It didn’t take long for reports to surface that people
were cheating in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Coursera even took a
proactive approach by adding honor-code reminders to its courses.
Now, web sites are popping up offering to take the
online course for students and promising them at least a “B” in the class. There’s
a price for this service, ranging from $95 for an essay to $900 to complete an
entire course, according to a report in Inside Higher Education.
“It’s what they say about cockroaches: when you see one
there are hundreds that you don’t see,” said A.J. Kelton, director of emerging
and instructional technology at Montclair State University.
A graphic description perhaps, but Inside Higher Ed
could find little about the sites. Some even appeared to be operated by the
same person or group. In addition, administrators like Kelton are concerned it
could be the beginning of an online higher ed black market.
“The difference with something like wetakeyourclass.com
is that if you’re going to pay someone to go to your 300-person Psych 101
class, that person can only go to one exam at a time,” Kelton said. “That same
expert, however, could take six, eight, 10, 12 online courses simultaneously.”
One result from the article was the wetakeyourclass.com
site has been taken offline, according to an update on the Inside Higher Ed web site.
