Provision of Higher Education Act May Force Schools to Spy on Online Students

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:24:00 GMT

Language in the bill, currently before Congress, to re-authorize the Higher Education Act could lead distance-learning institutions to use home-monitoring devices to police their students who take courses online, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“New Systems Keep a Close Eye on Online Students at Home,” July 25, 2008).

The provision, contained within a single paragraph of the 1,200-page bill, is intended to prevent students enrolled in online programs from cheating. The clause requires providers of online postsecondary programs to prove that the person submitting the online classwork is the student who’s actually enrolled.

Hearing no objections from Congress to the provision, a handful of online colleges are now testing home-monitoring systems that authenticate online test-takers through fingerprinting, watch students in their homes via webcams, and record key strokes on students’ home computers.

Some colleges claim one chief advantage to these types of devices: Students will no longer be required to travel to a distant location where a proctor can oversee them taking the test in person. Instead, students will be able to take tests online in the comfort of their own home, with an installed approved monitoring system acting as an on-site proctor.

A few administrators, however, are concerned that these new technologies, which will are managed by third-party vendors, may not adequately safeguard students’ privacy. “This is taking a step into a student’s private life,” said Rhonda Epper, co-executive director of Colorado Community Colleges Online. “I don't know if we want to extend our presence that far.”

Debates about privacy and institutional intrusions aside, there may be at least one upside: The provision could bring online degrees a greater reputability since the schools would be verifying that their graduates had actually completed the coursework, said John Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, an online institution in Albany, N.Y.

“If it raises confidence and credibility in the eyes of regulators and traditional educators,” Ebersole said, “it’s worth it.”

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Provision of Higher Education Act May Force Schools to Spy on Online Students