A tool for learning or a tool for cheating? The many-sided effects of a participatory student website in mass higher education

This paper is a case study of the genesis, operation and, in particular, the educational
effects of a participatory website established and run by students of one of the largest
universities in the Czech Republic, the purpose of which is to enable students to share
study materials, essays and evaluations of staff and courses. We study the rise of the
website as a bottom-up reaction to deficiencies in the educational process perceived by
students, which has led to changes in some of the university’s educational practices.
Drawing upon ethnographic data, we inquire into the various ways in which the website’s
existence has influenced educational processes and student–teacher relations. The
findings show how such a website’s impact can be both positive and negative. While it
can foster collaboration and a sense of mutuality among students, trigger institutional
reflexivity and generate a platform for the collective production of knowledge lacking in
curricula, it can also perpetuate institutional deficiencies by compensating for them,
often in undesirable ways such as cheating and plagiarism.