The Internet and Tests

I had never previously considered allowing students to use the internet during tests. It is when issues like this are raised that I begin to think that my high school was a long time ago (realistically, it was ten years ago). Since we did not have a computer with internet for every student as they do now, I'm left to speculate on the utility of it based on these articles. One of the best ideas expressed for the pro side relates to the need for tests to move beyond fact recall. I agree with the authors that this is not the purpose of learning, and it's more important to test what the students can do with their knowledge rather than merely test whether or not they have dates and facts memorized. Perhaps with access to facts via the internet, we can move our tests beyond fact recall. We can test students on their interpretation of those facts, and ask them what the significance of the facts is. On the other side of the argument, the author correctly points out that the internet may not be usable for every classroom. For instance, math is a subject where the internet would just give students the answers rather than force them to interpret data. Other classrooms have the problem of having too wide a range of students to be able to ask them all to use higher level thinking. Some students have not developed to this level, so they will struggle on the test even with the computer. Ultimately, the case made for allowing internet usage during tests won me over. It's true that classes contain students of varying developmental levels and that testing them is difficult; however, this is not something new nor is it exacerbated by allowing internet usage.The internet is a tool that students are accustomed to using everyday. Using it to look up facts whether for a test or not is natural for them. Problems with allowing students to look up facts on the internet during tests only arise when the tests are so simplistic as to merely solicit basic information. In my classrooms, I intend to allow the students to do research on the internet during tests. I don't intend on testing them on fact recall. In fact, I would much prefer to use essays that dig deep into an issue and require critical thinking rather than testing them on data, and the internet is an excellent tool for testing students in this manner. Whether or not the students use their cell phones instead of school computers with filters is not of concern to me. I don't believe in much censorship anyway, and students are able to use their phones at any time of the day and do whatever they want on the internet. Filtering the internet for students doesn't really serve much purpose in my opinion, so the author's argument against internet usage during tests because they can use their uncensored phones does not hold much weight. At this point in my career, I am excited about the opportunity that the internet brings for my classroom.