Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Norway, Laptops, Schools, Exams | Themes: Laptops and Notebooks
Norway is currently testing a laptop program that would not only put a notebook in the hands of every highschool kid over the age of 16 but also prevent cheating.
The BBC today reports that Nord-Trondelag county in Norway has been trying out the laptop-based system in which secondary school student ares given a laptop by the government. Initially the laptop is supposed to help with school work (the machines come bundled with all kinds of software depending on the course) but according to the Beeb, as soon as it’s time for tests, specially-tailored software “springs into life” to block and record attempts at cheating.
Bjorg Helland, project manager for digital literacy at Nord-Trondelag county council, told the BBC that the decision to move to laptops was taken to ensure that, in the exam hall, students used equipment with which they were familiar.* "This is used both during their final exams before going to college or university but also during tests when the teacher wants to have a test with the class," she said.
Helland explained that the anti-cheating software uses a keylogger and takes screenshots meaning if someone has cheated they can pull up a screenshot of them doing so and punish them accordingly. Spell check does not count as cheating.
The trial has so far been extremely successful and Norway is considering rolling out computerized examinations in every school in time for the new school year, which starts in September.
*What so kids these days have never put a pen to paper?
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Huh, sounds good, but exactly what cheating are they preventing? It sounds like they are only trying to prevent cheating that itself derives from the use of a computer in the first place. If the test were still pen and paper (with nothing else allowed on the desk) it would be just as good.
yeah, how exactly does this stop anyone from looking over the shoulder of the smart kid in the classroom, especially now that his/her answers are propped up on a screen for all to see? or having another mobile device in hand to search for answers?
they are trying to replace vigilance with laziness. good luck to them.
So you load a hack during the "off" time of the week and run it during test days to get past the software. Don't think some kid will not be able to do this. If he/she does they should give them a passing grade for the pwnage.
In my days we used to cheat with out calculator. Store formulas and text.
You could also place a paper outside of the reach of the camera, and glance at it between every picture taken.
Stick some chewing gum in the cam,
or just paste the cheat paper ON the monitor. No cam's going to see that!
Stupid idea, Norway. No wonder Norway isn't famous and rich. If the laptops use regular hardware and aren't hardwired to prevent cheating and are in the hands of students 24/7, any student could hack it if they had the time.
So you load a hack during the "off" time of the week and run it during test days to get past the software. Don't think some kid will not be able to do this. If he/she does they should give them a passing grade for the pwnage.
Exactly. It's not that hard to do something like this. In our school(county: FCPS) we have testing done on PC, but you can't close or exit the app (or launch other apps), but you can Alt+Tab it if you have another program opened before launching the software lolz.
Stupid idea, Norway. No wonder Norway isn't famous and rich. If the laptops use regular hardware and aren't hardwired to prevent cheating and are in the hands of students 24/7, any student could hack it if they had the time.
You do realize that Norway has a higher standard of living the USA? In fact they are #1 or #2 in the World on every webpage I can find.
In the great words of Bioshock:
"Sure, the boys in Norway's lab can make it cheat-proof. But that don't mean we ain't gonna cheat on it"
Stupid idea, Norway. No wonder Norway isn't famous and rich. If the laptops use regular hardware and aren't hardwired to prevent cheating and are in the hands of students 24/7, any student could hack it if they had the time.
I bet you are an American just for saying that. But I understand. your educational system is so lousy that you don't even known that Norway has one of the best education systems in the world and that it's number ONE in the human develop index. Way ahead of USA. Norway is one of the most rich countries in the world, way more then USA. Unfortunately fame comes from bad actions and not from good ones. And even so any educated person knowns how Norway is. And do you known what a keylogger and a screenshot is? If anyone hacks anything they will known. They are not stupid. They are monitoring everything to prevent that from happen. They have thought about it before they implement this system.
^because keyloggers and screenshots cannot be hacked (maybe by booting into a linux distro instead)
Please.
There is always a way around this stuff, you just need to have the know how
Even in the advent of the computer. Handwriting is still a very important skill to have. Without those years students have excessively making use of handwriting, their quality might even be to an unlegible level.
The American Education system isn't lousy because of funding. Its lousy because of its 16 decade old curriculum. However, no career politician has the balls to change it.
^because keyloggers and screenshots cannot be hacked (maybe by booting into a linux distro instead) Please.There is always a way around this stuff, you just need to have the know how
I've tried that yesterday and I got caught.
^because keyloggers and screenshots cannot be hacked (maybe by booting into a linux distro instead)
Logging into a different os? thats dum, thats like dual booting windows, so that you can take the test without that on there. you probably have to use what they give you........and log into something to validate your system
Logging into a different os? thats dum, thats like dual booting windows, so that you can take the test without that on there. you probably have to use what they give you........and log into something to validate your system
yes that's true. in my case I tried to use virtualbox
Im not expert at this thing, i was just giving a possible example. There are always ways to get around security on computers, it just the nature of things
Logging into a different os? thats dum, thats like dual booting windows, so that you can take the test without that on there. you probably have to use what they give you........and log into something to validate your system
I was more thinking log into linux to change whatever files you need to on your hard drive that my be protected under windows, etc.
oh ok, i get what you mean. If they really want to be smart, they will have your system have to check a server to make sure they are the exact files they want.
Screw that.
Keep all crucial programs on USB drive and/or a online database, and then just reformat the damned thing.
I'd love a free laptop though.
But I'd think a tablet PC would be better for a student. I've been trying to persuade my calculus teacher that for a while. My school pays $600 for a simple microphone (ha), so I'm sure a cheap tablet would be alright.
Give them a false feedback for a key logger or screen shot. ^_^
"Hey, why are you doing a history test during mathematics?"
oh ok, i get what you mean. If they really want to be smart, they will have your system have to check a server to make sure they are the exact files they want.
You know how slow that would make these systems? Not to mention they will be pretty cheap hardware in the first place. So it would slow everything to a crawl if the complete contents of the hard drive were being constantly probed.
Not to mention VMware could easily overcome that. I just open up all my information in the Host OS, then virtualize the test. BAM, no screenshots, and no footprint.
This is much needed, but not for high school students - they should do it on pen and paper.
What this should be instead used for is in universities for programming students. Having to code a program on paper in three hours under intense pressure really REALLY hurts, and small mistakes like lack of semicolon at the end of the line can count as marks off - those things should rather be just small mistakes, not count for marks.
Trust me, I know this as well as any other computer science student.
I heard they are using "All In One Keylogger".
(Just a rumor)
CTRL + ALT + DELETE........Processes.....iSPY
End Process
End Process Tree
Debug
-----------------
Set Priority >
Set Affinity
Show me a cheat proof exam and I'll show you my time machine.
I think it's funny in that if someone has anything negative to say about anyone else, it must be an American saying it lol. The Finnish, Dutch, Danes, Lithuanians, Polish, and Swedish can't say ANYTHING negative about their neighbors at all.
only an American would make such an affirmation. That's not true. In fact there are many things that make them hate each others. The difference is cultural. If you don't like someone you can't go to a shop and buy a ak-47 and shoot it. In Europe there's a thing called values and honour and common sense. That's why there are this cheat proof exam. No one until now was able to fool the system.
In Europe there's a thing called values and honour and common sense.
Must I owned your ass with a history lesson on the horrible things done in Europe BY Europeans? Holocaust just for one. Lots of values and honor there. Oh and can't forget the common sense that was surrounding the Holocaust.
I just had to owned his arrogant ass.
I understand that you have to insult and offend other persons. It's part of your pseudo culture. That's what makes the difference.
icebain: "The Finnish, Dutch, Danes, Lithuanians, Polish, and Swedish can't say ANYTHING negative about their neighbors at all." Maybe they would say negative things, but they know that Norway is rich and as famous as a neighbour can be.
Only someone that lives in a very rich country far from Europe can write a sentence like that (I would say USA, Canada or Japan). Now just pick the most populated, with the worst reputation and where people speak english (I know is not 100% sure method but it can give a good guess).
Talking about historical bad things sure Europe is worst with thousands of years more of history. But lol I think history here is a bit out of the context.
only an American would make such an affirmation.
Listen, I do go around spreading ignorance about Europeans, maybe I was taught with better values and honor when I was young, but I have the common sense to know not to bad mouth other cultures that I very obviously don't have any real experience with.
That's not true. In fact there are many things that make them hate each others. The difference is cultural. If you don't like someone you can't go to a shop and buy a ak-47 and shoot it.
A. Assault rifles are illegal for civilian purchase and use.
B. A background check is performed before every gun purchase, and the list of criteria that would make you ineligible is rather large.
C. Many states and cities have further restrictions (wait periods for purchase, gun bans in cities, and permit and licensing restrictions).
In the 2 decades I have lives in the USA, I have never seen people I know solve an issue with firearms. Hell, I don't even know anyone that owns a firearm. It's not a commonplace thing in most of the USA.
In Europe there's a thing called values and honour and common sense. That's why there are this cheat proof exam. No one until now was able to fool the system.
What? Because they have honor and values, they weren't able to cheat? That speaks more to being inept, than to being honorable. I'd be honorable if I could very easily cheat, but decided not to.
You're the idiot that makes all Europeans look bad, because you wave some flag as if you're some sort of representative, then spew ignorance. If we'd just stop with all the bullshit flag waving and lumping each other into homogeneous groups, we'd all get along better.
the exception makes the rule. very few try to hack the system because they known it's unhackable and because cheating is morally wrong. you are the one who needs to insult because you just don't have valid arguments. facts speak for themselves. you say bla bla bla rifles. I see statistics, really look at them and see how you kill each others and how people behave in civilized countries like Norway.
Glad you can judge everyone by the actions of a few. Good thing we got this whole stereotype out of the way..