How to cheat on MyOpenMath, and what your instructor can see
You can get outside help on MyOpenMath homework, and MyOpenMath documents no tab or screen log there. But it keeps every answer you submit, the attempts you use, how long questions were on screen, and when and from where you started each assessment. Tests can be locked down by your school, and that is where cheating gets students caught.
- The gradebook shows your instructor your version of each question, your last answer, your score and the attempts used.
- It also shows when you started, when you submitted and the time questions were on screen.
- A login log and an activity log record your sessions, with an IP-based identifier each time you start an assessment.
- Questions are randomized per student, so answer keys rarely match your numbers.
- We found no tab-switch, copy or screenshot log in MyOpenMath's help or code. Proctoring tools your school adds are a different story.
Our pickCanvas Quiz Solver now works on MyOpenMath. It shows the answer under each question, in the same tab, and you type it into MyOpenMath yourself. It stays off on proctored tests.
How to cheat on MyOpenMath: the short answer
Most students who search how to cheat on MyOpenMath want one thing: to get through a long problem set in a math course they need for their degree, without losing a whole evening to it. That is a fair thing to want. MyOpenMath homework can be long, and each wrong submit spends an attempt.
The honest answer has three parts. First, MyOpenMath does not watch your screen on normal homework, but it keeps a detailed record of what you submit, when and for how long. Second, your questions use your own random numbers, so the shortcuts most students try are slow or do not match. Third, tests can be password-protected, timed and proctored, and that is where cheating gets students in real trouble.
This guide goes through what MyOpenMath records, each method students use, and where the line is. MyOpenMath runs on IMathAS, an open-source system, so we could read its help and its code. Where neither documents something, we say so.
What MyOpenMath can and cannot see
Your instructor does not watch you work on MyOpenMath homework. They see the gradebook and two logs. This is what each one shows, from MyOpenMath's help and the IMathAS source code:
| What | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Gradebook detail | The specific version of the assessment you got, the last answer you gave on each question, your score per question and the attempts you used. The instructor can override scores and message you about a question. |
| Times on the attempt | When you started, when you last changed it and when you submitted, plus "Total time questions were on-screen" and the time spent on each version. |
| Login log | Each time you logged in, and about how many minutes you stayed on. |
| Activity log | Each time you started or resumed an assessment, with "an identifier based on the IP address" of your computer, plus assessments opened through your school's LMS, help links you clicked and feedback you viewed. |
| Other tabs | Not documented in MyOpenMath's help, and we found no tab-switch log in the IMathAS assessment player code. |
| Copy and paste, screenshots, AI | Not documented. A normal web page gets no signal when you use your computer's screenshot tool. |
From MyOpenMath's help page and the IMathAS code on GitHub (sources below). "Not documented" means we found nothing in the help or the code we read. It does not prove that no such log exists: any web page can notice when it loses focus, and a school can add its own tools.
The IMathAS activity log itself warns instructors not to read too much into the IP identifier: it "can change if the student switches from a phone to a laptop, from one computer to another, or even if their wifi connection resets". So the real risk on homework is not a camera. It is a record that does not look like you: a 40-question set done in six minutes, an attempt started from a new place right after a friend's, or homework scores far above your test scores. Tabs, screenshots, AI and Canvas grades are covered in can MyOpenMath detect cheating.
The methods students use to cheat on MyOpenMath, ranked by risk
Ask Reddit or TikTok how to cheat on MyOpenMath and the same methods come up. The table puts each one next to what it leaves in MyOpenMath and how well it fits MyOpenMath questions, which are randomized: MyOpenMath's help says that when students ask for a similar problem, "different students will receive different versions of the questions".
| Method | What it leaves in MyOpenMath | Fits MyOpenMath questions? |
|---|---|---|
| Someone else logs in and does it (homework-for-hire) | The highest risk. Their sessions show up in the login and activity logs, with their own IP-based identifier, and their speed is not yours. You also hand your school login to a stranger. | Yes, until a proctored test shows what you really know. |
| Answer keys, Quizlet sets, study-site uploads | Nothing documented. The risk is the answer itself: a wrong one spends an attempt. | Rarely. Your numbers are random, so a key from someone else shows the method with their numbers. |
| Group chat or a friend | Nothing documented, but waiting for replies stretches your time, and time is logged. | For the method only. Your values differ. |
| ChatGPT or a math site in a second tab | No documented tab log on homework. You copy or retype each question, then type the answer back. Each trip adds time. | Yes, if the math survives the copy. Pasted MyOpenMath math often loses its fractions and exponents. |
| Photomath or a phone camera | Nothing about the phone. On a webcam-proctored test, the camera can see it. | Good on plain equations. Word problems, tables and multi-part questions need more. |
| A script that fills in and submits for you | A fast, even pace with almost no time on screen, and a wrong answer is submitted before you see it. | It depends on the script. You lose control of every attempt. |
| Answer shown under the question (Canvas Quiz Solver) | No second tab and no copying. Your time and answers are recorded, as for every student. You read the answer and type it yourself, at your own pace. | Yes. It reads the question on your screen, with your numbers, math boxes and multi-part questions. |
"What it leaves" is for normal homework, from MyOpenMath's help and the IMathAS code. Proctored tests have their own section below.
Someone else does it for you
Homework-for-hire sites rank high for "MyOpenMath answers". They log in as you and work through your assignments. On MyOpenMath this is the method most likely to show up: the login log shows sessions you did not have, the activity log shows where each assessment was started from, and the gradebook shows how long the questions were on screen. Then the next test shows a gap between your homework and you.
Answer keys and cheat sheets
Search results for MyOpenMath answers are full of flashcard sets and uploads from past terms. IMathAS questions are written with randomizers, and even a cleared attempt gives you "a different version of the assessment" (MyOpenMath help). A key from someone else rarely lines up with your screen. A formula sheet for study is a different thing, and a good one.
A second tab with ChatGPT
This works, but it is slow on MyOpenMath. The math is drawn by a renderer, so a copy often pastes as a jumble, and you end up retyping fractions, roots and exponents by hand. Then you carry the answer back to a math entry box. On a timed test the clock keeps running, and some instructors set it to "kick student out at timelimit".
Proctored assessments: the line
Tests are where this guide stops helping. IMathAS gives instructors tools to lock a test down: a password to open it, a time limit that can end the attempt at the limit, and an option to "Lock student out of the rest of the course until submitted" (MyOpenMath help, IMathAS assessment settings).
Schools can also add their own proctoring. A MyOpenMath test opened through Canvas may sit behind Respondus LockDown Browser, which blocks other apps and websites, or a proctoring extension such as Proctorio or Honorlock, which can record your webcam, your screen and your tabs. Those tools record what MyOpenMath does not.
Canvas Quiz Solver turns off on pages with LockDown Browser, Respondus Monitor, Proctorio or Honorlock, and the popup says "Not available on proctored exams." It gets around nothing. Read what LockDown Browser records before you start one.
Lumen OHM, WAMAP and XYZ Homework run the same software
MyOpenMath is not the only site built on IMathAS. Everything above holds for three more, because they share the same gradebook, logs and question player.
Lumen OHM. Lumen Learning's Online Homework Manager runs on IMathAS at ohm.lumenlearning.com. The instructor sees the same gradebook detail, login log and activity log.
WAMAP. WAMAP is the free IMathAS server for instructors in Washington State, funded by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, according to the IMathAS site. If your community college course is on wamap.org, the same records apply.
XYZ Homework. XYZ Homework, one of the projects that helped fund IMathAS, runs its homework on the same system. Its questions are randomized the same way, so shared answer lists have the same problem.
Canvas Quiz Solver reads questions on all four sites, in their own tab or inside a Canvas page.
The answer shown under the question
Every method above sends you somewhere else for the answer: a tab, a phone, a stranger, a PDF. Canvas Quiz Solver is a Chrome extension that does the opposite. It reads the MyOpenMath question on your screen and shows the answer right under it.
How it works on MyOpenMath, in 3 steps:
- Add Canvas Quiz Solver to Chrome on your laptop. It is the same extension Canvas students use.
- Open your MyOpenMath assignment and click the extension icon once. Answers turn on in that tab; tap "Keep it on for this site" so it stays on next time. If the assignment shows inside a Canvas page, pick "Turn on for MyOpenMath" in the popup instead, one time.
- Click the small icon under a question to see the answer, then type it into MyOpenMath yourself and submit.
Off on proctored tests. It types nothing into MyOpenMath: you enter every answer.
- No second tab. The answer is in the tab you are already in.
- No retyping the math. It reads the math as MyOpenMath writes it: answer boxes, multiple choice, select all, drop-downs and paragraph answers.
- Multi-part questions. One card lists the answer for each part, in order.
- Your own numbers. It answers the version on your screen, and a new one after "Try a similar question".
- You stay in control. Discreet mode is on by default, so the answer shows only when you click the small icon. You enter it and submit it yourself.
One limit to know: it does not read file upload questions. Answers come from AI and can be wrong, so check the ones that count.
It is the same account and plan as on Canvas. You get free answers to try, and Unlimited is $14.99 a month or $48.99 for a 4-month semester. See everything it reads on the MyOpenMath answers page. On a site we do not read yet? Snap the question.
What students ask about cheating on MyOpenMath
The same questions come up on Reddit, TikTok and Quora. Here are plain answers, checked against MyOpenMath's help and the IMathAS code.
- "Does MyOpenMath track time?" Yes. The gradebook shows when you started and submitted, the total time questions were on screen and the time spent on each version, and the login log shows how long each session lasted.
- "Does MyOpenMath record you?" Not with a camera, as far as MyOpenMath documents. A proctoring tool your school adds to a test can.
- "Can my professor see my wrong answers?" The gradebook detail shows your last answer and the attempts you used on each question.
- "Are the answers on Quizlet right?" Sometimes for the method, rarely for your problem. Your numbers are random.
- "Can I just retake it for new numbers?" That depends on your instructor's settings. Some assignments allow a similar question or a new version; tests often do not.
What happens if an instructor thinks you cheated
The instructor decides, not MyOpenMath. MyOpenMath gives them the evidence: your answers and attempts, the times on each attempt, the login log and the activity log. An instructor who doubts a homework score usually looks at the next proctored test, where outside help is not possible.
From there, your school's academic honesty policy applies, and it sets the penalty, from a zero on the assignment to a failed course. Many instructors allow help on homework and forbid it on tests, so read your syllabus to know where your class draws the line.
Sources we checked
- MyOpenMath help (assessment settings, randomization, gradebook detail, clearing attempts), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS (what IMathAS is, MyOpenMath, WAMAP and its funders), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS source code (GitHub, master branch; we searched the assessment player for tab, focus and copy tracking and found none), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS activity log (viewactionlog.php, with the IP identifier note), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS login log (viewloginlog.php), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS gradebook labels (en.ftl: started, submitted, time on screen), checked 2026-10-26
- IMathAS assessment settings (addassessment2form.php: password, course lock), checked 2026-10-26
Common questions
Can you cheat on MyOpenMath?
On normal homework, students do get outside help, and MyOpenMath documents no tab or screen log there. But it keeps your answers, attempts and time on each version, plus a login log and an activity log. Proctored tests can be locked down by your school, and that is where students get caught.
Does MyOpenMath detect cheating?
It has no documented cheating detector. It gives your instructor evidence instead: your last answers, attempts used, time questions were on screen, when you logged in and an IP-based identifier when you start an assessment. The instructor decides what that evidence means.
Can MyOpenMath see if you switch tabs?
MyOpenMath's help documents no tab-switch log, and we found none in the open-source IMathAS assessment player. That does not prove there is none, since any web page can notice when it loses focus, and a proctoring tool your school adds can record tabs.
Can MyOpenMath detect AI?
MyOpenMath documents no AI detector. Math answers are graded by computer against the right value. What it keeps is your time and attempts, and your instructor can read any paragraph answer you write.
Can MyOpenMath detect screenshots?
MyOpenMath documents nothing about screenshots, and a normal web page gets no signal when you use your computer's screenshot tool. On a proctored test, a webcam or screen recording tool can see it.
Can MyOpenMath detect copy and paste?
MyOpenMath documents no copy and paste log. In practice, copying a MyOpenMath question often goes badly anyway: the math is drawn by a renderer, so the text you paste can lose its fractions and exponents.
Is using an extension on MyOpenMath against the rules?
Your school's academic honesty policy and your instructor's syllabus decide what counts as cheating in your class. Many instructors allow help on homework and forbid it on tests. Check before you use any outside help on graded work.
MyOpenMath answers, without leaving the page
The answer shows under the question you are on. You type it, you submit it. Start free.