The rise and fall of online learning
Technology is changing the way we teach and learn.
Anyone can learn anything, anywhere: in their homes, at the library, in a coffee shop. Online classes, by their very nature, offer numerous benefits, but this format also presents clear risks for the education industry has a whole.
The role of technology in online learning
Online learning has become mainstream learning and its growth has skyrocketed. According to the 2014 Online Learning Survey, almost 7 million students are taking at least one online class in the USA.
For universities, schools and colleges, moving classes and degree programs online — including offering massive open online courses, or MOOCs — the appeal is clear. Institutions can use these environments to broaden their reach and they can expand and diversify their offerings. Most importantly, this approach is convenient, accessible, scalable and more cost-effective than ever.
While students appreciate the many benefits, online learning provides greater convenience, flexibility and adaptability to meet the needs of non-traditional learners. Online learning also bridges K-12 and higher education, providing high school students with opportunities to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) and advancement courses.
Online learning is transforming lives. However, the evidence is clear – there is something threatening this industry. The rise of learner fraud.
As the online education industry continues to grow, students, faculty, and employers will seek assurances that online programs deliver quality education. There is a growing awareness that online learning has also given rise to online learner fraud.
Learner fraud threatens to devalue all online learning principles of academic integrity of online learning for every educational institution that delivers online education.
The Center for Academic Integrity has estimated that the percentage of higher education students who cheat at some point during their academic career—using crib notes, copying answers from another’s paper, and/or helping someone else with answers on a test—is approximately 68 percent for undergraduate and 43 percent for graduate students.
Traditional strategies often fail to work in an online education environment. Therefore, without live instructors or proctors, it’s too easy for students to pay others to complete their assignments or tests, skip lessons, or to otherwise claim a pass-mark they have not earned.
How do we solve learner fraud?
Without using the latest technology and the principles of defensibility, like LearnerVerified, educators and the industry as a whole will fail to prevent learner fraud. That’s why LearnerVerfied technology uses tools to verify students’ identities and monitor their attendance. Any university or college will be able to track and verify students throughout the entire learning cycle, from registration and attendance, to their exam. LearnerVerified technology offers several unique features including learner ID authentication, biometric verification, online proctoring and attendance monitoring. This solution is more efficient and reliable than what is available with in-person supervision.