iPods banned from exam rooms…
Will Head writes…
A school in Mountain View has taken the step of banning students from using iPods during exams in case they use them to cheat.
This move comes off the back of banning caps and mobile phones – now mobile phone is obvious, sneaky teenagers were texting answers to one another. When it comes to caps, kids were apparently caught with answers written under the brim. Cunning, but no doubt limited in actual use – after all, exactly how much text can you cram inside the brim of the average sized hat?
As far as the iPod ban goes, I’m not sure which I find more amazing – the fact they weren’t already banned or just how inefficient a cheat aid one would be.
The kids were rumbled when they were overheard talking about using them to cheat. But really, how useful would one actually be? First you’d have to dictate all your crib notes into a sound file – no doubt an incredibly time consuming process.
Then, when you’re actually in the exam how do you find the bit you need? To cover all the options you’re going to need a good few hours of material. You’ve then got to somehow remember which file contains the bit you need and then navigate to the right point. All this during a timed exam. It’s hardly easy street.
Hiding written notes in the lyrics to songs has a bit more potential, but surely the excessive amount of scrolling involved to get to the passage you need is bound to raise suspicion.
So now it looks like the pesky kids will have to find new ways to get around their teachers – or just spend the time revising for their exams instead.
