Stop NAPLAN on laptops, for teachers' sanity.
This week's NAPLAN debacle only cemented my belief that NAPLAN tests should not be completed on digital devices.
I fundamentally disagree with the use of laptops for NAPLAN Writing tests.
Bare with me as I get my personal complaints out before I combust.
This week was NAPLAN week. You may have heard schools having an absolute shit of a time trying to get NAPLAN to function properly--turns out when you use a lock-down browser onto one website and don't stress test that server too well, you end up not being able to host the thousands of exams you think you can. My school was lucky--we jumped on when bigger schools gave up, and were able to connect... most of the time. Because of course, there's more than one NAPLAN test.
A single research paper of note
Without sufficient support, online testing risks worsening educational inequalities, particularly for disadvantaged students, and slowing social mobility efforts.
Posso and Miranti published Online testing and educational inequality late last year, discussing the growing divide between low-SES students and high-SES students on digital NAPLAN results. Digi-NAPLAN has been around for almost a decade now, and I have to admit: watching students in action felt like a boring dystopia.
Two things: students have no idea how to navigate laptops in my low-SES school. When instructed to open the NAPLAN lockdown browser, some students went to Google and typed open lockdown browser, assuming it would automatically open the browser for them.
Then, a student raised their hand and informed my colleague, "my laptop doesn't have a question mark key," not realising they needed to hold shift+forward slash to achieve said ?.
These are Year 7 kids.
That's ignoring the logistical issues of having laptops
School IT guys earned their paychecks this week, organising all of the school's spare available laptops and computers, ensuring they were charged and ready to go. They could not, however, instantly charge students' dead laptops--when said student (and family) were explicitly informed to charge their laptop the night before.
And headphones. Christ, the headphone requirement. My colleagues and I were informed we can't read the NAPLAN questions to students--and to direct them to the read-aloud button.
I'm a young teacher. I grew up on the laptops, like these students are.
For the love of all that's holy, can we please go back to pen and paper?
