Friday, April 30, 2010
By Rachel Bracker
Editor-in-Chief
Some stunts that students pull demonstrate a lack of respect for the learning process, such as bringing notes into an exam or looking at other students’ work. However, there is a gray area when it comes to using the internet to study. Mira Costa needs a school-wide policy that clearly defines what students are allowed to use.
Many teachers use tests written by companies which make the textbook used in the class. In some ways this is good, because it means that the material is in the book and accessible to all students. Students everywhere are taking the same test because the same group of textbooks is used for the same group of subjects, implicitly standardizing curriculum.
The downside of teachers using these tests is that their answer keys are accessible to students. Teachers’ materials are sold online, and any student with an internet connection and a credit card can purchase them.
Some sites require some sort of verification that the person who purchases these materials is, in fact, a teacher, and any student lying to get such materials is clearly in the wrong.
However, teachers who rely on tests that are not guarded by such measures cannot hold students accountable for using the materials online. It is completely legitimate for students to use online tests (whether they are free or not) to study for exams or quizzes just as students are allowed to buy textbooks themselves online.
Those students are only preparing themselves for tests, and if their teachers are too lazy to write all their own test questions, those students will have an advantage the same way a student who studies the book would.
This also applies more broadly to other online study aids, such as Sparknotes and Wikipedia. Although students must read the text assigned to them, if they have difficulty understanding the text, they should be able to use all the resources available to them to comprehend the material.
When students get ideas from sources other than the classroom, they need to cite them in projects.
If a student abuses these resources by using them as substitutes for reading or studying, they should still have difficulty doing well on exams anyway. Teachers’ tests and essays usually require a greater level of analysis than these sources can supply.
Teachers need to consistently notify students about whether or not they can use online resources. If students are to be punished for getting materials online, our school needs to have an explicit policy of what is and what is not off limits. It is unfair to punish students for using means of studying which have not clearly been defined as legal or illegal.
Teachers in every department need to establish a clear guideline of what resources students can or cannot use, clearly notify students of these guidelines at the beginning of the year and unilaterally enforce them. This will ensure a fair learning experience for all by preventing unfair accusations of cheating and encouraging a community of academic acceptance.
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