Authenticating Online Students: Practically Speaking

1. Authenticating Online Students: Practically Speaking Patricia James October 15, 2013 For audio call Toll Free 1-888-886-3951 and use PIN/code 117599

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4. Authentication • Translation: Is the student taking the class the same student as the one enrolled in the class????

5. Agenda The Problem---What Problem? Accreditation Solutions (for now) Higher Purpose

6. The Problem

7. The Problem

8. The Problem

9. The Problem The problem is that we aren’t able to determine, for sure, who’s taking our online classes……

10. The Problem The problem is that we aren’t able to determine, for sure, who’s taking our online classes…… ….or can we?

11. The Problem The problem is that we aren’t able to determine, for sure, who’s taking our online classes…… ….or why should we try?

12. Is there a bigger picture?

13. What’s at stake?

14. What’s at stake?

15. What’s at stake?

16. What’s at stake?

17. What’s at stake? But then….

18. What’s at stake? But then again….

19. Everything has a risk.

20. What’s at stake?

21. What’s at stake?

22. So, what do we care about? We care about: Integrity and student success

23. So, I warned you! HEOA | Title 5 | ACCJC

24. So, I warned you! X X HEOA | Title 5 | ACCJC

25. The Problem Higher Education Opportunities Act 2008 says… Section 495 of the HEOA 2008: ‘‘(ii) the agency or association requires an institutionthat offers distance education or correspondence educationto have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance educationor correspondence education course or program is the samestudent who participates in and completes and receives credit for the course.”

26. The Problem Clarification, please. The Conferees [legislators]expect institutions that offer distance education to have security mechanisms in place, such asidentification numbers or other pass code information required to be used each time the studentparticipates in class time or coursework on-line. As new identification technologies are developedand become more sophisticated, less expensive and more mainstream, the Conferees anticipate that accrediting agencies or associations and institutions will consider their use in the future.

27. The Problem You don’t have to ….. ….use or rely on any technology that interferes with the privacy of the student and expect that students’ privacy will be protected with whichever method theinstitutions choose to utilize.

28. The Problem Final Language says we have options. Higher Education Act 602.17 Application of standards in reaching an accreditation decision. (g) Requires institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education to have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit. The agency meets this requirement if it -- (1) Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework by using, at the option of the institution, methods such as -- (i) A secure login and pass code; (ii) proctored examinations; and (iii) New or other technologies and practices that are effective in verifying student identification; (2) Makes clear in writing that institutions must use processes that protect student privacy and notify students of projected additional student charges associated with verification of student identity, if any , at the time of registration or enrollment.

29. The Problem What’s going on now? • Meetings to update the HEOA started in September of 2013 • Updates are scheduled for completion by the end of 2014 • It took five years longer than anticipated to complete. • So………………….. What should we be doing???????

30. The Solution Meanwhile, follow the options. • ACCJC: Stick with what we are doing about having “processesthrough which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit”

31. The Solution ACCJC is looking for examples of processes and practices as follows: Institutions must use: • secure log-in and password, OR proctored examinations, • and/or new or other technologies • and/or practices that are developed and effective in verifying each student’s identification • Institutions have to have appropriate policies that protect student privacy and notify students if there are any additional charges associated with verification of identity at the time of enrollment • Monitor regular and effective engagement between students and instructors

32. The Solution Okay….. Accreditation agencies have to ensure that colleges have processes established that ensure that the student we registered is the student taking the course. • We have do develop processes! • We have to adopt the processes! • They have to be written down someplace! (Evidence) • Everyone has to follow them!

33. The Solution Here’s ours as an example: • Authentication of Students: • All MSJC courses are conducted within the college Blackboard course management system. The District supports user login and password authentication to uniquely identify each student. Students each have a unique user ID and password for Blackboard that is tied into the DataTelWebAdvisor registration system. A specific check-in policy exists at the beginning of each semester in each class that requires the students to post in the class discussion forum by a specific date. This gives us the ability to identify no-show students and verify the attendance of registered students in the course. • Faculty monitor the “attendance” of students within an online course through their active engagement with the academic activities within the course. The faculty will attempt to contact students who are not engaged or will drop students based on a drop policy that is required in every syllabus. • Faculty are trained in the practice of providing multiple measures of assessing student progress within online courses. • Plagiarism, cheating, and financial aid fraud, is also defined on the college online learning web site under new and current students’ pages. Information Link

34. Not the Solution Oh My! • Web Cams • Personal Data • Keystroke analysis

35. The Solution That was icky. Now what? • Let’s discuss why it’s important to us that students don’t engage in cheating, plagiarism, and fraud! • Tell them why it’s important----

36. The Solution Professional Development Opportunities to Develop Multiple Measures of Assessment • · Use of multiple assessment techniques in place of high stakes exams. • Most distance learning providers use multi-faceted assessment strategies rather than high stakes proctored exams. Assessments are designed to be frequent, varied, and authentic to the application of learning. Instructors rely on interactive discussions, writing assignments, quizzes, capstone projects, group work, and online exams. Assessments are often modified from semester to semester.

37. The Solution Professional Development Opportunities to Develop Multiple Measures of Assessment • · Greater reliance on written assignments and threaded discussions. • Students demonstrate learning outcomes through written assignments and interaction with the instructor via discussions. Instructors become familiar with students' writing styles through online discussions. Many online instructors report that they have greater confidence in the authenticity of their online students' work than their classroom students.

38. The Solution Professional Development Opportunities to Develop Multiple Measures of Assessment • · Use of test banks, and timed test delivery. • Test questions are randomly drawn from banks of questions, so each student gets a different set of questions. Most tests are designed to be open-book, but once a student begins a test, they have a limited amount of time to complete it, and usually only one attempt.

39. What else can we do?

40. What else can we do? Increase engagement!

41. Thanks for not heeding my warning!

42. Resources • Resources: • American Council on Education: Nice Analysis: http://www.acenet.edu/e-newsletters/p2p/ACE_HEA_analysis_818.pdf • WCET: Authentication resources: http://wcet.wiche.edu/learn/student-authentication • Actual Language: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ315.110.pdf • Presentation by Barbara Beno http://wiche.edu/attachment_library/conference_presentations/whats_around_the_corner_beno.pdf • Presentation by Laurie McNabb http://wiche.edu/attachment_library/conference_presentations/whats_around_the_corner_mcnabb.pdf

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