As RHS switches between hybrid and fully virtual schedules, cheating has become more widespread among students. Cheating was already prevalent among students, as there were many who chose to stay fully virtual while the hybrid schedule was in effect. Now, only one question remains. Will the students hold maintain integrity or has cheating taken its hold?
Many students have admitted to the fact that cheating would be quite easy since they are at home and all that the teacher can see is what they present on camera. Despite this confession, many have also stated that they have not cheated out of respect for their teacher. Although a few students cannot speak on behalf of the whole study body at Ridgewood High School, they say that they know a fair amount of people who are cheating and a fair amount of people who aren’t. As an anonymous student said, “I do know someone who cheated on an assignment recently, but I didn’t tell anyone. Mostly everyone I know hasn’t cheated on anything though.”
Teachers and administrators are also aware of the fact that some of their own students may be cheating during class and have been actively trying to restrict virtual cheating. One of the methods that teachers have used is asking their students to set up their camera so their whole workspace is visible to the teacher. Along with this, the teacher also uses a system called GoGuardian which allows teachers and administrators to see what is on their students screens. For tests, quizzes, or exams, many teachers have been using “locked mode” on Google Forms, which locks a Chromebook so that a student cannot access anything other than their graded assignment. There have been numerous other attempts from teachers and administrators to prevent cheating, like having students set up a live feed of their workspace during a test. Cheating did exist before virtual learning, but as all students are now learning from home, school administrators have tightened their watch on students.
Juliana Kye
staff writer
Graphic: Isabella Harelick