Students taking Level One or Level Two English have the option of sitting their parallel and NCEA examinations on their laptops this year. If your daughter was wishing to sit her examinations using a digital device but was worried about battery life, there will be power points available for older laptops. We do not want a shorter battery life to be a barrier to her choosing to use a laptop instead of pen and paper.

We are extending the close-off date until Monday the 23 July. If she has lost her original permission form, please email me at dk@otagogirls.school.nz with the subject line, PERMISSION TO SIT DIGITAL EXAM

These digital examinations are ‘real’ examinations - the results from these will contribute to her NCEA.

There is no obligation for your daughter to sit the digital examination and there will also be paper copies available on the day of the examination if she changes her mind. The examination will be taking place at the same time as the hand-written examination and it contains exactly the same content and questions. After the 20  August she cannot remove her name from this list and will be roomed with those sitting the digital examination. The choice to sit the examination on paper or on her laptop can be made on the day but she can only opt out, she cannot opt in if we have not enrolled her.

Laptop capabilities including battery life, processing speed and Wi-Fi connectivity should be considered when choosing to sit the digital examination. The browser specifications are found below. The students will be given a chance to practise using the technology in the parallel examinations in September. We have included a sheet of frequently asked questions and the NZQA webpage will have further information.

There will be a technician on site if there are any problems with the computers or the software at the time of the examination. Examiners have been trained thoroughly in digital examinations to deal with any problems that might arise.

If you are happy for your daughter to sit the external English examination on her laptop, please ask your daughter for the letter that was sent home this week and please sign the permission slip and ask her to return it to her English teacher as soon as she can.

FAQ

During the assessment

Q. If we have a technical issue affecting all students involved in a Pilot examination, would the school have access to a hard copy of the assessment for distribution to all students?

A. The school will be provided with personalised examination papers that can be given to students in specific circumstances. A set of scenarios will be provided to Exam Centre Managers at their training to guide decision-making as to when to use the paper examinations. These scenarios will also be provided to Principal's Nominees.

Q. If a particular student has technical issues and cannot complete a digital examination, can the Principal's Nominee apply for a derived grade (providing valid evidence is available against the Assessment Standard)?

A. In this scenario, the student would be able to use the paper-based examination. If, however, there was an issue with both the digital and paper version, an application could be made for a derived grade.

If an emergency occurs, and all candidates are unable to return to the examination room, their digital work will be submitted and the Principal’s Nominee will apply for derived grades.

Q. Can students complete the standards in any order?

A. Yes, students have the ability to start on any standard and move between the questions and pages of each standard freely.

Technical requirements

Q. What browsers can be used for the assessments?

A. We recommend that you use one of the following browsers to access the digital examinations:

Chrome (54 or higher)

Safari (10 or higher)

Firefox (49 or higher)

Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge browsers are not compatible with the digital examination platform.

Q. We want to be able to use Chromebooks for the Digital Trials and Pilots, which don’t have Microsoft Word – will this be an issue?

A. No - as the Digital Trials and Pilots are run through browsers, they are not reliant upon any programs like Microsoft Word.

Remember

- students can opt out of their digital examination at any point, and for any reason, but they must complete any standard they have started (either digitally, or on paper) and will not receive additional time to do so

- if students experience technical issues, they can transfer to paper at any point, and will receive any time lost at the end of the examination - the amount of time will be at the discretion of the supervisor. If, due to a technical issue, students have completed a standard partially digitally and partially on paper, both sections will be marked by the same marker.

We encourage students to have a laptop with a battery that will last over three hours.

Final date for returning permission slips OR emailing Ms Dick directly is Monday the 23rd of July.

No further changes can be made after the 20th of August