[UglyToad]

I understand your point. But, and forgive the vagueness and wooliness of my thoughts around this subject, does this not highlight the "software has made everything shit"-ness of academia? Wouldn't a little less software or a little more downtime be good here?

Instead of being able to make a judgement call or respond appropriately to changing circumstances; instead of being relied upon for your ability to judge the needs of your students accurately, you risk being flagged up for not sticking to protocol in matters of ~student~ consumer interaction.

If a cheater slips through, does it matter, that much, if the cheating is getting an extra few days of time to complete an assignment?

Aren't universities meant to be about expanding knowledge, places of learning? Aren't we making a mockery of the whole idea of tertiary education getting so caught up in catching 'consumers' gaming the system and the risk debasing 'consumer currency points' or exam scores in order to justify the busywork of admin departments? Software and software enabled culture is incredibly powerful but it also removes human factors and discretion and has made many things worse.