In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Is cheating worth it?

(The Guardian) More than 1000 people have been caught with cheating on the government job entrance exams in China. Over 300 people were caught during the exams, and another 700 tests looked suspicious after being reviews. Low job rates and high numbers of people graduation from university is said to be the reason behind the hike in cheating.  More than 775,000 people applied for the exams, while there were only 13,500 jobs to he had. Warnings had been given against cheating; saying buying answers for test was a threat against state secrets. Punishment for such a crime could be up to seven years in prison.

1.

Teaching kids cheating is not ok

PBSKids
Mainly a website on games and info on popular PBS Kids shows, it also features area with helpful tips for kids.In the School section, it explains what cheating is, ways people do it, why people do it and how to stop others from cheating. It is very interactive with a poll asking what you think of cheating, a game to see how you would act in a certain situation and a video on with kids talking about why cheating is wrong.You can also download things to use offline like crossword and find-a-word puzzles.
The website is also available in Spanish.

2.

How universities can check for plagiarism

Turnitin
Turnitin is an Internet-based service aimed at detecting plagiarism in high school and university essays. Schools buy licences and submit essays to the site. It checks to see if the student has cheated through archives of publicly accessible Internet content, millions of books, newspapers, journals, and even papers submitted by students. Some have criticized the services, saying it assumes students are guilty. They also argue it infringes educational privacy and intellectual property. Some universities have come to ban the service, including Mount Saint Vincent University.

3.

Cheating is an age old story

NY Times
Journalist/author Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt wrote Freakanomics, the 2005 best-selling book. To date, it has sold more than three million copies worldwide.  Called a “melding of pop culture and economics,”  it features economics articles written by Levitt for a general audience.  A second edition of the book is set for release in fall 2009. The New York Times blog with the same name began the same year, with various regular contributing bloggers writing daily. This article talks about an amazing story about a tainted exam in 1966. When the results came in, there were too many people with the same marks. There were even rumours of a US$4,500-cash transfer to a professor involved.

4.

California does it best

Orange County Registar
Why is it that the most outrageous stories always seem to come from the O.C.?
This news story tells about two teens from Tosoro, Calif., who were charged in July, 2008, because of cheating. One was facing up to 69 charges relating to cheating. Omar Khan, 18, allegedly broken into his high school to better his grade to get into college. He could face up to 38 years in prison if he is convicted. Tanvir Singh, 18, was also charged with allegations he tired to break in and steal an upcoming exam. You can follow along with the case with the various sidebars on the website.

5.

How-to guide to cheating

Wonder How To
There are many how-to videos online, but this one is pretty clever. This video is a step-by-step instruction guide on how to cheat for a test. It involves a water bottle, an invisible ink pen, a regular ink pen and a pair of scissors. The authors  recommend it to remember mathematical formulas or chemical equations. But it is equipped with a warning: if you are caught, there can be consequences. So before you think you can get away with it, remember it’s just as easy for your prof to search for it as it is for you!