Guess they decided to go for a Godwin award this time.

This makes me think of the capped people in the Tripods trilogy.

In the books, aliens had taken over earth and used these caps that melded a mesh into the head that would render people docile and subservient so they could be used as slaves.

This suggests a bad teacher/professor. If your students can get by simply by copying notes, then you are not teaching the subject properly. Students need to learn to apply the subject, not just repeat memorized notes.

In a properly taught class, all the notes and books in the world available to you during the exam won't save you unless you learned and understand the subject.