So progressive Danish schools are doing what nobody else is doing – letting their kids take their exams using the Internet.
Check out the BBC’s report for the full story – but here’s a couple of things that grabbed my attention:
Will the students cheat? There’s little stopping the students emailing each other for answers. But the teachers think the nature of the questions make it harder to cheat. Students aren’t asked to regurgitate facts and figures – they’re tested on their ability to sift through and analyse information.
According the the Danish Minister for Education, Bertel Haarder, Exams with Internet are an attempt to reflect daily life. He’s proud that Denmark is leading the way, and hopes (bless him) other countries will adopt this system.
Have to say, I’m 100% behind Stephen Heppell, professor of new media environments at Bournemouth University who wants UK exams to be updated.
“Then they go into the exam room and all [their technology is] taken away and they’re given a fountain pen and a sheet of lines paper and a three hour time limit. It’s time to get real, isn’t it?”
Paper exams felt out of date when I was sitting my GCSEs in 1993. What must it feel like now???
PS I found the cool legogeek image on David Muir’s EdCompBlog.
