Question

Is it ethical, legal, fair to other students, or moral for some students to pay the Shadow Scholar to do their papers or take their tests? Also, is it ethical, legal, fair, or moral for the Shadow Scholar to sell his services to students and do their papers or take their tests? Why do some students get others to do their schoolwork for free or pay? Are friends or parents who do papers or take online tests for friends or relatives complicit? What solutions do you propose for cheating online?

Answer 1

It cannot be considered legal, fair, ethical or moral for students to use the Shadow Scholar for academic purposes. This is because, it spoils the objective of the assessment or project. These academic works are aimed to analyse the skills of the student. When a few who has money can avail the service of the shadow scholar, the other students are putting their own efforts and time. This is not fair. From the part of the Shadow Scholar, it may not be legally wrong to sell his own work, but this cannot be justified ethically and morally as he is also being part of an unfair practice. Some students resort to this method because they are basically lazy or sometimes when they do not believe in their ability to do a work efficiently. The rich students may also think that they need not take efforts when their money can do the work. The same problem arises when family or friends help students cheat. This is also unethical because it spoils the purpose of the assessment. Impersonation in online assessments can be prevented using web cam facilities that determine whether the registered person is using the system. Human invigilators can also be employed to cross check with registered photographs. Key stroke analysis that determines an individuals unique typing style can also be used. A model that is being developed is the temporal information and system interactions model that aims at preventing impersonation by keeping a regular check during the assessment.