Even though she had never heard of ChaCha before, Ball State University faculty member Peggy Hunter said she will now check it out.
No, it's not an online spin-off of the Latin American dance craze.
Launched in January by co-founders Brad Bostic and Scott Jones, ChaCha is an Indianapolis-based online information service that allows users to text any question to ChaCha (242242) and receive an answer in a matter of minutes. The service is free of charge but users still have to pay the standard text message fees on their phones.
Hunter, University Computing Services general labs coordinator, said her concern was students using ChaCha to cheat on tests and homework in campus computer labs, even though she said cheating is rarely a problem.
Among other things, ChaCha answers questions about books, movies, sports, celebrities and politics. Experts who work for ChaCha sit at computers all day answering questions, allowing users to get a hold of all types of information at any time; wherever they may be.
According to ChaCha's official Web site, the service is similar to "having a smart friend you can call or text for answers on your cell phone anytime for free."
For students, ChaCha could be helpful for studying, but there is also a danger of students using ChaCha to get answers for tests by sneaking a cell phone into a class or inQsit testing lab.
UCS has a strict policy against bringing cell phones into testing environment, and surveillance cameras that were installed in the inQsit labs last year increase the odds of getting caught cheating, Hunter said.
Nonetheless Hunter said there have been a few instances in which students had their cell phones out at the inQsit testing labs.
"If there are any suspicions or something's been reported the [lab monitor] can let me know and we can go back and replay that [on the surveillance videos]," Hunter said. "Then we can download the file and the professor [of the student] can have it."
Ball State freshman Chris Pritchard, who said he uses ChaCha a few times a week,
"[ChaCha] is pretty much just like Google," he said. "[Except] if you're not near the Internet you can just send [ChaCha] a text."
According to an article from The Philadelphia Inquirer, many universities across the country have implemented no cell phone policies in classes due to the rising popularity of ChaCha.
The article goes on to say that although experts acknowledge the use of electronic cheating in schools, the usual ways of cheating such as students peering over the shoulder of their neighbor are still more common.
Ball State professors typically have a no cell phone policy, including psychology professor Rachel Blalock, who said she bans cell phones from the classroom during tests and quizzes.
"I do require my students to put their cell phones away," she said. "I also have my TA's walk the aisles to try and discourage roaming eyes."
Pritchard said he uses ChaCha mostly for simple things such as asking the scores of recent sports games.
He said he did not think using ChaCha to cheat on tests was a common trend among students.
"I've never even thought about that," he said.
Ball State sophomore Patrick Surine said he rarely uses ChaCha but his roommate does constantly to look up "dumb stuff" - never for academic purposes.
"He uses it when he wants to know [answers] to random things," he said.
If students do begin using ChaCha as an aid for tests, Hunter said they will more than likely be caught.
"Usually you can tell [if someone is cheating] because they're fidgeting and looking around," she said, "but we catch them."
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