Using Technology To Cheat
...an excellent aid to students when writing and preparing papers. For instance, Microsoft Word, a universal software with a myriad of fonts to choose from, a help menu that assists in constructing margins and setting up formats, and a simple imbedded capability to transfer data and attach files to the Internet, has been a useful tool for writing and transferring a paper to the professor for drafting, review, and final copies. Additionally, the Internet has become a good source for gathering information and utilizing reliable sources to present evidence to support thesis statements. However, along with the advantages, there have been several abuses of technology that have made it easy for students to cheat and more difficult for professors to catch them cheating, one of the reasons that student cheat is that they want to conserve energy, to put it politely. They’re willing to take a chance, and will put the risk of getting caught against the leisure of not doing any work, especially if the risk seems low (Interview with Dr. Christopher DiCarlo, 2008).
How and Why Students Cheat
Dr. DiCarlo lists some key reasons why students are willing to cheat: lack of research and information literacy skills, ignorance of plagiarism, confusion about citing sources, careless notetaking, and pressure to get good grades. In a nutshell, students do not want to take the effort to work hard or seek assistance to make sure they are learning correctly. They’d rather let someone else do their papers and take credit for the grades, especially if they don’t believe the content of the assignment they are supposed to complete on their own will give them useful skills in their current or future profession.
According to research conducted by the University of Alberta, some of the types of cheating that students perform include: plagiarism (intentional or...
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