Academic Dishonesty Prevention in E-learning University System

Abstract

This article shows the ways of prevention academic dishonesty in e-learning. We reveal this phenomenon as a complex social notion in the context of the sociology of communication and the Internet and educational data mining. The main categories of academic dishonesty are considered in the paper: cheating, plagiarism and collusion. Cheating is shown in details because it is associated with the tests during the e-learning course. The authors carried out a substantial analysis of academic dishonesty in e-learning and it’s prevention using more than 50 examples covering the experience of various countries and higher education systems. The most interesting case shows measures preventing extension for Google Chrome PolyTestHelper. The main conclusion of the study proves the priority of preventive measures. It is obvious that the problem of cheating cannot be solved purely technically, since a technical war can last forever. At the present stage of information and communication technologies widespread usage a situation of prohibition or significant restrictions in e-learning environment may seem contrived to students. False results of anti-cheat programs can seriously undermine the trust between students and teachers. The ideal way to prevent academic dishonesty is to perform tasks including creative academic elements. Nevertheless, this way is not universal because these are mass courses with a regular enrollment of several thousand students, with a fully automatic verification of academic results.