Online testing can cause teachers to worry about students cheating, sharing information digitally, or looking up answers on the internet. However, with the right device, all of these potential concerns can be solved. We recommend Chromebooks for K-12 classrooms more than any other device. Chromebooks are simple to set up for testing and can give you the perfect outcome every time.
To start off, Chromebooks can go into kiosk mode and run the secure application that brings up the test when the Chromebook is opened or turned on. The test will be the only application on the device that students will have access to. This mode can be easily accessed by simply dragging the icon for the testing into a “Test” folder.
We recommend that you set up a hidden WiFi network for testing to make everything more secure. You can prioritize this network over all other WiFi networks in the building, so if teachers need to stream YouTube videos or use other bandwidth intensive tasks, these tasks will not be able to impact testing. This feature can also be set to switch on automatically when you move the Chromebook to the testing folder. You should make sure that the testing folder has automatic updates and rebooting shut off as well because both of these can cause interruptions during testing.
If you’ve heard of cache servers, they are designed for schools with low bandwidth. We recommended you stay away from these servers because they can disrupt testing. Take advantage of E-rate savings programs and get as much bandwidth as you can. Don’t cut corners when it comes to internet speed or WiFi because you need to ensure that your technology is always running quickly and effectively.
The last thing we suggest you do is a trial run a few days before the real test. Make sure everything runs smoothly. If there are problems during the trial run, you will be able to fix them before the actual test. This will save you so much time and energy down the road. If you follow these guidelines, you will experience success with online testing, making both students and teachers happy.
