Ensuring Academic Integrity in Online Learning

Ensuring Academic Integrity in Online Learning

With technology use in the classroom increasing, the focus on academic integrity in online environments has never been greater. Though much of what educators have done in the past also applies with online learning, there are additional things you can do to help ensure academic integrity.

Students and Academic Integrity

Ensuring academic integrity is a concern for all educators, regardless of how students complete their learning. Unique challenges are presented, though, when students use devices to complete some or all of their learning. Fortunately, technology also affords educators and administrators the ability to set up automatic alerts, checks, and systems so that students honestly complete their assigned schoolwork.


Download our guide for helping ensure academic integrity in online learning

Establishing Academic Integrity Policies and Procedures

Set the foundation for academic integrity in online learning

Core Curriculum

The best first step any educator or school should take is establishing an honor code. Cheating is sometimes the result of students not understanding what is and isn’t acceptable, and simply explaining what constitutes cheating (plagiarism in particular) can make a significant difference. Effective honor codes make clear that the work students submit must be their own, and they have completed it using the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired over time.

Test Preparation

Additionally, setting real consequences for breaking the honor code is a good way to help students understand the severity of doing so. Consider creating a contract for students and families to sign that clearly lays out online learning expectations and consequences for not meeting them so everyone understands what students need to do to be successful in their coursework.

See a sample student contract that helps ensure academic integrity in online learning

Tips for Educators and Administrators

After establishing an honor code and consequences, there are additional tips, permissions, and policies educators can utilize to help foster academic integrity among their students.

Within the Edgenuity System

  • Implement Teacher Review and spot-check ungraded student work. Teacher Review alerts educators when a student has reached an assessment, giving the teacher the chance to review the work students have submitted. This presents an opportunity for educators to confirm that students are completing their work as they’re supposed to (checking student eNotes, for example), and to also check in to make sure they’re understanding the content.
  • Consider the number of assessment attempts students are allowed, as well as grade weights. If students are allowed only one, or even zero, retakes for heavily weighted assessments after they’ve failed them, they know they must work hard to do well on them. Review these settings periodically to be sure that they’re working for your students.
  • When Save/Exit is turned on, students can start working in an assessment, save their progress, and return to finish the assessment when they have the time. If you have this feature enabled, consider configuring it to hide viewed questions, so students cannot return to answer any questions they saw before saving and exiting the assessment.

Outside the Edgenuity System

  • Don’t leave educator passwords anywhere students can find them. While many people find writing passwords down to be helpful, consider using a password manager application, which can securely store a large number of passwords.
  • Don’t post assessments or answer keys on easily found and accessed websites. If you can find these documents with a simple web search, students can, too.
  • Block websites on your school network that are known to post answers to assessment questions. We do regular web crawls to look for this, but if you come across any Edgenuity content on the Internet, please notify Customer Support and we will take the appropriate steps to address this.

IP Registry and the SecureLock Browser Experience

Limit what your students can do while working in Edgenuity courses

IP Registry

When activated, IP Registry can block students from accessing assessments from home—or block students from accessing Edgenuity from outside the school network at all. If the system bypasses an assessment for a student working at home, the student will automatically be presented with that assessment when he or she returns to school.

To enable IP Registry, school IT staff can simply enter the IP addresses (or ranges) of the firewall or edge router that represents their network’s gateway to the internet. Exceptions can be added for individual students as needed, including those who are homebound.

SecureLock Browser Experience

Schools and districts can also implement Edgenuity’s SecureLock Browser Experience to help ensure academic integrity in online learning. The SecureLock Browser Experience will prevent students from opening new tabs, browsers, and programs while they’re working in Edgenuity.

The SecureLock Browser Experience leverages your district’s existing Active Directory or Google Admin setup to create a single Edgenuity profile that students must use to access their coursework. For no additional cost, the SecureLock Browser Experience is easy to setup and maintain, and is a great option for schools and districts to go even further in establishing academic integrity in online learning.

Learn more about implementing the SecureLock Browser Experience

Setting Student Expectations

Let your students know what they need to do to be successful online learners

In addition to turning in honest and complete work, students should know the day-to-day expectations of them so they can be successful online learners.

To start, make sure all of your students know the following:

  • How many days per week they’ll be expected to log in to their course(s)
  • How many hours each day or week they should expect to work
  • How long they’ll have to complete courses, and what happens if they do not meet the deadline
  • What the passing thresholds are, and how many retakes they’ll be allowed for assessments
  • How to manage their time, communicate when they need help, and stay motivated to complete their schoolwork even when it’s difficult

At a minimum, make sure to clearly define attendance policies and set target dates so each student’s Course Map will display the correct due date for each activity. It’s important for students to understand their school responsibilities, especially if they work from home without daily, face-to-face interaction with a teacher or mentor.

Downloadable Resources

Downloadable Resources

Flyer Download

Considerations for Student Success Flyer

Use this guide to determine the details and policies to consider as your students start completing their learning online.



Flyer Download

Strategies for Student Success Booklet

This booklet features strategies that educators at all levels can use to help foster online learning success.



Considerations for Student Success

Edgenuity Student Goal Sheet

Use this goal sheet with your students to help set and track their goals and progress in each of their courses.



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