While researching the SOPA and PIPA acts, we decided to try and find textbooks online in order to relate back to the students. After all, textsbooks are copyrighted material used by every student in the school uses. When we looked on the recently shut down site Megaupload, however, we didn’t just find textbooks, we found the test bank for 7th Edition Campbell Biology textbook, the book that the A.P. Biology class uses.

While it is not known whether or not students from Edina have been using the test bank, it is known that questions from this test bank have been used on previous A.P. Biology tests. So what actions can be taken to prevent this type of cheating? Not much from the supply side, as A.P. Biology teacher Mark Harelstad said, “It’s not Edina doing it, it’s the world.” Teachers, however, can take steps against this by creating their own tests.

When asked about this, Mr. Harelstad said “I know the tests are out there, Campbell isn’t the only testbook online.” It turns out that you can find almost any test online. “Any test that is provided by a manufacturer can be found in some form or another,” he said.

This is nothing new. Tests banks are prone to reproduction. In the past, old tests would be sold to students in person, but now with sites like Megaupload, test banks can easily be found for free. Not only does this considering all the copyright infringment bring up the issue of scholastic dishonesty, it is also makes it a legal issue as well as it becomes stealing of trademarked property.

This is obviously a very serious issue that Edina will have to face. After all the Internet is a very big place and with the right amount of digging you can find just about anything you want. Teachers can write new tests and try different assessments but in the end, it is up to the student to make the moral choice.