Can You Help Me Put This Genie Back In The Bottle?

by elvis_payne

While I sat in my health class today pondering if I had a greater chance of getting Lime disease or the West Nile virus, a discussion broke out among my classmates on the problem with kids using technology to share tests, test questions, and answers with their fellow students. Also indicted was the Internet. Seems the Internet has allowed students to share test question or even find all the versions of tests that the textbook publishers create for teachers. Apparently, some teacher on the other side of the country posted all the versions and the answers on the Internet and these kids found it. How dare they!

I chuckled inside as I listened to teachers from all over the spectrum bemoan how easy technology has allowed this to happen and how much info students were able to find on then Internet these days. They were arguing about how best to put the genie back in the bottle.

Finally, after it looked like the Internet and technology were headed for a guilty verdict, I added a though or two to the conversation.

I pointed out that test questions and test answers are simply pieces of information. A question or an answer is simply a piece of information; a piece of data that can be discovered and shared like any other piece of information and data. They may not want it discovered or shared, but because it is digital or can be converted into digital pieces of data, the information can and will be shared. I simply asked if anyone thought if finding and sharing of data and information would become easier or less easy in the coming years.

I could see the gears turning and then a bit of fear began to wash over them.

Frustration, Aggravation, and Sheer Annoyance...
Originally uploaded by Vashtia

Then I approached it from the creativity and innovation angle. What the students were engaged in was cheating, piracy, and plagiarism. (Teach Students to be Pirates and Plagiarists) There is a great deal of creative thought and innovation in there somewhere. While educators now frown on what these pirate students do, their future employers will value these same students for being able to quickly, creatively, and innovatively find, remix, and share information and data.

I suggested that they focus on using assessments that required the students to generate new and meaningful ideas, connections, and insights with their knowledge and not just true/false or multiple-choice. I explained to them that we know live in an era where technology has made the discovery, sharing, and re-purposing of data and information, and that assessments that rely on data or information only questions are going to be subject this effect.

Assessments must change to require original thinking or use of the data or information, not simply recalling the information. Technology has made to need to memorize facts and information less important. If you can look it up on the Internet anytime you like, why memorize the data? If you are relying on tests that assess a student’s recall of data, don’t be amazed if they use technology to treat your test and it’s answers like data too.

A silent hush fell across the room, and I thought I heard a fear tears falling. Then, slowly, the group considered its options and rose together in one voice to say that they just didn’t want kids to use technology or the Internet anymore in their classroom, and maybe they should just hand write their tests or ban student cell phones.

Together, they determined, that maybe, just maybe, they could put the genie back in the bottle.

I smiled and went back to considering my odds of a sucking chest wound.

Comments

[Carol]

You can feel free to delete this comment once you read it since it isn't related to this post.

Basically I am trying to win a contest at ideablob.com so I can get my business in education started.

The place to vote is here: http://ideablob.com/ideas/2875-Bronze-Where-the-Least-Motivat

They don't allow you to describe much detail there, so I added this blog to better explain things: http://bronzeinc.wordpress.com/

I urge people to look at the explanation page before dismissing the idea as just another after school program. If you can make a formal announcement about the contest, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!