Facebook student Avenir won’t be expelled
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Already suffering under a barrage of unwanted media attention, Toronto’s Ryerson University has wisely decided not to expel Chris Avenir, the computer engineering student who faced being kicked out for running a Facebook study group.
In a landmark ruling on Internet use, the engineering faculty appeals committee found no proof the Facebook site actually led to cheating by any of its 147 users, even though it invited them to “post solutions” to homework that was worth 10% of the final mark, says the Toronto Star.
But Avenir didn’t get off completely.
Deciding the site provided “the potential for large-scale cheating,” the panel ruled Avenir should get zero on that 10% portion, “which won’t change his passing grade,” and that he attend a workshop on academic integrity, adds the story.
Avenir’s laywer, John Adair, said his client was relieved, “but disappointed a faculty appeals committee ruled he committed academic misconduct when he ran a chemistry group on the online social networking site, where students swapped questions and were invited to ‘input solutions,’ to homework assignments,” says the Canwest News Service.
Avenir will decide whether or not to appeal the ruling to the school’s senate appeals committee, says the story, adding:
“Someone saying you are a cheater is no small thing,” said Adair. “Academic misconduct in the online world is still undefined and until we have some definition, it is not appropriate to label someone a cheat.”
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Also See:
Toronto Star – Facebook user can stay at Ryerson, March 19, 2008
Canwest News Service – Ryerson student spared expulsion March 18, 2008
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March 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Would it be criminal too if they reunited in the physical world and exchanged answers for that homework?. I see no crime here, that same thing could have been done in a normal study group. Is making a study group illegal?. Well, maybe they should be, that would increase their appeal and get more people to study. Wait a moment, it´s great!. Make nerds the new rebels, and we will see some more teens going that way!. But, somehow, I doubt that is what they were thinking…
March 19th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
“Make nerds the new rebels, and we will see some more teens going that way!”
That’s funny! And it just might work…. hahahaha
March 19th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
“Deciding the site provided “the potential for large-scale cheating….
So does a xerox machine. What’s wrong these people? This guy’s freedom of speech was at stake, not to mention the negative attention and humiliation he was given, or the anxiety he suffered of potential expulsion. I seriously hope he appeals this case and, if he wins, sues them for wrongful admonishment, harassment, and misconduct on the part of the faculty.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:12 am
I would give the guy top marks for his ingenuity in assisting fellow students to connect and share knowledge. I think in many exam papers there is very little leeway for variations in correct and expected answers. Especially in engineering, scientific and mathematics fields. Most answers would be the same with only slight wording and layout variations.
Maybe they DO want students to fail?
I’ve often wondered if it was even necessary to go to a (paid institution) university or college to sit exams. I reckon I could do rather well in a fraction of the allotted time if left to my own study with generic prospectus and the internet and access to a library. Minus the often idiotic and inane lecturers, beer, drugs, free downloads and prostitutes of course
March 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Too much pressure from the unstoppable internet? hypocrite SOBs.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:33 am
Well congrats for not being expelled…
I understand the teacher didn’t want kids doing homework assignments together, but I still think that is wrong in itself. Isn’t the purpose of higher education to collaborate and learn? See what happens if you limit the interactivity of peers at a high-level research university…instantly it becomes not to research-oriented or as successful a place to learn as before.
Shouldn’t the teacher be reprimanded for hindering the ability of fertile and free-thinking academic minds to collaborate and learn and progress the ways in which they best see fit?
Tell the world what you think…you know where I stand.
http://www.ChrisDidntCheat.com