Reducing Bots and Fraudulent Students

Colleges are experiencing fraudulent activity by bots. While the state and our local colleagues are battling these bots, instructor actions are an important component of defense. Building connections with your students through humanizing techniques and regular and substantive interaction is not only beneficial to your students' learning, it can also help you identify and remove fraudulent students from your courses! Below are some strategies you might consider to reduce fraudulent activity and to make space in your class for our real students. 

Initial Check-Ins

• Assign a variety of check-ins, rather than a classic introductory post.
  • Add a syllabus or orientation quiz that students have to pass.
  • Assign a getting to know you survey to learn about your students.
  • Require your students to update their profile picture in Canvas.
  • Ask students to create a video check-in assignment.
  • Incorporate assignments using interactive tools for engagement (Canvas Studio, PlayPosit, PebblePad, etc).
• Contextualize your check-ins to your specific class.
  • Rather than asking students to post a text, ask them to share an image or a meme related to this specific class, and ask them to explain its relevance.
• Require multiple check-in assignments during the first week of class.
  • Try implementing a number of the ideas above.
  • More required activities at the outset of class should reduce the likelihood that the bot completes the required check-ins.

Regular Contact

• State in your syllabus and orientation letter that students may be dropped if they fail to submit assignments or participate for more than a week or module.
• Track student activity and assignment submissions each week or module.
• Reach out to students who are one day past the due date. Allow them 24 hours to submit their work or contact you. You can easily send messages to students who have not submitted directly from the Canvas Gradebook or Inbox.
• Consider dropping a student who does not respond or submit their work after being contacted.

Interactive Activities

• Reaction to current event: In a discussion, post a text, poem, excerpt, article, link to a current event, etc. Have students respond first by adding an image that reflects their reaction, interpretation, or connection to the stimulus provided. Then write or record an explanation of the image and the connection to the stimulus.
• Group activities or peer review assignments: Provide opportunities for students to collaborate with each other on assignments using both formal and informal group discussions, projects, and peer reviews. Students can help you identify who is not contributing.
• Video assignment walk-through: Ask students to use Canvas Studio to record a video or audio walk-through of their work, explaining how they completed the assignment and their work process.
• Feedback responses: Include an assignment where students are asked to respond to grading comments or annotations.

Remember that the goal is to make space for our real students, so the quicker you can discourage or identify the bots, the quicker you can help our real students.

For more information about attendance tracking and participation requirements in distance education courses, please see DE Policies & Guidance.