The professor, David E. Pritchard, led a research team that analyzed student performance in an online homework system called MasteringPhysics.com during four different semesters. The researchers were able to measure the time spent on each question and look for suspicious work patterns. If a student took less than a minute each answering several complex questions and got them all right, for instance, the system flagged that as likely cheating. “Since one minute is insufficient time to read the problem and enter the several answers typically required, we infer that the quick-solver group is copying the answer from somewhere,” said the researchers in a paper due out today in the free online journal Physical Review Special Topics–Physics Education Research.

Based on later surveys of the same students, researchers found that the culprits typically copied answers from friends, by logging onto a friend’s account on the system to copy work or by getting answers via e-mail or instant message.

For veteran teachers this is hardly a surprising revelation. The complexity of cheating and plagiarism schemes has increased with the rise of technology and ability to transfer information digitally. Cellphones and other devices have made cheating easier than ever, see The Cheating Heart for an overview. Furthermore, despite the education aimed at informing students about copyright and intellectual property, it is clear that generation y and future generations seem to have a different perspective regarding copyright.

While many would point to this as indicating the need for better detection systems, real success comes from successfully encouraging students to choose not to cheat. Restrictive access to technology and more robust detection schemes may seem appealing but lead to students and teachers engaging in a never ending cycle of trying to outsmart one another. This doesn’t mean ignoring cheating or giving it a free pass. In this Web 2.0 world, it does mean, demonstrating a better way and allowing students to make choices. If unethical, according to Professor Pritchard, these choices mean that cheaters will earn the scores they deserve.

In my next article I will outline three keys to building an environment supportive of ethical decision-making. Until then I’d like to hear your comments and observations.

Open curriculum, or curriculum based on open educational resources, presents exciting opportunities for public schools. The curriculum is very flexible, easily personalized, inexpensive, and has (over the last few years) significantly improved in terms of academic quality. Many prestigious universities are  involved in building open curriculum, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, and Stanford University. With the difficult testing requirements and economic circumstances facing most schools, a significant demand has emerged in the  K-12 market for both open source technology and curriculum. State-wide programs in Utah and Florida, for example, are serving thousands of students using open curriculum. This trend appears to be growing fast.

Open curriculum has a few important benefits worth noting.

1. Low Cost– Most schools pay large sums of money for books, resources, and curriculum. Therefore, the financial benefits of utilizing open curriculum is obvious. As a site administrator who is strapped for resources, this is certainly a very appealing reason to use open curriculum.
2. Flexibility– Open curriculum is usually easily customizable and can involve third parties, including learning management systems like Moodle (which is also free). This means new features, tools, and apps can be imported from the open source community. These applications can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the virtual learning environment.
3. Curricular Continuity– Because open curriculum projects usually involve a large network or community of contributors, it is very unlikely the curriculum will be discontinued.
4. Continued Improvement– Because of the aforementioned network of contributors, the product is always being improved.

Some of the most important developments in open curriculum have taken place at the university level. Following is a list of a few exciting programs.

1. MITOpencourseware (MIT)
2. Open Learning Initiative (Carnegie Mellon University)
3. Open Yale Courses (Yale University)
4. Stanford Engineering Everywhere (Stanford University)
5. UOnline (University of Utah)

In addition to colleges and  universities, a few influential organizations have begun developing open curriculum for K-12 institutions.

1. National Repository of Online Courses
2. HippoCampus
3. cK-12
4. Curriki
5. OER Commons
6. UC College Prep

Although open curriculum presents many exciting opportunities for K-12 education, it also presents significant challenges.

1. Building Consensus– When it comes to using open curriculum at the K-12 level, building consensus around a particular type of curriculum is difficult. Whether in a small department or a large program, it’s very hard to get  professional educators to agree on a specific approach or course of action. Often times, this sort of disunity sinks a fledgling online program.
2. Implementation– The implementation phase of an online program which utilizes open curriculum is the most difficult. Finding a curriculum that best suits the students’ needs is challenging. However, building an online platform which not only integrates various technologies (i.e., communication tools, grade book tools, assessment tools, etc.) but also effectively delivers curriculum to students at the K-12 level can seem like an insurmountable task. Moreover, finding ways to modify and improve the open curriculum can also present difficult challenges for K-12 educators.
3. Hidden Costs– Every open source curricular program has hidden costs. Depending on the nature of the online program, these costs can quickly sink a project. Developing online curriculum and managing a complex learning management system, for example, can be a very costly endeavor, particularly for a cash strapped public school.
4. Intellectual Property Issues– The intellectual property issues usually associated with open source curriculum can be confusing and frustrating for educators, especially teachers who have limited experience with online learning.

Even though open curriculum presents a few difficult challenges, its potential for improving student achievement is very exciting.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!