After taking the digital PSAT I can confidently say that College Board needs to go back to their roots and stop trying to include technology into everything. This year College Board implemented their digital PSAT for all students. I took it a few weeks ago and didn’t like the way it went.
A negative about the digital version is not being able to freely write. This may not apply to all, but I am a visual thinker so writing down with a pencil and paper helps me learn and think. With the entire exam being digital it affected my thinking process. It was easier when I was able to annotate, circle and cross things out on my own. While this website allows students to do this it doesn’t have the same effect for me as if it was on paper.
My proctor had issues with the website pushing our test-taking over an hour behind. We didn’t begin until after 9:30 a.m. all due to technological issues. With the exam being digital now this is more likely to occur which wouldn’t happen if it were paper. Why not make it easier for everyone and keep it on paper?
It seems that it wasn’t solely my classroom, or even district, that has had these issues either. In an article by Y! News College Board stated that over a million juniors were taking the PSAT the same day and Mike Goldstein, who runs Goldstein SAT Prep, said issues were expected.
“In its first-ever digital PSAT last week, the College Board, which oversees the PSAT and SAT, ran into a few hiccups. The College Board said, ‘At the beginning of the digital PSAT administration … a surge in traffic on the application used by schools to set up and run administrations caused some schools to delay or be unable to begin testing,” said Goldstein. “‘I was sort of expecting there to be a small number of issues with the PSAT just because the digital test is new for counselors, for schools, and it seems like that’s what came to pass,” although he [Goldstein] expects most of the kinks will be resolved in time for the digital SAT next year.'”
If they knew this would cause such problems, why have it in the first place?
These tests determine a lot and putting a stunt in that because of expected technological issues is frustrating. In my testing room we were told to sit in silence for an hour while we waited for the lady in charge to one and fix the website we were to take the exam on. I don’t know how technology works or what they can do about this maybe not have everyone take it the same day on one website or change the website altogether.
For the most part, the exam should stay paper as, in my opinion, there are more cons than pros, but I do see why some may enjoy the digital version better. Call me old-fashioned, but not everything needs to be digital these days and this new PSAT is no exception.
