Students in the current generation now have information available at their fingertips. Smart phones, computers, and portable electronic devices allow students to grasp information almost instantaneously. In my classroom, I promote collaboration and academic conversation. I teach my students how to converse about content and work together to achieve a goal. I try to instill a personal sense of pride within my students, to not have one student take on a larger workload then another, but to help others in areas where support is needed. I model how one should not just “tell” an answer to another student, but how to scaffold knowledge on a first grade level. As educators, we promote collaboration, because the world we live in requires strong speaking, listening, and communication skills. We promote technology literacy, because of the trends in the 21st Century. There is a fine line of assessing “cheating” at times, because collaboration is often encouraged. I think it is important to train students to be hardworking, high achievers who know how to separate what needs to be done independently for personal knowledge demonstration, and what needs to be done with others.
In relation to online learning, many of the same principles apply for teachers. It is important to promote group work and collaboration, but one must design courses to include an independent component to assess individual knowledge. This is why Synchronous and asynchronous discussions are beneficial; students can see others’ authentic perspectives and have intelligent conversations on topics. These types of varied assessment approaches help ensure authentic work. To ensure that “cheating” is not a factor in an online class, an instructor should promote collaboration with each other as well as themselves so that students do not feel like they need to resort to cheating. The instructor should state explicit expectations for students, so students have an understanding that cheating is not tolerable. If this is clearly stated on the syllabus, with course procedures and school policies regarding cheating, students will better understand that honesty is valued and likely not be as compelled to cheat. After creating an Academic Honesty Statement, teachers should create an Acceptable Use Policy to ensure students have an understanding of their expectations regarding proper technology use. They can even create a “quiz” or a “reflection” on these components of the syllabus at the beginning of a course to ensure that this area is not overlooked. Teachers should place responsibility on students, requiring many checkpoints on assignments. If a teacher is constantly discussing a draft with a student, they can see the student’s progress along the way and ensure the work is authentic. Although I teach in primary grades, where students are just getting used to online learning, I know many of the principles I apply in my classroom to obtain authentic work can apply in an online classroom.