> > > Kind of similar to not selling DRM-free movies/music/etc since everyone > > would just copy them after the first sale if it is effortless. In a more > > perfect world all digital content is free to get once it is made and > those > > who feel inclined contribute what/when/if then can/want. And nobody > worries > > about their students cheating because these students understand that > they > > should not. > I hope everyone reads your reply. >
Wow, I missed the further discussion on this. Suffice to say now just that I very much sympathize with these comments, and agree with Dennis that many students do use software etc. for verifying, not cheating per se. The main point I want to make here is that access to these things can perpetuate or exacerbate existing inequality of access. For instance, I usually don't allow calculators in my calculus tests not because I think calculators/computers are useless and everyone should be able to do a complicated partial fractions decomposition and integration by rote, but because I can't assume that all my students have access to the same kinds of technology in such a test - or, what is equivalent, have equivalent training/experience in how to use it. This is true with take-home, in-class, internet, no internet, whatever. So rather than write a really hard exam assuming they do have that access (or waste a lot of time teaching them how when that isn't the point), I go the other way. This is even true for checking, by the way; checking a tricky problem with a calculator when another person can't/doesn't know how gives a significant time advantage, and using the calculator to "get" the answer gives a big advantage to someone even if you have to show the work. (I love Archimedes' quote on this relative to the discovery of the volume of a pyramid, where he says that Democritus should get significant credit for discovering it without proof, even if Eudoxus ended up proving it.) Anyway, others do it their way, and there is no magical solution or optimal way. I just wanted to raise the issue - and cheating is a significant one that I view as not exactly the same as DRM, though I understand the allusion. Have fun and good luck! - kcrisman -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-edu" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
