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Friday, June 26, 2015

Smartwatches Banned from Exams

A lot of people are buying smartwatches, particularly since the Apple Watch launched. The devices are a little too popular to suit some educators.

A pair of universities in Australia issued warnings against wearing wearable technology to class during final exams, and similar policies could soon be in place at some American universities. La Trobe University in Melbourne barred smartwatches from the exam room, while the University of New South Wales required students to put all wristwatches in clear bags under their desks, according to a report in The Chronicle for Higher Education.

The Educational Testing Service, which gives the Graduate Record exam and the Test of English as a Foreign Language, has for years used wands to make sure test-takers weren’t carrying cellphones. The proctors now use the wands, which are like the ones used in airport security lines, to check for cellphones and watches.

“As we get better at our educational systems, it will seem less like we need to ban these things, because the kinds of things we’ll be putting on an exam students won’t be able to store on a watch,” said Eric Klopfer, director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.