to taking courses online. Continuing education is more readily available through distance learning.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Online Learning Infographic

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