Australian students to 'phone a friend' during exams

by Sanjay Jha | August 20, 2008 at 05:16 am

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In a noble effort Aussie authorities have allowed students to take help of friends, internet etc during the exam. What a wonderful idea. Authorities are calling it a new innovative idea as enormous amounts of information around their heads will not be used anywhere. But if they know where to get the right information then they can succeed faster. Authoroties feel that they will need to check the reliability of their information for proper useuages.

Australian high- School students will be able to telephone a friend, surf the Internet and listen to podcasts during exams under a plan revealed by a girls' college on Wednesday.

Sydney's Presbyterian Ladies' College said it was updating the "open book" exam concept, in which students are able to bring in reference books, to take into account new technology.

The school will try the use of the new media with 14 and 15-year-old English students but hopes to expand its use across all subjects by year end, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

English teacher Deirdre Coleman, who is coordinating the pilot programme, said students were being encouraged to access information using their mobile phones, the Internet and from podcasts on their MP3 players during exams.

But any time a source is used, it must be cited on the test paper to prevent plagiarism, she said.