Thursday, March 26, 2015

Apple Watch banned any wristwatch in the exam hall

There is a movement to stricken the rule of examination in some universities and similar organizations. What they will introduce is the banning of wristwatch at the exam hall.


This regulation seemed to be introduced by the influence of the launch of Apple Watch. Apple Watch is a brand new smartwatch, enabling us to connect the internet via iPhone. In addition, it can store any dictionaries and textbooks. Using an Apple Watch, you will answer the questions in the exam quite easily.

BuzzFeed News: Watches Banned From University Exams Because Of The Apple Watch

Whether equipping a wristwatch is permitted has been vague so far. In some situations, any wristwatches were prohibited. I remember that I had to take off the wristwatch at the IELTS exam, although it might be allowed in some exam halls. Very recently, Nihon Eigo Kentei Kyokai, the organizer of IELTS in Japan declared the complete prohibition of wristwatches. Furthermore, the examiners will confirm that your glasses are not the Google Glass.

Nihon Eigo Kentei Kyokai: An important information for the candidates (in Japanese)

It is understandable that examiners worry about the cheating with Apple Watch. However, the amendment at this time would be too late. Other companies than Apple have sold smartwatch. Some gadgets can connect the internet alone. Although watches with calculator were prohibited, it is possible that someone brought a smartwatch secretly in a certain exam, because it had not been broadly known the other days.

On the other hand, the policy of shutting out any gadgets at the stage of the exam is out of date, as I wrote before. Indeed, in IELTS exam, for example, you have no time to seek the answer with a dictionary. In contrast, getting the correct answer using the internet should be admitted as an ability. In our society, nowadays, nobody can solve any problems without the internet and a calculator. On the contrary, if you are not allowed to rely on any gadgets, you would also have to be sure about the time during the exam without looking at a clock.

My past entry: Examination

In the near future, more compact wearable computers will appear. Censorship against cheating will become difficult. We have to reconsider the definition of the exam.

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