FYI, I do not consider plagiarism a form of cheating, it is stealing and an entirely different conversation.

The Problem

The American Education system has frowned upon cheating and deemed it nothing short of despicable. The unfortunate few who get caught face stiff punishments and expulsions, while a good chunk of student population cheats and lies their way through school unscathed. 

According to a report made in 2005 by Rutgers University professor Donald McCabe for The Center for Academic Integrity 70% of public high school students admit to serious test cheating. 

If you Can’t Stop Them, Embrace Them

I propose that cheating in all forms be encouraged. Talk during tests, bring in cheat sheets for exams, collaborate on homework and projects, use your cell phone during a test. Your ability to locate information that you don’t know is far more valuable then your ability to retain that information. 

When asked the speed of light, Einstein replied, “Why bother carrying information about the speed of light around in my head, when I can just look it up in a book?” 

Imagine how much better you could grasp a subject if your teacher had to design their lessons and tests around the expectation of cheating in the forms of collaboration, sharing, and access to the Internet. This would not only force teachers to create more intuitive and unique lesson plans and exams, but will encourage collaboration and sharing between students. My colleague, Chris Alfano, put it well,

“True mastery of an idea comes only when one is tasked with conveying it to another. Bit-torrent provides a perfect model. We must reform our schools to tap the upstream capacity of their students to fill the demand. The strongest networks, however, are the ones with dedicated seeds. Teachers must become seeds as students work together to pull their collective weight.” 

Let us cheat, Let us help teach ourselves!

Original Link:
http://bit.ly/4cTL23

So this guy Russel Tice, a former NSA analyst, the same guy who came out in 2005 with the NSA’s illegal wiretapping ordeal is back. Tice told Keith Olbermann on MSNBC Countdown that not only has the NSA still been conducting warrant-less wire tapping, but that its bigger than we thought. Here’s the video:

6 minutes in Tice says “I don’t know what was done with the data”, which I’m sure is the truth, but can you imagine the possibilities of this sort of operation? Imagine if politicians were spied on and all of their conversations and interactions recorded. The type of dirt that could and would be dug up would be easy leverage to support virtually any sort of legislation the leverager wants.

No one should have that sort of power. I’m seriously blown away by this, its every one of our wildest paranoia about big brother coming TRUE. For years we’ve seen Hollywood run wild with the whole “big brother is watching” idea, and I always laughed it off… you know its just Hollywood. But now, if Tice’s information is correct, its all real.

I’m glad he stepped up, I can’t wait to see where this goes, especially with Obama in control now. This could and should be a defining moment in the earliest stage of his presidency. His reaction to this matter will be the first crucial to step to setting the tone for his presidency.