I  believe that students do not cheat more in online classes than in traditional classes, and research would seem to indicate that is true.

Do Students Cheat More in the Digital Age? http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/watson131.html

However, I think plagiarism has increased, mainly because it is so easy now.  To help you and your students avoid plagiarism many institutions have linked with plagiarism detection sites.

·        Turnitin: in order to avoid any FERPA issues many institutions require that students submit their papers to TurnItIn, not faculty. The report can then be included in a paper.

·        Smart Thinking:  A site that can help students with papers – not content but format.

Of course, the best way to deter cheating is to design assignments that make it difficult to cheat  http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/watson131.html 

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall53/olt53.html

What can YOU do?

1.     Giving information to students on the rationale behind the assignments

2.     Designing good assignments that require critical thinking, not memory, and changing them slightly every term so that students cannot look at the files of previous students in the class.

3.     Using check points along the way for major papers – don’t wait until the last minute.

4.     Narrow the time frame for taking tests.

5.     Scramble questions, question order and use alternate questions.

6.     In the directions make clear to the students what constitutes plagiarism.

7.     Having a rubric, and making sure the students know that you will be using it.

8.     If a major product, consider giving examples of past projects that were well done.