GED test to go digital

Many school administrators have already realized the advantages to eliminating paper in the classroom. Implementing digital systems helps education professionals streamline information management while allowing teachers to stay in touch with students and parents. Now, one more learning institution plans to go paperless – the GED test will be digital for the first time in January 2014.

The GED test has been completed with paper and pencil for all 70 years of its existence, but according to Central Washington University, moving it online will help modernize the system and provide test-takers with greater flexibility and more opportunities. 

"[With the online exam] I can open testing three to four times per week," Bill Thelen, chief GED examiner and director of Central Washington University's Testing Services, told the source. "In the past, I would offer the exam once every other week, but this makes it easier for students to schedule their exams."

The source also reported that moving the test online will allow GED staffers to make more frequent changes to the test's content and format, which will allow them to get a more accurate measurement of the skills and knowledge that are needed to prepare for higher education or a career.

According to the Harrisburg-Carlisle Sentinel, the new version of the test has been implemented as a way to reflect the increasing prevalence of computers in the workplace. While some have expressed concerns about the level of computer skills that will be necessary to complete the test, the Sentinel stated that educators will work to ensure that everyone taking the exam has the required computer proficiency. 

"The GED test opens doors to college, better jobs and the satisfaction of earning a high school credential," said Margaret Weitzel, executive director of the Employment Skills Center in Carlisle. "We can help adult learners get prepared to take the parts of the GED test they still need to pass."

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