Selected E-Course Controls: Accounting Department Heads Views

Abstract

Use of the Internet continues to increase, and new technology continues to provide more and better communication options.  As more and more students choose to enroll in Internet courses (e-courses), technological advances offer various ways to control academic dishonesty.  A questionnaire was developed and distributed to chairpersons of accounting departments to obtain their views about the use of several technological enhancements that could serve as controls in e-courses.  Such controls would require that some of these newer physical enhancements be on students’ computers when they register for an e-course.  Respondents strongly favored requiring students to provide a digital photo ID and audio capabilities when registering for an e-course.  Other potential controls were not supported.  Those surveyed also tended to believe that students should use a web cam when completing examinations on-line and that faculty should compare the photo ID with the web cam image.  In other settings, they felt that such a comparison was unnecessary.  Overall, the accounting department heads surveyed endorsed requiring the student who enrolls in an e-course to obtain some existing technology, and they expect the student to be prepared to spend more than $100 to obtain the technology.