Students sit NAPLAN tests online

THOUSANDS of Victorian students will this week sit NAPLAN tests online for the first time, with digital security beefed up to combat cheating.

Controls on school web browsers have been tightened to safeguard security as every student across grades three, five, seven and nine prepare to sit the standardised assessment from Tuesday.

The national testing body has blocked online dictionary and problem solving websites such as Grammarly.

A secure “locked down web browser” that blocks access to prohibited sites will be installed on students’ devices.

The move to online assessment comes after just one in 20 students used a computer to complete the test in 2018.

ACARA chief executive David de Carvalho said devices, classroom settings and the NAPLAN platform were trialled during a three-stage testing process ahead of the national testing period in March.

He said the “extensive” tests picked up a software update that allowed students to install Grammarly on to their MacBooks to work for any application, but this had been stamped out for the national assessment.

“That’s the kind of thing that we’re constantly quite vigilant about. It’s very important that we block access to those sites for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the test so that everybody’s on a level playing field,” he said.

It will also be the first time students will be given questions that match their ability.

This means a student who answers more questions correctly in the first testing stage will receive different questions to a student who answers questions incorrectly.

“The tests are more engaging, and allow us to provide more precise results with adaptive testing, where the test presents questions which may get progressively more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses,” a Department of Education spokesman said.