Administrators at eduKan, a consortium of colleges in Kansas, have taken measures to increase the academic integrity of their Distance Education program using technology. eduKan will be able to review data collected from their newly implemented biometric student identity proofing technology, BioSig-ID, to proactively follow-up on any one suspected of cheating in their online courses.

Recent polls show almost 70% of college students have cheated at some point. As online enrollments continue to grow, so do concerns over academic integrity. eduKan has been delivering online education since 1998 and has seen their online enrollment increase by an average of 25% over the past few years with students from the U.S. and abroad. Determined to find a proactive approach to control unpredictable proctoring costs while also enhancing global student identity security protocols, eduKan selected BioSig-ID, a software-only biometric solution. eduKan is the first institution in the country to have a student identity proofing process integrated into their learning management system.

“We felt it was necessary to use technology to proactively deter cheating,” says Dr. Mark Sarver, CEO of eduKan. “We wanted to make sure that this built-in security measure would not be cumbersome or intrusive and be cost-effective while not burdening our staff to manage it.”

“eduKan was concerned with costs, ease of use, privacy, accuracy and accountability,” said Jeffrey Maynard, CEO, Biometric Signature ID. “BioSig-ID does not require additional hardware or software to be installed and any PC or mobile device can be used to accept the unique movements made with the mouse, stylus or touchpad to provide a positive student identification. Once they’ve created their BioSig-ID password, it is used to validate the student within a 99.97% accuracy rating. This validation plus the detailed BioSig-ID audit trail reporting can help identify anomalies that can lead to confirming any fraudulent activity.”

Using BioSig-ID’s reporting tool, eduKan can proactively compare the IP address, date, time, and activity of each student, and to confirm the students were in the same physical location, taking the same test, at the same time. This information will allow administrators and faculty members to monitor activities of any group of students whose actions are flagged as irregular and take the necessary action needed.

Although a biometric solution started out as a way to eliminate the cost and aggravation of proctoring tests for students, faculty, and staff, BioSig-ID now plays a greater role in proving that the student taking the course and the test is indeed the actual student who registered for the course. Unlike other institutions that are front-loading courses with mandatory faculty-student engagement activities, eduKan has found a technologically advanced solution that controls costs and meets accreditation mandates for student identity proofing.

About eduKan

eduKan provides access to quality higher education, including ESL courses, via college degrees, certificates, and individual courses, with affordable online classes. eduKan was founded in 1998 as a cooperative effort between member colleges to offer courses via the Internet. eduKan’s consortium schools are all accredited Kansas learning institutions with excellent reputations and long histories of providing degrees in traditional settings, as well as through online courses. eduKan Consortium member institutions are: : Barton Community College, in Great Bend; Colby Community College, in Colby; Dodge City Community College, in Dodge City; Garden City Community College, in Garden City; Pratt Community College, in Pratt; and Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, in Liberal. For more information, please visit http://www.edukan.org.