Slader

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If a student is doing their homework and they look at the answers in the back of the book is it cheating?  What if they look at the answers after they have tried to solve the problem on their own and they work backwards from the answer?  Slader is a company that is pushing the envelope according to some in providing answers to homework for students across the country.  While on Slader you can look for your class textbook and then check out the answers to problems.  Currently Slader does not have every textbook (only 279) or every answer but it brings to the forefront an interesting idea.  While I was reading on their site, I came across their plan to have students assist in filling in the missing problems for the books that they do have on their site.  Wouldn't it be a cool activity to have your advanced students offer solutions for five problems on Slader?  Also, it brings to light the idea of student accountability.  We want students to be intrinsically motivated when it comes to their education.  We want students to have the resources they need to succeed.  If a student simply goes to Slader and writes down the answer without trying the problem then most likely that students does not want to learn that concept or they do not see the value in it.  There are more and more ways for students to access knowledge on the web in the wake of Khan Academy and I believe that Slader is another example of that.

Now What?

What are your thoughts on Slader?  Do you believe we should be giving students access to all of the answers to their homework?  Do you think students would use something like this for good or evil?  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on Slader and its impact on education.