The Assault on Academic Integrity
Through the Internet and Social
Media
Michael DiDiego
Draft Personal Research Opinion Paper
Wilmington University
May 18, 2017
Figure 1 The Dewitt-Clinton, One of the Earliest Railroad Carriages
(The Dewitt Clinton, 2017)
Prelude
• The computer with the information age has
arrived in the station. Whether we like it or
not we may be going down the tracks with it
even though our destination may be still
unknown. We are all in the mist of the
information age.
THE
ASSAULT ON
ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY
Do You Know?
• Data is traveling fast. Specifically, it can travel
at data transfer rates of 1 to 10 gigabytes per
second (gbps). Just think how quickly we can
browse the internet to find a question’s
answer. Do you know when such a search by a
student is cheating?
THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA
PRESENTATION MODULES

INTEGRITY PERSPECTIVE (paper pages 6 – 12)

ETHICAL DILEMMA (12-15)

THE SITES (15-21)

SOLUTIONS (21-27)
INTEGRITY PERSPECTIVE BASICS
 VISION
OF INTEGRITY
 ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY SITE
 INTEGRITY
DISPLACED
EDUCATOR
• Grading Assessment
EDUCATOR & SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL
• Common Concern Integrity of Data
• Checking information (data) • Information System & Control
Association
• Evaluating Data for Results • (ISACA)
• Verifying Data’s Veracity
• Share Insight for Solutions
Next ---Vision of Integrity
“We are
committed to being a university where respect for
each other is
paramount, integrity guides all our choices, providing
educational opportunity
is our primary purpose, and responsiveness to community
needs is key”
(Wilmington University Mission, Vision, & Values, 2017).
The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) was founded to combat
cheating, plagiarism, and academic dishonesty in higher education. Its mission has
since expanded to include the cultivation of cultures of integrity in academic
communities throughout the world. ICAI offers assessment services, resources,
and consultations to its member institutions, and facilitates conversations on
academic integrity topics each year at its annual conference. (ICAI, 2016a)
(ICAI, 2016b)
How do we deal with the dilemma of compressed time and increasing
workloads? Well, for some students they have found the solution. They just maximize
the use of their internet (cyber) resources. They google the answer and paste the
results. No need then to buy or read the book. This is their shortcut. Not only do they
save time but they can get a good grade too.
We should recognize that cybersecurity is our job as well as information technology
(Hasib, 2015). We should avoid thinking that we can avoid using technological
approaches and tools because the traditional methods are enough. We need to
recognize that electronic devices in our modern classrooms can negate the effectiveness
of even traditional proctoring. A humorous example of electronic cheating in the
classroom can be seen on YouTube (Japan Exam Cheating Technology, 2016).
Degree is Recognition of
Student Achievement
Not Enough to cut,
paste & copy
To demonstrate ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE
SOLUTION
ALIGNMENT OF GOALS,
OBJECTIVES AND POLICY
OF THE INSTITUTION
By Engagement, Convergence & Strategic Leadership Collaboration
CHEAT SITES & SOCIAL MEDIA
TOP 8
Here are the most popular websites for would-be cheaters:
1. Wikipedia Encylopedia
2. Yahoo! Answers Social & content sharing site
3. Answers.com Social & content sharing site
4. Slideshare Social and content sharing site
5. OPPapers.com Cheat site & paper mill
6. Scribd Social & content sharing site
7. Course Hero Homework & academic site
8. MedLibrary.org Homework & academic site
(O”Shaughnessy, 2011)
Student’s Testimonials –
Approach on Integrity
One site, “No Need to Study,” boast that they have a pool of experienced academic
tutors to take classes and complete course work for any student. They even have
handy video references that show satisfied clients plugging the cheat sites results.
These clients, students, brag how easy it was to pay someone else to take their online
classes. One student who previously failed a course stated: but “the quizzes were
just way too difficult” so he searched for a solution. “They got it done, and they did
really, really well,” he continues. “They absolutely killed my final math and app classes
with a 90 percent, and I can definitely tell you I never got a 90 percent before on
anything” (Newton, 2015, p2).
Site’s Price & Social Cost
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Easy A’s for a Price
Big Business
Poised to be $100 billion
industry
“No Need to Study” cite
offers:
Online English Literature
Class at
Columbia University for
$1225.15
RINGER GUARNTEES B OR
BETTER
(Newton, 2015)
DEGREE VALUE
DIMINISHED THROUGH
CREDIBILITY ISSUE
– Identity-fraud schemes
– Pay for grade
– Do not work
– At least with traditional
degree
– Assumption you personally
went to class
(Newton, 2015)
Ensuring Institutional Reputation
Just as important as the institution’s reputation is their students’ reputation. Without
measures to recognize the honest student from the dishonest student, all students’ reputations are
tarnished. Thus, the university has a burden to protect itself by protecting its students.
The university and its student body should collaborate through such means as
announcements, training, meetings and prerequisite requirements to implement the goals of the
academic integrity policy. The standards of the university should be made clear and it should be
acknowledge by the students. The university’s mechanism of enforcing this policy should be
explained and clarified through their questioning. In particular Wilmington University expects
the faculty to:

Utilized Safe Assign

Stress the importance of this policy (Academic Integrity Policy) throughout the course

Contact your Program Chair with questions or concerns

Submit any Academic Integrity Policy Violations to your Chair, who will then send it to
the Office of Academic Affairs to be properly processed.
(Wilmington University Academic Integrity, 2017)
Known Academic Strategies
•
Develop risk assessment and a
project plan to address issues
such as:
•
Smear Campaign
•
Assault on Institution
Reputation
•
Social Media proliferating
academic cheating
Documente
d Strategy
with
associated
policies and
procedures
Use a
holistic
approach to
integrate
emerging (ISACA, 2010)
Control Objectives for Information and related
Technology (COBIT)
Enabling a Holistic Approach, Slide 24 (IT Governance Institute, 2012)
Considers Goals for Culture Ethics & Behavior
•
Organizational ethics, determined by the values by which the enterprise
wants to live
•
Individual ethics, determined by the personal values of each individual in the
enterprise and depending to an important extent on external factors such as religion,
ethnicity, socioeconomic background, geography and personal experiences
SOCIAL MEDIA AN OLD PROBLEM
Even to Martin (1973) over 4 decades ago, the legal and societal
environment is the most problematic. Accordingly, he wrote and illustrated
(when discussing the control environment):
“The
outermost layer (in concentric circles of IT security) is by far the
most problematical. When the computer and telecommunications
revolution has run its full course (and today it is only just beginning),
society will be very different. Many contorls will no doubt have
evolved, seeking to maximize the benefits and minimize the dangers
of a technology of which George Orwell never dreamed.”
(Martin, 1973, p. 7))
”Stay seamlessly connected with available built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi.®† Connect up to
seven devices to easily access apps, stream music or work on the go, on a signal
that’s more powerful than your smartphone” (Chevrolet, 2017).
If you choose to connect to a cloud infrastructure platform, you can have a data
center more powerful than what existed in 1973.
CONCLUSION
Again, in my opinion we need to restore our foundation with a solid
builder.
Time is needed for a new advocate to protect our integrity:
The Dean of the Internet and Social Media.
References
Bondar, G. H., & Hopwood, W.S.(2013). Accounting Information Systems. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Education.
Chevrolet 2017 Volt: Hybrid Electric Car (2017). Retrieved May 13, 2017 from
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car#
Gelbstein, E. (2011, Volume 6). Data Integrity—Information Security’s Poor relation.
Information Systems Control Journal: 1-6.
Hasib, M. (2015). Cybersecurity Leadership. Middletown, DE: Tommorow’s Staegry Today,
LLC.
Information System Audit and Control Association (2011). Social Media: Business Benefits and
Security, Governance and Assurance Perspectives. Rolling Meadows, IL: Author.
International Center for Academic Integrity (2012a). Mission Statement. Clemson, SC: Author.
Retrieved May 7, 2017 from http://www.academicintegrity.org/icai/about-1.php
International Center for Academic Integrity (2012b). Statistics. Clemson, SC: Author.
Retrieved May 7, 2017 from http://www.academicintegrity.org/icai/integrity-3.php
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Meadows, IL: Author.
Intuit Inc./ Accountants Community, To Cheating Accounting Students Everywhere. Retrieved
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Japan Exam Cheating Technology (2016, May). Retrieved April 30, 2017 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6wKKSbgSi8
Martin, M. (1973). Security, Accuracy, and Privacy in Computer Systems. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ. Prentice Hall, Inc.
Newton, D. (2015, November). Cheating in Online Classes Is Now Big Business. The Atlantic
Monthly Group. Retrieved March 2, 2017 from
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/11/cheating-through-onlinecourses/413770/
O’Shaughnessy, L. (2011, May). 8 Top Websites that Students Use to Cheat. Moneywatch.
Retrived March 2, 2017 from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/8-top-websites-thatstudents-use-to-cheat/
The Dewitt Clinton, one of the Earliest Railroad Carriages [Online Image]. Retrieved May 8,
2017 from http://pchs-fsm.org/westpointfoundry/galleryartifacts/the_dewitt_clinton.html
Wilmington University Academic Integrity [Online Image]. Retrieved May 9, 2017 from
http://www.wilmu.edu/academics/acadintegrity.aspx
Wilmington University Mission, Vision, & Values. Retrieved May 9, 2017 from
http://www.wilmu.edu/about/mission.aspx