THE IMPACT OF PRIOR EXPERIENCE OF E-LEARNING AND E-ASSESSMENT ON STUDENTS' AND TEACHERS' APPROACHES TO THE USE OF A STUDENT AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORSHIP CHECKING SYSTEM

E-assessment for online learning has a number of advantages, particularly in enabling easier access for students working at a distance from the main campus. However, it also presents a number of challenges, including the higher risk of impersonation, contract cheating and plagiarism, which can undermine the quality of online learning and assessment and challenge the management of the universities offering online education. To address these challenges, the European Commission funded TeSLA project has defined and developed a system which ensures the authentication of learner identity and authorship in online and blended learning environments, thus allowing assessment to be securely carried out remotely. This paper addresses cheating and plagiarism as a challenge for the introduction of e-assessment and online learning in a campus-based university at the stage of transformation of its educational model from face-to-face to online learning. The study attempts to identify how the level of experience in online education and assessment impacts on the perspectives that teachers and students have with respect to the introduction of e-assessment and in particular the challenges related to the potential increase in cheating and plagiarism, and to explore the ideas the students and teachers have on prevention and reduction of cheating and plagiarism in assessment through technology.