As the locus of teaching, learning and assessment shifts to an electronic, rather than a physical, space, the problem has neither vanished nor diminished but merely adapted to its new environment like a persistent strain of bacteria. The discussion, which has also shifted online, is now being fuelled by fears that the electronic environment will prove hospitable to cheating and cause it, or at least allow it, to flourish. Educators participating in the debate evince a range of attitudes toward student cheating, whether offline and in-person or online and at a distance. Others take it much more seriously and share elaborate schemes for ensuring honesty. If you expect someone to succeed they will, if you expect them to fail, they will.
Considerable attention is given to the question of exactly who suffers when students cheat.
Some say it is only the cheaters themselves, whether they are caught or not. Others say it is also the honest students who suffer. We lose credibility and support. The general impression seems to be that cheating is indeed on the rise in colleges and universities. But for the most part, students who don't cheat aren't going to start simply because it's become easier.