According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term technology is defined as, the use of

science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or to solve problems. New
technologies emerge every day, but in 1989, one of the most useful technologies had become
available to the general public the World Wide Web. With the use of computer and the
World Wide Web (better known as the internet), most of the people in the world are given
access to almost anything at their fingertips including online or distance education. The
majority of Americans now have hectic schedules, whether it is working multiple jobs, or
staying home and taking care of the kids, life can obstruct the view of completing their
education. Online education, one of the most significant inventions within the internet,
provides flexible learning schedules to busy individuals; therefore, it is no surprise that online
education courses have become increasingly popular, impacted the educational system, and
greatly affected many of our lives.
According to a study done by the American Sociological Association, online courses have
become popular for those who are working students, looking for flexible schedules, have been
kicked out of school and need to redeem themselves, and/or simply like the convenience of not
having to commute to school. Since the inception of online college courses, enrollment for
online classes has been steadily increasing with demand. In fact, according to William
Casements study on whether online classes will also decrease the cost of tuition, he stated
that, in 2011, 87 percent of institutions offered at least some courses online and 32 percent of
college students took at least one online course (Casement, 2013). In 2010, a completely
separate study by Simon Lei and Rajeev Govra explained why students choose to attend an
online course as opposed to an on campus course. Although it may seem like the only benefit

to an online course it its convenience and flexible nature, it is not true. Lei and Govra found
that aside from the flexibility of the courses, students chose distance or online education
because they want to limit the peer distractions, such as class clowns. Other full time (nonworking) students who chose online courses advised that they chose online courses because
they didnt want to feel pressured by what they wear or even feel obligated to put on make-up
to go to class. Lei, Govra, and Casements studies only prove that online courses are extremely
popular and will continue to service the students in the future.
Aside from the escalating student demand for online learning due to its flexibility, universities
have increased their demand for the online teaching platform as well. Universities have
benefitted from online courses also. Since online courses can be taken anywhere around the
world, the universities who offer online courses can now reach a larger audience. It is now
possible for a student in Los Angeles, California to attend a completely online graduate college
in a different state. This Californian can earn a degree from Southern New Hampshire
University without stepping a foot into New Hampshire. The institutions costs for holding
online classes are also cheaper versus the traditional on campus classes because of factors such
as: a decrease in photocopy costs for copying course related papers, and cutting costs in
replenishing worn out tables, chairs, and chalkboards (Lei & Govra, 2010). Also due to the
larger variety of potential students that the universities market for online courses, enrollment
rates have gone up for universities and colleges who to provide online courses to their student
body. Although the amount saved from the universities have not passed on to the students, it
is possible that in the future, online classes will become more affordable. Currently,
universities, like San Jose State University offer free Massive Open Online Courses also known

as MOOCS. According to Casement, Massive Open Online Courses are not a proven learning
tool, and they currently do not have education credit value. Even with these disadvantages,
Massive Open Online Courses are still a positive aspect for the current and future online
students because with the free and easily accessible MOOCS classes, perspective online
students have an alternative to education and its free! In order for the online universities to
stay competitive, it is likely that MOOCS may force online universities to significantly lower
online courses that are for credit (Casement, 2013).
With all the publicity over online courses, great professors alike have been determined to find
out whether online courses are just as effective as face-to-face classes. There have been some
controversies over the situation; therefore, several studies have been made. One study by
Adam Driscoll, Karl Jicha, Andrea Hunt, Lisa Tichavsky, and Greatchen Thompson shows that
given the appropriate pedagogy or instruction, online courses is just as an effective teaching
format as face-to-face classes (Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky, & Thompson, 2012). The study
showed that when comparing online courses against face-to-face courses, the midterm scores
for both teaching platforms are the same. Given that the GPA of the students is taken into
consideration, the test grades do not improve or become worse when the class is taken online.
The same study showed that when comparing online courses to face-to-face courses, the
student satisfaction does not increase or decrease when the class is taken in a face-to-face
course. The professor for both platforms can effectively teach an online course just the way
that he/she would teach an on campus course and the outcome should theoretically be the
same. Since grade point averages (GPAs) have been addressed in this study to show that the
student outcome would be the same in either platform (online or on campus), this just shows

that the students who take classes on campus are a much more educationally focused when
compared to completely online students. This makes sense because as mentioned before, the
majority of online students are focused on other things other than merely studying. Some
students may have also already attended the course with a lower GPA; thus, it in inconclusive
whether the students GPA was lowered by the online course or if it was already low to begin
with.
As online courses become more and more available, and the attendance of online students
continues to grow, the issue of online cheating becomes a much larger issue. E-cheating,
cheating in an online course, has become increasingly widespread in the online education
system. According to a study published in the Electronic Journal of e-Learning, few of the most
common e-cheating tactics are: waiting for answers, false error messages, collusion, plagiarism,
and purchasing answers (Moten Jr., Fitterer, Brazier, Leonard, & Brown, 2013).
The first cheating method is waiting for answers. Waiting for answers is when a student
waits for another student to take an exam, and then waits for the answers from the student
who had just taken the exam.
Second cheating method is a fraudulent error message. When a student wants to peek at the
questions for a test or exam, the student will open the exam and then tell the professor that
there was an error while taking the exam. This cheating technique will allow the student to
view the exam prior to taking the timed exam.

The third cheating method is collusion. Although online classes usually have students from
different areas, collusion is still possible through other means of technology, such as texts
and emails.
The fourth cheating method is not strictly for the online course community. Plagiarism is
another popular form of cheating. Plagiarism occurs when a student copies full pages of
essays or portions of books without proper use of citations and quotes.
Lastly, students have been known to purchase answers from the internet. Test bank sites,
like brainmass.com and cramster.com have made it possible for students to post the test
question into the internet and buy answers to their tests.
The colleges who provide online courses have become very aware of the cheating situation.
Once the online class test banks become compromised, it is difficult for the class to come up
with test questions that are similar to the originals. Therefore, they have come up with tactics
in finding offenders and applying appropriate punishment for academic dishonesty an online
learning environment. The same study that researched methods of online cheating have also
found methods in order to minimize online cheating. The article published in Electric Journal of
e-Learning suggests a few methods to limit cheating: policy notifications, test timelines, traps,
surveillance, randomized questions, and a class mole (Moten Jr., Fitterer, Brazier, Leonard, &
Brown, 2013).
The first method to limit cheating is to notify the students of the cheating policy. Since it is
possible for a student to overlook the policy, the article suggests that the institution require the
student to sign the policy as a form of proof of policy acknowledgement. If a student is caught

using academic dishonesty, the student can be expelled using the signed policy agreement if
needed.
Second, the article suggests that the professors establish a strict timeline for tests. It is proven
that with a substantial amount of time to take a test, it is easy for a student to research the
answers. If a test is given only a limited amount of time when taken, then it is possible for an
unprepared test taker to not complete the exam and limit the chances of the student to
research or purchase answers online.
Creating a cheating trap is a more advanced way to catch cheating students. The cheating trap
requires the institution to create a website that offers the wrong answers to an exam. If the
student copies all the exam answers from the cheating trap website, then the student will fail
his/her test.
The surveillance method is much more costly than all the other alternatives to catching
academically dishonest students. The surveillance method will require webcams, so that the
professor can watch the student(s) as he takes his exam. Although this method is great in
theory, it is still possible for students to cheat when they are not in clear view of their
webcams.
Lastly, the article states that it is a good idea to have a class mole. The class mole will act as if
he were a student and look for students who are collaborating to cheat. This also is a good idea
in theory, but it is unlikely that the students will collaborate cheating on an online class when it
is possible to purchase answers online.

Currently, online courses are most popular in higher education, but there have also been
studies of other online learning. Studies have been made for grade school and online
collaborative learning (OCL). OCL is to assist with collaborating with fellow students online
after onsite school hours; therefore, it is used to enhance the face-to-face learning experience.
A study done by the National Taichung Institute of Technology showed a positive change in
marketing class students who had used OCL when working on an assignment. The study
showed that the students who have taken advantage of the OCL assistance had gotten better
grades than those who did not have OCL assistance (Guo & Tsai, 2011).
A separate study showing an online e-course with grade students in Korea also shows potential
for an online learning environment. Unlike college online courses, the e-course for the grade
school had a specified time. Also different from college courses, like DeVry, the entire class had
webcams and took the course as if they were all in the same room. The study showed that the
grade students reacted positively toward the teaching environment. Although they preferred
speaking into the microphone over typing the text into the keyboard, they still favored a
combination of both text and voice over simply speaking into the microphone as their best
method of interaction. According to this study, the students enjoyed the online class and feel
that the interaction with their teacher was the same amount with their teacher as if they were
in an actual onsite classroom. Even though the study was successful, the study cannot conclude
whether the class was enjoyed because of the teacher and the teachers constant interaction
with the students, or if the students reacted positively toward the online teaching environment.

In conclusion, online education is a valuable technology that will continue to become a part of
normal society it will not be a phase or a fad. People have found convenience in online
learning, and many are ecstatic to find that they can earn a degree, while balancing work and
family while doing all of this in the comfort of their own home. Online education has assisted
the community and the environment by reducing smog in the air and reducing the use of
wasted paper and ink. Due to the publicity of online education in colleges, online education is
now being tested in different platforms. Online testing has tested successfully in Koreas online
class for grade students. Online Collaborative Learning was studied in Taiwan and tested
successfully as well. The rise of Massive Open Online Courses have offered free online courses
that are not credited, but may lead to lower pricing on for credit online courses. Online
learning will definitely be in our future. In fact, Nadia Yusuf, the author of The Future of Global
Education, believes that online classes have a chance to become the main form of education.
Granted that a handful of students still like the on campus environment, it is possible that even
if classes do not become 100% online, online learning will not go away. Advancements in
technology will only assist with the online learning environment that is troubling us today, such
as online cheating and lower grade point averages.

Works Cited
Casement, W. (2013). Will Online Learning Lower the Price of College? Journal of College Admission , 1418.
Driscoll, A., Jicha, K., Hunt, A. N., Tichavsky, L., & Thompson, G. (2012). Can Online Courses Deliver Inclass Results?: A Comparison of Student Performance and Satisfaction in an Online versus a Face-to-face
Introductory Sociology Course. Teaching Sociology , 312-331.
Guo, S.-J., & Tsai, C.-H. (2011). Towards an Effective Online Collaborative Learning Environment: A Case
Study on Traditional Classroom Instruction. . International Journal of Technology, Knowledge & Society. ,
1-16.
Lei, S. A., & Govra, R. K. (2010). COLLEGE DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES: EVALUATING BENEFITS AND
COSTS FROM INSTITUTIONAL, FACULTY AND STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVES. . Education , 616-631.
Lye, S. Y., Abas, S., Tay, L. Y., & Saban, F. (2012). Exploring the use of online space in an elementary
school. . Educational Media International. , 155-170.
Moten Jr., J., Fitterer, A., Brazier, E., Leonard, J., & Brown, A. (2013). Examining Online College Cyber
Cheating Methods and Prevention Measures. . Electronic Journal of e-Learning , 139-146.
Norton, A. (2013). THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: BETTER BUT NOT NECESSARILY FASTER OR
CHEAPER. . Policy , 10-14.
Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved Aprill 13, 2014, from www.merriam-webster.com: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/technology
Yusuf, N. (2013). The future of global education. . International Journal of Business & Economic
Development. , 75-82.

Haley, G. R., & Parise, P. A. (2014). Pedagogical Capital and the Relationship Between Social Networking
and Quality of Academic Life in Distance Programs. Academy of Business Research Journal , 27-44.
Miller, A., & Young-Jones, A. D. (2012). Academic Integrity: Online Classes Compared to Face-to-Face
Classes. Journal of Instructional Psychology , 138-145.
Ya Ni, A. (2013). Comparing the Effectiveness of Classroom and Online Learning: Teaching Research
Methods. Journal of Public Affairs Education , 199-215
Guruz, K. (2008). Higher Education and International Student Mobility in the Global Knowledge Economy.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hayes, D. (2010). College on Demand. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education , 17-19.