For as long as there have been quizzes, there have been cheaters. Whether it’s answers scribbled onto a hand or typed into a graphing calculator, a few students will always take dishonest shortcuts.
Now colleges in Australia have started banning Apple Watches (and other similar smartwatches) from classrooms amid fears of cheating, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The schools at the helm of the movement are La Trobe University and University of New South Wales.
A notice from University of New South Wales reads, “Due to advances in watch technologies the UNSW exams rules have been updated: No wrist or handheld watches are to be worn or placed on your desk during exams. Watches of any kind must be placed in a clear resealable bag under your exam chair before the exam begins.” (Strangely, this seems to also cover non-digital watches.)
Violating the policy may result in “heavy penalties,” if a student is found to have sought “an unfair advantage during an examination.”
The smartwatch ban hasn’t quite caught on stateside yet, although the devices currently aren’t allowed in ACT, SAT or AP testing. Eric Klopfer, director of MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program, predicts that similar rules will be instituted at U.S. colleges before long. “As we get better at our educational system, it will seem less like we need to ban these things,” he told the Chronicle, “because the kinds of things we’ll be putting on an exam students won’t be able to store on a watch.”Well, there’s always looking over your neighbor’s shoulder…Hey, with college prices skyrocketing every day, how many students can afford a $400 watch, anyway?
Now colleges in Australia have started banning Apple Watches (and other similar smartwatches) from classrooms amid fears of cheating, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The schools at the helm of the movement are La Trobe University and University of New South Wales.
A notice from University of New South Wales reads, “Due to advances in watch technologies the UNSW exams rules have been updated: No wrist or handheld watches are to be worn or placed on your desk during exams. Watches of any kind must be placed in a clear resealable bag under your exam chair before the exam begins.” (Strangely, this seems to also cover non-digital watches.)
Violating the policy may result in “heavy penalties,” if a student is found to have sought “an unfair advantage during an examination.”
The smartwatch ban hasn’t quite caught on stateside yet, although the devices currently aren’t allowed in ACT, SAT or AP testing. Eric Klopfer, director of MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program, predicts that similar rules will be instituted at U.S. colleges before long. “As we get better at our educational system, it will seem less like we need to ban these things,” he told the Chronicle, “because the kinds of things we’ll be putting on an exam students won’t be able to store on a watch.”Well, there’s always looking over your neighbor’s shoulder…Hey, with college prices skyrocketing every day, how many students can afford a $400 watch, anyway?
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