AP students at North Atlanta are no strangers to the tension that accompanies the rigorous courses. Students spend all year preparing for the formidable finish line: the exam. However, expectations of these exams are soon to change, as College Board announces that they will now be digital. By May 2025, 16 courses will be fully digital and 12 will be hybrid.
The rise of online testing for standardized assessments not only impacts students taking the exam, but also course teachers. AP teachers will also be adjusting to the mechanics of digital testing. While this is a big change, it is important to note that all AP assessments will remain the same regarding structure. Previous time allotments, question counts, and proctor protocols will remain. In addition, College Board has yet to change course curriculums. How teachers will approach the preparation process of these now digital exams is uncertain. ‘’I plan to continue testing with paper because I find that it is helpful for students to annotate certain questions,’’ said history teacher Adam Nelson. ‘’I may eventually have to test digitally to better familiarize them.’’
Those moments of hastily trying to complete your written sections of exams are now a thing of the past. College Board’s Bluebook platform now allows students taking fully digital exams to read prompts on a screen and type their answers directly. For hybrid subjects, paper will still be provided for free response questions. This transition will advance efficiency for AP students of all courses. Specifically, the students of literature and history-based subjects will considerably benefit from this transition. ‘’When writing multiple essays in a short period, you can feel exhausted and overwhelmed,’’ said sophomore Ava Lambert. ‘’I am hoping that being able to type my essays will relieve some of that stress.’’
In a generation increasingly reliant on technology, adolescents are exposed to digital innovations daily, yet student consensus doesn’t seem to favor their integration into testing. The College Board is not requiring school-issued devices for exams. Despite Bluebook’s secure platform, personal devices may still pose a risk for students to bypass the confines of security measures. To add, technical issues have students concerned for their upcoming exams. ‘’I’m worried that certain factors may cause my test to be invalidated ’’ said sophomore Luke Curcio.
With technology continuing to advance, changes in education are inevitable. As the AP testing environment evolves, challenges and advantages are presented. In light of this, effectively integrating new technology with practical needs in this new testing format will be key to ensuring the changes benefit those involved.The clock has started ticking and sooner than later exam season will begin.
