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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that this is a joke

58 replies

Professor · 25/02/2011 21:56

I heard on radio today that govt are going to allow kids to do their exams on computers because they don't know how to use pens.WTF!

Is this a joke or what?

Am so bloody angry at this I could scream.

OP posts:
Original poster
Professor · 25/02/2011 22:33

Am not saying that coursework should not be done on a computer, but think exams should be written.

Is there nowhere nowadays where handwriting is needed?

OP posts:
lecce · 25/02/2011 22:33

YABUN if you think using a pc will eliminate all spelling mistakes- many pupils I teach seem oblivious to spell check.

Typing is going to be a far bigger part of the future than we can imagine. YABU.

usualsuspect · 25/02/2011 22:34

Well maybe thats the point ..the majority of work is done on a pc

corns12k · 25/02/2011 22:34

Why should exams be written? I think it should be choice most suited to the pupil. Exams asses what you know about a subject - not how you present that knowledge.

harpsichordcarrier · 25/02/2011 22:35

This is quite a long way off though ... Which schools have enough netbooks or whatever for a whole year group ??? It would be a logistical nightmare.
I have done several tests online and it is quite successful. I am also planning to do some controlled assessments (English) using netbooks. Really useful to be able to edit an essay and particular ly a piece of creative writing

corns12k · 25/02/2011 22:35

ps OP did I send you a PM about the sleb twaddle thread by accident Blush sorry if I did...random pming is very bad

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 25/02/2011 22:37

of course handwriting is still needed sometimes - but not 3 hours blocks of it, and not 3 hour block x however many exams they have to sit for each subject.

I left school 13yrs ago, and spent 2 1/2yrs working in a country where there were no computers for us to use when started. Al reports were done by hand (was a school) and lesson plans. However, before I left the country they had accquired more computers and teachers were using those for reports (lesson plans for submitting to the head/deputy head still had to be done in the lesson plan books).

Other than those 2 1/2yr and my 3hr exam 18 months ago, I can't remember a time when I had to hand write for long periods of time.

Original poster
Professor · 25/02/2011 22:37

corns, what are you on about?

OP posts:
corns12k · 25/02/2011 22:37

I'm currently doing my masters and have word processed everything. It's the norm now. Easier for examiners to check for plagiarism also.

corns12k · 25/02/2011 22:40

Prof there is random pming taking place on the salacious gossip thread - I genuinely thought that I'd pmed you by accident. All's well if that's not the case Smile

JaneS · 25/02/2011 22:42

Something I find is that, whereas when writing it is necessary to look at the page at least quite often - so you don't write over your previous lines - if you touch type, this isn't needed. So, you can keep your eyes on a text you're working from or copying, and that can be a very useful skill. It's especially good if you don't 'track' well and tend to lose your place when you're looking at a second piece of writing while trying to write your own piece.

usualsuspect · 25/02/2011 22:44

I would love a random pm

TimeWasting · 25/02/2011 22:46

My handwriting is appalling awful, despite much practice. I am however frightfully clever which is more important and I'm sure they could figure out how to disable the spellcheck for exam conditions. Because spelling is important.

Can't think of a real world situation in which one needs to write legibly for three hours straight, seems like a punishment if it's unnecessary.

Original poster
Professor · 25/02/2011 22:54

Most people here seem to be arguing that using a PC in an exam is easier. Whoever decided that exams should be easy?
Surely that is the ppint of exams, they aren't supposed to be easy.
We seem to be bending over badkwards to make life easier for kids nowadays. When they get out into the RL they will have been so pampered they won't know how to survive.
Expecting them to use a pen is not too much to ask, surely?

OP posts:
cymruoddicatref · 25/02/2011 22:55

Last year I did a taught masters as a mature student at a Russell group university. I was surprised to find that whereas the majority were sitting the exams using pen and paper, a savvy minority had been granted special dispensation to use a computer - including, in some cases, extra time, for reasons that included (I kid you not) illegible handwriting. Other reasons were more understandable e.g. Dyslexia Obviously, doing an essay based exam on a pc offers a massive advantage in circumstances where students have become far more accustomed to ordering their thoughts on a computer than using pen and paper, with far more limited scope for correction, re-jigging etc. The sooner computers are available to all, the better. I also know of friends who are pleased with diagnoses of dyslexia for their children because of the advantages in terms of exam conditions - extra time and access to a pc.

Original poster
Professor · 25/02/2011 22:55

Timewasting, if your handwriting is really that bad, you could always become a GP.

OP posts:
JaneS · 25/02/2011 22:55

Not easier. More appropriate.

Why should we want to test how well people can write for three hours? Especially when we are really trying to find out, for example, how good their history or maths is?

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 25/02/2011 22:58

but exams aren't about marking you on your handwriting (just as well as by the end of my exam 18 months ago my writing was barely legible Blush) they're about testing you on your knowledge of the SUBJECT.

Can I ask OP - when was the last time you sat down and wrote for 3 hours solidly with a pen? And the time before that?

Original poster
Professor · 25/02/2011 22:59

At Uni exams 4 years ago.

OP posts:
BaroqueAroundTheClock · 25/02/2011 23:00

The reams of paper I threw away doing my standard grades (before computers were allowed for any coursework etc) was horrendous. All that went in the blink of an eye where I could move around my ideas in front of me without wasting all that paper.

TimeWasting · 25/02/2011 23:01

Professor, don't think I could bear all the ill people.

cymru, illegible handwriting is a problem associated with dyspraxia and I think ADHD.

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 25/02/2011 23:01

ok - the last time in the "real world" that you had to write for 3hrs solid.......we're talking about exams on this thread. I want to know where you would be expected (aside from working in a 3rd world country where I did) to write for 3 hours solidly, and perhaps several times over the course of a couple of weeks.

JaneS · 25/02/2011 23:03

But Prof, you surely don't want other people to go through something just because you did?

Ideal university tests should test only the subject - the more you can remove that's not intrinsic to the subject, the better. I accept that at some levels of school, you want to know how good children are at handwriting because it is still a needed skill. But by GCSE, they're doing something they are highly unlikely ever to need in real life, just because we don't have the money to give them all computers.

It's not a good idea, because the more you make tests rely on something not intrinsic to the subject, the more skewed the results will be in favour of those lucky people who possess the two unrelated skills, and the more biased against those who don't.

corns12k · 25/02/2011 23:05

Prof - exams are designed to assess what you know about a particular subject. You will not magically know more about a subject because you are word processing.

corns12k · 25/02/2011 23:06

...and prof if you've ever word processed for 3 hrs solid you will know that it's not necessarily easier - just different