English has become the de-facto language for air travel and academic research as well. When efficient, accurate communication is required, there needs to be a common language that is used. The choice of the language isn't so important, as long as the community comes to a consensus (whether explicitly or implicitly).
I love how the minds of so many Slashdotters' immediately jump to how the current issue will spell out doom for all of humanity. The truth is that only a tiny, tiny fraction of all births come from in vitro fertilization, even in first-world countries. Even if every single one of these kids were the clone of the exact same person, our genetic diversity would do just fine for the foreseeable future.
I think only trying to solve the cheating problem by coming up with more effective ways to detect/punish it is the wrong approach to take here. The fact is that we do now have this vast amount of reference material available to us online via Wikipedia and other websites. Rather than try to prohibit the use of these resources, coursework should be designed so that answers cannot be obtained by copy and paste. In other words, assignments should emphasize concepts and critical thinking, instead of just regurgitating facts covered during lectures. Don't ask students to write a paper on Thomas Edison, ask them to write about how Thomas Edison's inventions have impacted modern society, or even better, how they've impacted their lives specifically. While it still may be possible to cheat on such scenarios by buying papers online, it becomes more difficult and much easier to detect. Another method which works very well is giving oral exams, as you can really see different students' thought processes as they answer questions and discuss topics (though this may be infeasible for very large classes). Once students start doing work the real world, they're going to have all this online material available to them; why should coursework at universities be any different?
Slashdot Mirror
English has become the de-facto language for air travel and academic research as well. When efficient, accurate communication is required, there needs to be a common language that is used. The choice of the language isn't so important, as long as the community comes to a consensus (whether explicitly or implicitly).
... since I was just beginning to get tired of devoting 40+ hours/week of my time to World of Warcraft.
You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who advocates telling people what to do with their bodies.
Really? You've never met anyone with an anti-drug, anti-euthanasia, or anti-homosexuality agenda?
I love how the minds of so many Slashdotters' immediately jump to how the current issue will spell out doom for all of humanity. The truth is that only a tiny, tiny fraction of all births come from in vitro fertilization, even in first-world countries. Even if every single one of these kids were the clone of the exact same person, our genetic diversity would do just fine for the foreseeable future.
I think only trying to solve the cheating problem by coming up with more effective ways to detect/punish it is the wrong approach to take here. The fact is that we do now have this vast amount of reference material available to us online via Wikipedia and other websites. Rather than try to prohibit the use of these resources, coursework should be designed so that answers cannot be obtained by copy and paste. In other words, assignments should emphasize concepts and critical thinking, instead of just regurgitating facts covered during lectures. Don't ask students to write a paper on Thomas Edison, ask them to write about how Thomas Edison's inventions have impacted modern society, or even better, how they've impacted their lives specifically. While it still may be possible to cheat on such scenarios by buying papers online, it becomes more difficult and much easier to detect. Another method which works very well is giving oral exams, as you can really see different students' thought processes as they answer questions and discuss topics (though this may be infeasible for very large classes). Once students start doing work the real world, they're going to have all this online material available to them; why should coursework at universities be any different?