PARENTS, teachers and students have expressed concerns as the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy test (NAPLAN) moves online next year.
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Armidale education business EdAlive is doing their bit to prepare students for the online test, reaching 100 million words typed in their touch-typing program on Thursday.
CEO Graham East said the company developed the typing program because many young students do not have the adequate skills to complete the test online.
“NAPLAN has always been a paper test – an important part of that test has been an assessment of children’s writing abilities,” Mr East said.
“When they come to do that test in Year 3 and Year 5 they have an enormous history of handwriting.
“Now that we’re going to do NAPLAN online they’re faced with the situation where they have to compose an answer by typing.
“The reality is a lot of kids haven’t spent much time typing – so how can they accurately reflect their ability dealing with new technology?”
Data from the 2016 NAPLAN online trial showed that more than 84 per cent of students had technical issues logging on to the test to begin with.
More than 75 per cent of teachers said they would have to increase teaching time allocated to developing keyboard skills.
Part of the problem is that young children are being given devices and are not being taught good habits from the start, Mr East said.
“Children these days are coming to the keyboard with hardwired bad habits that they’ve learned from an early stage,” he said.
“The QWERTY keyboard was developed back in the 1960’s – and it was designed to be used by a typist with ten fingers.
“So if you want to do it quickly, you need to do it the way the inventor created it to be used – with two hands.”
NAPLAN will move online in 2018, but of teachers surveyed in 2016 – 41 per cent felt that the test should still be conducted with pencil and paper.
“The reality is that the education systems don’t, or haven’t, focused on teaching keyboard skills as a priority,” Mr East said.
“It’s a massive issue in our society, we’re not teaching a key skill in the digital age.”
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
