Shadow Scholar: Super Hero or Super Villain

So, until today, I have never heard of the Shadow Scholar.  Have you?  If you have, you were probably just as shocked as I was.  Or, maybe – you have used his services.  The Shadow Scholar has written numerous papers and completed just as many courses for students of all levels.  

On November 12, 2010, the Shadow Scholar gave The Chronicle of Higher Education an indepth perspective into his unique profession by writing the article, “The Shadow Scholar -The man who writes your students' papers tells his story”.   Under the name of “Ed Dante” the Shadow Scholar details “the story of how he makes a living writing papers for a custom-essay company and to describe the extent of student cheating he has observed.” (Editor Note, 2010).  Plagiarism at it’s finest!

Here are some highlights of Mr. Dante’s article:

·         He has written over 5,000 pages of scholarly material in the past year.

·         He will earn approximately $66,000 this year.

·         He has written papers for all levels of education: high school – doctorial degrees.

·         On any given day, he works on an upwards of 20 assignments.

·         His company generates tens of thousands of dollars.

·         His work is not limited to anyone content area.  He has written papers in the areas of cognitive psychology, business, hospital, accounting, cinema, labor relations, history, pharmacology, maritime security, sports management – and many, many more.  (Dante, 2010)

His warning to teachers and educators, “You've never heard of me, but there's a good chance that you've read some of my work. I'm a hired gun, a doctor of everything, an academic mercenary. My customers are your students. I promise you that. Somebody in your classroom uses a service that you can't detect, that you can't defend against, that you may not even know exists.” (Dante, 2010)

This man has been given passwords to learning systems to access pertinent course documents, and he has even participated in online classes as if he were the actual student.  

However, what is even more concerning to me is the underlying message that I believe the Shadow Scholar is trying to convey – “You would be amazed by the incompetence of your students' writing.” (Dante, 2010)   Although, Mr. Scholar or Mr. Dante – whatever you prefer to call him – gives an example of an international student who can barely speark/write English (as he shares actual pieces of her emails in the article), he wonders how educators don’t pick up on the blatant cheating that occurs.   “Do you ever wonder how a student who struggles to formulate complete sentences in conversation manages to produce marginally competent research? How does that student get by you?” (Dante, 2010)

His article is kind of ironic.  He is provoking educators to take another look at what their students write, even though that could lessen the number of clients who ultimately use his services. 

So, how often do you evaluate what your students write?  Do you have techniques for detecting work that is not their own?  Do value the article that the Shadow Scholar has written?  To your students, he is a Super Hero.  Is he a Super Villain to you?

Reference:

The Shadow Scholar - The man who writes your students' papers tells his story. Dante, Ed. The Chroicle of Higher Education. 11/12/10. Retrieved 11/20/2010.