I am surprised at the number of UK universities that still require hand-written exams. For me hand-writing is such a pain that I only hand-write my Christmas cards and grocery list. I just love the American way. .pdf, .ppt, e-mail, video, threads, wow, that is 2002. Is this just a symptom of UK universities being out of touch with daily realities ? Bert A European.
My own sense, based on nothing more than casual observation, is that British universities place great stock in tradition. This may make them slower to adopt technological innovations. There are, for example, a growing number of American universities that hand out laptops (as a standard part of the price of admission) to every incoming Freshman. It may be quite some time before this becomes a standard practice in UK universities. Still, they are among the best in the world and people travel to the UK from across the globe to attend these schools. They must be doing something right. Jack
Actually, I think you'll find that US universities require hand-written exams. I've seen just a few that provide online exams. Most independent study (aka correspondence) require that students take exams with an approved proctor or at an approved testing center.
To me it is not so much to do the tests online that is important. I feel that the key is to be able to write the answers to questions using MS Words or Excel. Submission being then online, e-mail attachment or floppy and print out in the mail is a detail. A lot of "professional" proctoring centers can provide access to computers, then it is up to the universities to accept or not their use.
I heard that a concern is that having a computer, advanced calculator, or cell phone (yes - students have been known to make calls during exams to elicit answers) can be used to store formulae, facts, dictionaries, etc and aid cheating on exams. Some written exams I have taken quite recently at a USA university allowed only a standard workbook, pencils, an eraser, and a photo ID on the desk.
In most states, the Bar Exam is handwritten unless you make arrangements to type (not word process) it. The same goes for law school exams that are almost always essays. AND, if you argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, you will be allotted two hand shaped quill pens which you may keep as a souvenier of the occasion! Nosborne, JD (Who, alas, has never argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.)
Well, I'm a big fan of handwriting. Tyo007/Bert may drool "wow, that is 2002" over all the electronic stuff, but I happen to like the expressiveness of handwriting. Hand writing allows an extra aspect of the personal dimension to come through - in addition to the words themselves. I think that is a legitimate thing to want to see in most exams. Are we to be reduced to a ubiquitous Microsoft font and style? Kind regards