Group work used to mean making phone calls, coordinating schedules and finding a neutral meeting place. Not so since the advent of e-mail, Facebook and virtual conferencing. Collaboration is more convenient, but online tools also open new avenues for cheating. Students can post test questions, compare answers and sell papers, all at the click of a button. It's a tempting trail, but according to professors, students who give in are just lining up for failure.

Whether a course is online or in class, students can find a way to cheat, according to Diana Gish, CMT, AHDI-F, former education/best practices coordinator for the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity and an instructor for M-TEC, Fairlawn, OH, and Paula Stoltz, CMT, AHDI-F, director of medical transcription education for M-TEC, Fairlawn, OH. "New loopholes and methods of plagiarism and dishonesty are creatively tried in any setting," they said.

Professors give students the benefit of the doubt, assuming they'll complete assignments with honesty and integrity--there's no character test upon admission, Gish and Stoltz noted. After all, students who choose to cheat are only harming themselves. "While it may be in the best interest of students if instructors definitively identified them as cheaters sooner than later, the 'lesson' is better learned when the student proves to themselves that they reap what they sow," they said.

Before you Google those exam questions you heard someone posted online, consider these points:

Tools should enhance education, not cut corners.
Forums and blogs can point to resources, offer different perspectives on a classroom topic and even help you find a mentor. But lifting content from someone else's post abuses the community and curbs your skills development. You may be able to sneak in unauthorized searches for an online assignment, but that trusty Web site won't help you make a split-second decision in the real world. Collaborating on assignments that are meant to be done individually can also make the transition to an independent career more difficult, the professors said.

"Experts" aren't always who they seem.
It's tough to police social media sites, so users are free to embellish their authority on a subject. Someone who offers to complete your research assignment or correct answers to an exam may not be the A+ alum you thought they were.

Instead, stick to approved resources, Gish and Stoltz advised. Professors have seen the good and the bad, so their course materials and recommended Web sites should be all you need to succeed. If you're struggling with a new concept, consult with a real expert-your instructor. The one-on-one interaction (even if it's via Internet) not only builds trust, but also keeps bogus advice at bay.

If you can find it, instructors probably can, too.
After clicking through countless links, you find that coveted blog with complete, formatted assignments up for grabs. No instructor would have the time or curiosity to navigate to that page, right? Don't be so sure, according to Gish and Stoltz.  "Instructors monitor the same chats, forums and listservs students use," they said.

Students have been caught posting test questions on Web forums. Many schools also have the technology to search thousands of articles to find a given sentence, so they'll know if you cut-and-paste a research paper. 

Cheaters never prosper.
Students may not get caught, but cheating inevitably takes a toll. Tweeting answers and collaborating on forums may work for class assignments, but you won't have those tools at credentialing exams. And without valuable skills in the workplace, you'll face a floundering career. "Cheaters will be unable to achieve industry-established credentials, unable to research successfully or supervise others, and unable to meet employer expectations," Gish and Stoltz noted. "It is as simple as that." 

Cheryl McEvoy is an assistant editor with ADVANCE.