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A NSW Principal has suggested a modern way to add more “depth” to the HSC.

Shane Hogan, the principal of Kambala in Rose Bay, has voiced his support for students being allowed to use the internet and search engines such as Google on mobile devices while they sit their final HSC exams.

Mr Hogan thinks changing the way students sit the exam could add more “depth” to their learning, saying many enter exams having memorised entire essays, reports News.com.au.

He says the test has become outdated and has little to do with the real world.

“You have to think historically about the HSC and what it was designed to do,” Mr Hogan told Ben Fordham on 2GB radio on Friday.

He explained the HSC, originally introduced in 1967, was designed for school leavers who were hoping to enter university.

Students are now required to stay at school until they are at least 16 or 17 years old and school leavers are required to engage in training. Three-quarters of students remain at school throughout the HSC.

But the principal said the current system has been reduced to a “memory test” with students entering exam rooms having rote learned entire essays.

Mr Hogan said the reality of “today is that we all grab our phone as soon as we’re asked a question”.

“If we’re gonna test the kids let them use the tools that they will really use when they’re out in the workplace.”

He makes a great point don’t you think?

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  • Wouldn’t that just be enabling them to cheat? Gosh, when I was in high school, there was a bit of hoo-ha about having calculators in exams, now they think google use is a good idea

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  • I think learning that information sets a really good pathway to memorising things in the future rather than being dependent on your technology.

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  • well I guess as adults we rely on google too.. but they also need to think for themselves

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  • Wouldn’t that mean anyone could become a doctor if they just found the right answers on google? Surely you would need to understand some information, not just copy it. Will our professionals simply be Googlers and now know what they’re doing?

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  • Time to fire that Principal!

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  • If you memorise an essay,you are learning something. If you google and copy, chances are you aren’t learning or remembering much

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  • But you can’t Google answers at university or often in real life work situations. What’s the point!

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  • It would be interesting to know what controls and rules would be put in place for the use of google during exams?

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  • I believe doing it during an exam is cheating. We weren’t allowed to check anything in text books or assignments. That was labelled cheating.
    If they are going to use google for exams why bother studying and learning anything?


    • It seems quite complicated and rules and protocols would need to be in place.

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  • This sounds more like an issue with the exam it should be about how to apply what you’ve learned and if the questions aren’t doing that there is obviously an issue.

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  • I’m not sure about googling things, but there’s certainly value in taking another look at the HSC.

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  • I think the final exams are quite a stressful time for the students. If that could them being more relaxed, it could be worth a try. Not sure.

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  • Should we all have calculators in math tests? We do need to use our brains and our memory. Google isn’t always correct btw

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  • There is heaps I learnt at school that I had no need for but using calculators in exams and google seems to be cheating and cheating my kids as they don’t have to study , learn and remember things if they can simply ask google. I’d rather and assume they would as well to pass from studying and retaining information than using google.

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  • No cursive writing no analog clocks and google allowed in tests heck take me back to high school! Seriously though what are students being taught now a days? Seems like if its too hard schools get rid of it!!

    Reply

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