TikTok and Cheating at Santa Monica College

Plus, Course Hero may be hiring "campus reps" for your school. Plus, a Linkletter/Proctorio update.

Issue 103

To subscribe to “The Cheat Sheet,” enter your e-mail address below:

To share “The Cheat Sheet:”

Thanks for sharing “The Cheat Sheet.” If you enjoy or support my work, please consider chipping in via Patreon:

Cheating and Social Media at Santa Monica College

We live in an era in which something receiving attention on social media is “news” all by itself, no matter how silly or inconsequential. So, it was predictable that when a TikTok video about being flagged for suspicious test activity received more than 2.4 million views, people wrote about it.

The video itself is odd and difficult to decode but it’s possible to parse out a few things. Alert: the video contains profanity.

One is that the young woman in the video shares a screen from a learning management system at Santa Monica College, which looks to include a list of 28 times she “stopped viewing” the exam she was taking. It also includes a question - though we cannot see from whom - asking about the incidents.

Over those images, we see the student lip-synching a scene from the HBO series “Euphoria” in which one character accuses another of something scandalous and the accused dramatically overreacts in denial. That context makes it possible to infer that the student was cheating and that her mimicking denial is less than genuine.

That idea is supported by comments on the video. In one, according to the coverage of it, a viewer wrote, “Maybe just like don’t cheat??” To which the video creator replied, “But it’s Ochem [organic chemistry].”

So, leaving the test 28 times, the context of the lip-synched dramatic denial, the “but it’s” reply all point in the same dishonest direction.

Why anyone would cheat and then go on social media to make fun of it, I can’t even comprehend. But I asked Santa Monica College about the video, since it really does look like it’s one of their students who’s cheating and mocking the academic integrity process in front of an audience of literally millions.

In addition to the usual response that:

Academic integrity is of the highest importance at Santa Monica College.

The school also said:

It is not possible for the College to provide comment on a video whose veracity cannot be confirmed.

Continuing:

However, I can confirm that Santa Monica College has robust student conduct rules … and a codified Code of Conduct

And that:

These rules are publicized online and in the college catalog made available to students

Well, that ought to do it. Good job.

Naturally, given what’s known about this specific incident, the school could track this student down and confirm veracity in 120 seconds. They could. But it feels like a safe bet that the college’s engagement and curiosity will stop at having “robust student conduct rules” and in saying that “academic is integrity of the highest importance.”

Like too many colleges, they probably prefer not to know.

I want to be wrong about that.

Having the opportunity, I also asked the school for any data they had regarding reports of academic misconduct. They provided the following:

2020-21 = 263

2019-20 = 221

2018-19 = 245

Enrollment at Santa Monica College, a public community college, is about 30,000.

Update on Proctorio v. Linkletter - Proctorio Wins One

There is an update in the court drama of proctoring company Proctorio versus former University of British Columbia learning technology specialist Ian Linkletter.

The short version is Linkletter was and is a critic of remote exam proctoring, especially Proctorio. Linkletter shared some criticisms and observations on social media, including material that the company says was proprietary and protected. Proctorio sued. Linkletter claimed the suit was aimed at silencing and intimidating him, he sued back. Up to now it seemed Linkletter had been carrying the legal fight (see Issue 90).

The update is that, according to reporting, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has dismissed one of Linkletter’s claims. As a casual observer, the ruling does not look great for Linkletter.

In the coverage, there’s this, for example:

the Court found that Proctorio met its burden to show that its copyright claim had substantial merit and that Mr. Linkletter had no valid defence.

And

Proctorio also met its burden of showing that its breach of confidence claim had substantial merit and that Mr. Linkletter did not have any valid defences to it.

At this point, as is worth repeating, this case has nothing to do with proctoring.

Also, for the record, I had not realized this detail of the chain of events - and it does seem most of the reporting missed this too. According to the coverage of the recent ruling, after criticizing Proctorio:

Mr. Linkletter then used his credentials at the University to set up a practice course so that he could access Proctorio's Help Center, which is available only to course instructors and administrators. The Help Center includes links to videos stored in an unlisted channel on YouTube that provide confidential details about the software's functionality. Mr. Linkletter copied these links and retweeted them from his public Twitter account, making them available to anyone viewing his Twitter feed. As well he tweeted a screenshot of a confidential webpage from Proctorio training material.

Coming Soon to Your Campus: Course Hero

As is well established by now, Course Hero is cheating profiteer. They sell answers to tests, even entire tests, plus course work, notes - you name it, they sell it. (See Issue 97 and Issue 92).

And it appears Course Hero is hiring “campus reps” to promote the cheating service in person and maybe on your campus. Their ad says:

As a Campus Rep, you’ll be the go-to source for all things Course Hero, a top online learning platform with over 40 million course-specific study documents. You’ll help your fellow students succeed and thrive on their college journey.

Course Hero is looking to hire “campus reps” at the following schools specifically:

United States:

Boise State University, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California State University, Los Angeles, California State University, Long Beach, California State University, Sacramento, California State University, San Bernardino, Case Western Reserve University, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, James Madison University, Kansas State University, Kent State University, Marquette University, Mississippi State University, Northwestern University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Saint Louis University, Syracuse University, Tufts University, Tulane University, University at Buffalo, University of Arkansas, University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Colorado, Denver, University of Dayton, University of Denver, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Louisville, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, University of Vermont, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Vanderbilt University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington University in St. Louis and West Virginia University

Canada:

Algoma University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Dalhousie University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Mount Royal University, Thompson Rivers University, University Canada West, University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Toronto, Mississauga, University of Toronto, Scarborough, University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University

Don’t see your campus on that list? Course Hero says not to worry, they are still expanding and, if you’re a student at another school who wants to be paid to promote Course Hero, to just let them know.

Further, and if you don’t mind being nauseous for two minutes, check out this marketing video Course Hero has put together of students saying how great they are.

My point is that this is just from Course Hero, just one company. I say again - this marketing and advertising from cheating companies is not a fair fight. At most schools, it’s not a fight at all.

If I were a Dean at any of the schools listed above I’d keep a close eye on who the Course Hero “student rep” turns out to be and I’d be quite inclined to invite them in for a conversation. But that’s me. I’d also want to have a conversation with teachers who keep speaking at Course Hero events. But that’s just me too.