automaticable

We have all read the news stories: students kicked off of sports teams for incriminating pictures on Facebook or recent graduates not getting jobs because the employer Googled their name and found controversial discussions on message boards. These kinds of stories are generally met with frustration, but are ultimately accepted as OK since it was the individuals decision to incriminate themselves on the internet. But what happens when activities that happen often offline, such as student study groups, start moving online? According to TheStar.com (via Slashdot), Ryerson University believes these actions should end in expulsion.

I’ll give you a quick overview, but for a full understanding of the story check out the link above. One student set up a Facebook group where he and other students would ask questions and provide tips, not solutions, to homework problems. Over 100 students had joined the group and have treated it as a virtual “study group.” They even named the Facebook group the same as the popular group study hall on campus.

Because the actions of the students are nearly identical to how students have been studying in groups for decades, this issue is a slippery slope. What if the students were to bring a tape recorder to their offline study sessions so they could refer back to the conversations? What if copies of this tape were made for all the students that participated in the study group? What if this tape were then shared online for other students wishing to participate in virtual study groups? Where is the line drawn here. Because this started as an offline medium, is it ok? Or do these faculty members think students should only be working independently in the first place? I can’t imagine what college would have been like without guidance from my peers.

What this comes down to, in my mind, is a lack of understanding on the part of the faculty. If precedence is set here, then I don’t know a single student that has not “cheated” his or her way through college. Everyone relies on their peers for help, and any university that tries to quash this is in serious denial.

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