academic integrity and identity in online learning
DESCRIPTION
slides from presentation by Acxiom titled, "Academic Integrity and Identity in Online Learning" at the March 2010 Midwest Blackboard User's Group (SLATE) Meeting at Lewis University, March 17, 2010TRANSCRIPT
Experiences Verifying the Identity of Online Students
Mike JortbergAcxiom Corporation(630) [email protected]
February, 2010
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Agenda• Integrity in Online Education• Higher Education Industry Regulations• Experiences with Challenge Questions• Case Studies• Risks & Identity Requirements• Acxiom In Higher Ed• Free Blackboard Program
• Complete paper available at www.Acxiom.com/Education
2
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Integrity in Online Education• Persistent question in distance education:
– How do you know who’s doing the work?
• Distance education has exploded and is reshaping how students learn and institutions teach
• The growth has magnified quality and fraud concerns by regulators
3
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Current State of Identity
• In 2008, user id was the only method for verifying student identity in distance education– Ninety-six percent of the respondents indicate their college requires
students to authenticate their identity -- using a unique username and password -- to access their online courses.
– 2008 survey of 139 members of Instructional Technology Councilhttp://www.itcnetwork.org/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=77
• A user id grants access, but does not prove identity if it has been shared
4
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
The Fraud Triangle
5
Online Assessments
Pressure/IncentiveAssessments:Grades, peers and career
RationalizationFrame of mind:Everyone cheats
OpportunityCircumstances:No one will know
OnlineAssessments
Faculty Reduces PressureVaried assessmentsActive student involvement
ProcessesChanges ThinkingRaise awarenessHonesty policies
Technology ReducesOpportunityTimed examsProctorsScrambled questionsSpecial browsersIdentity verification
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Challenges in Distance Education
6
Academic Integrity Student Aid Fraud
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
What’s a Common Cause?User ids in distance education are not secure“She then went online posing as each student, enrolled in the courses and even did some of
the homework. Once a financial-aid check arrived in the mail, minus tuition, a student would pay Halton a cut of the money, authorities said.” http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/24/20090624loanfraud0624-ON.html
“Another student said a teaching assistant had given his personal username and password to a class of students to use during the semester to cheat. Employees also made a habit of sharing such passwords with those who were not explicitly given access by a supervisor.”http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/online-100590-utb-employees.html
"The former assistant coach was clearly assigned academic oversight responsibilities for the men's basketball program. In that capacity, he obtained all of the men's basketball student-athletes' online academic account IDs and passwords at the beginning of each academic year. This enabled him to log on to the institution's Internet system posing as the student-athletes. His access included, but was not limited to, class schedules, unofficial transcript and financial information. Additionally, if a student enrolled in an online course, the ID and password were used to access the course and to participate in required online chats. " http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/f4ebf400411cfa44afe7ff122174eb00/20100120+Georgia+Southern+Infractions+Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=f4ebf400411cfa44afe7ff122174eb00
7
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Faculty Opinions about Identity
8
Kaplan UniversityStudent Identity Verification and the Higher Education Opportunity Act: A Faculty Perspective
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
New GuidelinesAs result of 2008 HEOA passage, new guidelines
from accreditors• When examinations are employed (paper, online, demonstrations of competency,
etc.), they take place in circumstances that include firm student identification. The institution otherwise seeks to assure the integrity of student work.
• If proctoring is used, what are the procedures for selecting proctors, establishing student identity, assuring security of test instruments, administering the examinations, and assuring secure and prompt evaluation?
• If other methods are used to identify those who take the examination, how is identification firmly established? How are the conditions of the examination (security, time limits, etc.) controlled?
“Interregional Guidelines for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs”
Link to all regional accreditor guidelines for distance education http://mikejortberg.blogspot.com/2009/12/regional-accreditor-identity-guidelines.html
9
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES10
New Technology - Hardware
Hardware + Pre-Requisites = Extra Costs
• Software install • Hardware registration• Student registration• Instructor training• Student training
• Dropped students• $15 to $250 per device• Shipping• Software licensing • Break/fix process• Tech support calls
Hardware and Biometrics: Adds substantial integrity but…
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES11
Acxiom Identify-X Challenge Questions• An on-line real-time identity
verification service– Software as a Service in a secure
cloud– Generates challenge questions and
scores responses– Imbedded in popular LMS
• Institution administration and faculty control– Which courses, assessments and how
many students• Identify-X strategy governs
– Which challenge questions– How many questions– Pass / fail threshold
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Experiences with Acxiom Challenge QuestionsSullivan University fall 2009 survey of 85 students
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Compared to Travelling to a Test Center?
13
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES14
Privacy and FERPA
• Leverages only directory information• No enrollment process for student
data required• Student releases data during identity
verification process• Recommend reading Privacy booklet
before deployment
• Acxiom Opt Out and Privacy Policies– Consumer Assistance– Acxiom Privacy Policies
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES15
Identify-X Technical Details• Software as a service identity verification
– No broadband required– No new database– No integration to SIS or LMS required
• Connect via pre-built LMS integration for Blackboard, Angel, Moodle, etc.
• Identity software development kit available for developers– Technical specifications for integration from any application– Documentation– Sample C# and Java Code– Web Service Definition Language (WSDL)– Development / test environment access– Identity logo and usage guidelines
• Additional SDKs available for– FTC red flags (Bad SSNs, phones, fraud indicators)– Lead quality / scoring, predictive and prescriptive analytics– Address quality
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES16
ProctorU.com Web Proctor• Web proctor
– Sees the environment– Talks to students– Observes the screen
• Not recorded
• Great for expanding test center hours and availability
• Includes
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES17
Case Studies• Student X starts online assessment, fails identity check, scores 100%
on exam• Student loan fraud found via Red Flag analysis of student
demographics• 97% pass of students identity verification. Failure notification to
institution faculty, dean and president.• 95% of students pass identity verification. One student starts same
exam 4 times in 22 minutes. • “Dead” Student appears on Social Security Death Index
• Larry Duggan, Director of Online Learning at SUNY Finger Lakes – “I now have an answer to faculty who have asked how can they know who’s taking
the online assessment. This level of authentication really does help with overcoming many objections faculty have to online learning"
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Risk Analysis
18
Issue Lowest Risk Medium Risk Highest Risk
Student Aid Fraud in Online Programs
Web enhanced or face to face courses with little loan or grant funding.
Face to face or webcam interaction periodically required.
Courses rely on face to face proctored assessments with reliable photo ID.
Students with grants in fully online course with little face to face component.
Flexible face to face requirements.
Course participation verified by faculty beyond system logins and activity.
No red flag or identity technologies beyond user ID.
Students with state, federal or private grants in fully online course.
No face to face component or a self paced program.
Fully online enrollment and course delivery.
Course participation verified by checking activity logs and little to no student interaction.
No face to face requirements.
No FTC red flag or identity technologies beyond user ID.
High concentration of students in remote or out of state locations.
Academic Integrity In Online Courses
Face to face instruction with proctored or no online assessments.
Online course with high student/faculty interaction.
Hybrid or web enhanced courses with low or medium student/faculty interaction.
Objective or subjectiveassessments delivered online without proctor.
Fully online courses with little or no student/faculty interaction.
Objective assessments delivered online without proctor.
Online assessments with high stakes riding on the outcome, such as athletic program participation.
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES19
Acxiom In Higher Education• HR: Background Screening: guaranteed savings of 15% off your current
provider• Admissions: Lead scrubbing / modeling to reduce Cost Per Lead vendor costs
and better target your audience. • Institutional Research: Student demographics to understand the behavior and
demographics of your leads, students and alumni with amazing insights.• IT: Identity proofing can cut down help desk calls with secure online password
reset. Ensure FERPA compliance for online transcript access. Mainframe, server, network outsourcing.
• Registrar: Implement FTC Red Flag programs to monitor for identity theft by verifying accurate SSN and student mailing addresses
• Business Office: Skip tracing solutions for finding students who owe the institution but have moved and do not provide a forwarding address.
• Alumni/Development: Re-engage with lost alumni or improve donor results with alumni propensity modeling. Measure social media use in your population.
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES20
To Learn More• Call or email for more information
(630) 944-0379
• Activate a trial to evaluate fit for your program– See www.Blackboard.com/Acxiom or
www.Acxiom.com/StudentIdentity
• Research and compare solutions– Blog http://mikejortberg.blogspot.com/
• See post on June 19th for comparison table
– Join Group• Student Identity Verification and Academic Integrity • http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/100235
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
Blackboard Program• You receive
– Fully operational system at no cost– Building Block, PowerLink, Angel Nugget– Annual set of 500 to 2500 transactions (based on student
population)– Best practices and thought leadership on identity in distance
education– Fixed authentication strategy– Alerts when you get close to empty
• Acxiom– Introduction to your institution– Exposure to faculty and administration to our identity solution– Opportunity to introduce other solutions
21
GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING SERVICES
How to Activate
22
1. Go to www.blackboard.com/acxiom Register Download connector
2. Get email from Acxiom Watch presentations Get credentials
3. Get ready Install and configure on test server Recruit faculty Select course Notify students
4. Go Run the program Analyze reports Survey staff and students