Unguided Access?

New advancements to technology are supplying more ways for students to cheat. But are the supplied solutions really the correct answer?

Students and teachers are embracing the switch to the new iPad based curriculum at Christian Brothers High school. With the new way of learning  comes a new way of testing.

Testing is primarily iPad based now at Christian Brothers and it is a big change for everyone. With this newly implemented style of testing, students are gaining freedom and teachers’ trust are being challenged now more then ever.

To prevent entering and exiting quizzes or exams on the iPad, Christian Brothers is utilizing the “Guided Access” capability on the iPad’s general settings. 

Guided access is a feature where when activated, the student or user cannot leave the opened application without entering a code. However, the student is given their own code, so a case could be made that the system’s inadequacy dose not serve a purpose or benefit to the student or teacher.

Some teachers still employ this feature in their classrooms.

“It gives the student a sense that they shouldn’t be able to cheat.” says history teacher Ms Stephanie Roybal. “It also ensures me that they won’t be able to back out of the exam.”

Although her response did not lack any optimism, she does not rely entirely on the security of Guided Access.

“Schoology allows me to make the test resumable — that means if a student leaves the exam, for any reason, they will not be able to get back into it.”

The school operates through an app called Schoology. This app very closely resembles Facebook in look and operating system. It serves a very important purpose for the school as it allows teachers and students to access documents and homework while it also serves as a place for online testing.

While Guided Access serves as a the face of iPad security, Schoology appears to be the real surveillance for cheating.

Christian Brothers student Mathew Spain (’15) shares his strong opinions for Guided Access.

“I do not think ‘Guided Access’ serves a purpose to testing,” he says. “Guided access is not helpful because you know your own code to leave, it’s just a lot of trouble.”

Whether or not Guided Access serves a purpose to the student learning or not, it is a program to keep a student honest to themselves and to the teachers and that is a lesson worth learning.