I walked into the computer lab and saw second graders in rows staring at their screens. Other than the sound of little sporadic mouse clicks, the room was silent. Between each kid was a large cardboard insert separating the students and preventing them from looking over onto their neighbor’s screen. They were totally isolated from one another. I asked the teacher, “What are these students working on?” I was hoping something engaging in spite of the isolative atmosphere. Then she replied almost shamefully, “They are learning how to take standardized tests. We have to get them ready for testing season.”

Yes, testing has its own season and it hits in late February and goes until June. During that time students will be shuffled into computer labs and given online reading and math tests.

A good, solid Wi-Fi connection is imperative throughout testing season because it is on that connection students will be taking their standardized tests. In fact, on big testing days we usually have major network problems because the amount of students online at once can be anywhere from 20 to 60 thousand. At 15 dollars per test, that is fantastic news for testing companies.

In addition, online assessments and this paperless approach to testing means huge savings for companies like Pearson who are only concerned about their bottom line.

Subsequently, during most months in the school year, mobile computer labs, traditional computer labs and the media center are closed and off limits to students and teachers. Last year our media center was closed daily from the month of February until the end of school due to the testing calendar.

So instead of searching for art, designing websites, writing blogs, making music, developing digital media, connecting with other students in other countries, or anything and everything else students can do with the Internet, each and every student is sitting in front of a screen, clicking through test questions.

Of course the absurdity of using the Internet solely for testing purposes doesn’t impact policy makers. Most policy makers are not creating anything with the Internet. They may have a Facebook page to connect with voters. However, their Facebook is most probably managed by a twenty-something, aspiring politician, who is using his or her Internet powers for evil not good. Policy makers may not have a clue when they make laws supporting testing companies to hijack our Internet and deploy online assessments, they are depriving our students from a very important resource in their discovery of knowledge.

And it probably doesn’t matter to politicians that for many low socioeconomic students, the only opportunity to use the Internet is at school. It doesn’t enter the minds of these politicians and the testing companies that the continual closure of our libraries and computer labs to secure testing environments, negatively affects students’ attitudes toward reading and writing. It is irrelevant to education policy makers that some 78% of the 2,462 teachers surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project say digital tools, such as the Internet and social media, encourage student creativity and personal expression. When we use the Internet for testing purposes, creativity and personal expression is lost.

If the problem is digital ignorance, we should educate policy makers on the subject of the Internet. Perhaps they need to understand the Internet is for making things not turning our kids into test taking drones, void of creativity and critical thinking. The Internet is a place to connect people not to isolate individual students using cardboard partitions. Policy makers must understand the Internet is actually a horribly ineffective place when used for standardized testing but a perfect place when used for discovery, play and creativity.

4 Responses

  1. Annmarie Ferry

    Many of our kids have difficulties testing on computers, especially when they have to scroll back through text to find the information they need to answer a question or make an inference by teasing out context clues like we teach them to do. Those with processing and short-term memory deficits suffer even more, but unless you have a vision problem, it is an act of God to get paper and pencil testing for even students with diagnosed learning disabilities. Teachers are evaluated for how effectively they integrate technology into instruction, including how students use it. But, we often have to rush through what could have been a very engaging and highly personal learning experience when we do projects for lack of time with the precious labs. For instance, I would absolutely love to teach my kids how to CREATE a webquest to complement a piece of literature with author bios, historical information, etc., but am resigned to have them go through someone else’s webquest to save time. How cool would it be for small groups to create webquests and then have the students navigate and evaluate each others’ work? But, that requires time, and testing (computer or otherwise) sucks up time for those authentic learning opportunities that are student-driven. Rant over.

    Reply
  2. Kathleen Jasper

    Rant on! You are so right when you say kids have a hard time navigating reading passages on the computer. They lose the info when they have to scroll back to find it. Most of them just give up and move on.
    Webquests are a fantastic tool and it’s a shame our resources needed to build these activities have been hijacked by big business.

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  3. Suzan Harden

    Besides the fact that students are not necessarily good at taking tests on-line, there are other issues involved with students spending so much time in front of a computer module. What is one of the common complaints employers have about the younger generation? That their interpersonal skills are lacking because they spend so much time in “faceless” communication. When you don’t have to see a person’s reaction to your comment, it is easier to be harsh and critical. The number of bullying incidences that are initiated through social media is testament to this. When you are in front of a terminal, no one sees if your hair isn’t combed and your teeth aren’t brushed. The fact that you are slouching in a seat with rumpled clothing does not allow you to see the lack of a good first impression in the other person’s eyes. Students are not developing important skills in reading non-verbal communication because they aren’t seeing people!

    So what are schools doing? We are reinforcing the entire mess by sitting students in rows facing computer screens for hours at a time, not interacting with people, with no compassion for the students for whom this is the least effective method of instruction, and forcing teachers to abandon the creativity which likely drove their career decision and recite by rote the curriculum developed by someone who has no or limited experience in a classroom.

    It has been a concern of mine for some time that educators are not leading education. We are completely in reactive mode, not proactive mode. Hopefully, blogs like this will allow enough of us to find one another that we will be able to brainstorm solutions.

    Reply
    • Kathleen Jasper

      Suzan, I completely agree. Today I encountered over assessed students who are completely faceless and lifeless. I asked them what they liked about school and they had a hard time coming up with anything. The solution is to refuse to administer these tests. Yes it’s the law, but if all the educators refuse to give these exams, laws will have to be changed.

      Reply

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