Teachers putting in steps to stop students cheating on NAPLAN

Teachers are being warned to look out for a litany of tricks tech-savvy children could use to cheat in online NAPLAN tests this year. An authority has listed technical issues associated with different devices that allow kids to use spell check or access the web for answers.

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Teachers are being warned to look out for a litany of tricks tech-savvy children could use to cheat in online NAPLAN tests this year.

Students sitting the test are required to install software on devices they bring from home so they can’t access internet browsers to check answers. This is to ensure every child tested is on a level playing field.

But the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority has published a list of technical issues associated with different devices that allow children to use spell check or access web browsers for answers.

Certain devices enable auto-correction and auto-capitalisation functions as well as Siri voice commands on iPads.

Teachers have been warned to watch out for tech-savvy kids who could cheat on online NAPLAN tests.

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On new Mac Book Pro laptops, a “Touch Bar” feature means students can access auto-correction or spelling suggestions and teachers are told they must disable this function on the computer before the test.

In addition, the Siri voice command function must also be disabled so students can’t simply ask for the test answers.

On iPads, “Emoji keyboards/characters must be turned off manually,” the document states.

Students using Android devices can also access a web browser to check answers.

“Using the Tab key on an external keyboard in the (National Assessment Platform) browser allows students to open other pages or apps.” the document states.

“Can this be prevented? No current workaround available.”

A number of steps have been taken to make sure cheating doesn’t happen in this year’s NAPLAN, including turning off Siri on the iPhone. Picture: iStock

Last year 15 per cent of students did the NAPLAN test online in NSW and this year 1807 schools, or 58 per cent of schools will sit the test online.

Secondary Principals’ Council President Chris Presland said it wasn’t acceptable for teachers to be given a list of technical issues that required settings on computers to be changed prior to the test.

“If you want a test to be valid and reliable to you have to make sure everyone is doing it under the same conditions,” he said.

“You can’t roll out a half-baked solution with a list of pages of instructions to police. It is not good enough.”

Originally published as Teachers putting in steps to stop students cheating on NAPLAN