Students can easily use their cellphones to cheat on tests by texting answers directly to other students, surreptitiously taking photos of the test to inform others of the test's contents or keeping notes on their phones. Because students sometimes use their phones as timers or simply have their phones out during tests, it can be challenging for teachers to detect cheating, so instituting a policy prohibiting cellphones during tests can help minimize cheating.
A harried student can quickly gain access to a cornucopia of information on the Internet. With so many websites, teachers no longer have to peruse a few books to determine whether a student has plagiarized. Instead, a student can directly copy content from a website or even steal an essay posted online. Some students may even post their class essays online for future students to buy.
If a student doesn't want to do a project or paper but also doesn't want to directly plagiarize and risk getting caught, the Internet makes it easy for her to cheat. Some people post on freelancing websites and forums offering to do papers and other projects for students, and because the work is original, it's much harder to detect than simple plagiarism. A student might even give a freelancer a sample of her work so that the person she's paying can mimic the student's writing style.
Teachers can fight back against cheating by using technology-based solutions of their own. Simply plugging a section of a paper into a search engine can return potentially plagiarized results, and online plagiarism checkers can make the search process easier. Banning cellphones and computers in class can make it more difficult for students to steal information or send it to other students. Clearly explaining what cheating is as well as its consequences, and instituting an honor code that encourages students to turn in cheaters -- perhaps for a small reward, such as a five-point boost on a test -- might also help.