When freshman and sophomores took the PreACT this year, students noticed that there was something missing, paper. For the first time, the PreACT at Goodpasture went fully online. This has started a shift that will change the way students take standardized tests.
The decision to move the PreACT online was made to help students get used to the format that they will likely encounter more throughout the future due to the growth of online standardized testing.
On the day of testing, students showed up with charged chromebooks. When in classrooms, students were instructed on how to log in and were helped with any tech glitches.
Once the test began, students found that there were digital tools such as an on-screen calculator, the option to flag a question, and could highlight while reading.
A few classrooms ran into some minor technical difficulties, but overall the online testing ran smoothly.
Some students liked not having to bubble answers.
“With paper, you’re always worried about accidentally bubbling the wrong thing,” sophomore Presley Page said. “But with online you just had to click the answer and move on.”
Others said that the online version was easier.
“It was a lot easier to focus on,” freshman Leyton Ivy said. “I like online better.”
Some thought the online version made it harder.
“I feel like the online was more difficult, especially the math part.” sophomore Dean Hayes said.
With the first online PreACT a success, College Counselor Jessica Knox said that she expects the Goodpasture to convert the ACT to an online form in a few years.
