The digital era snuck into one of the few remaining crevices of traditional learning this week.
North Carolina has launched computerized GED testing, which is set to expand across the state within a few months. The state determined a computer-based test would best benefit GED students, as 43 other states offer the test through GED Testing Service, an online-based system.
The service found 88 percent of adults passed the online test versus 71 percent on paper last year, deeming digital testing beneficial for those looking to quickly enter the workforce.
The computerization, which includes online registration and scheduling, instant unofficial scores and increased testing flexibility, comes just months before the 2014 GED modifications kick in, according to a GED Testing Service press release.
Among other changes, only web-based testing will be available starting next year.
“The big take-home message … is the testing series is changing for 2014,” said Jason Smith, Lenoir Community College interim director, of basic skills. “Come 2014, the 2002 series and all the tests in that series will no longer be valid.”
The last time GED standards were altered was 2002. If GED programs aren’t completed before the end of the year, students must start from the beginning. The test will also be four parts instead of five, and the price will rise significantly.
“As far as we know, the cost is going to go up,” said Smith, quoting the current GED test as a one-time $35 fee, including all retests. “That’s the only $35 you pay.”
Under the new system, students must pay $120 for the first test and $24 for each retest thereafter.
“It’s a big jump,” Smith said. “We, at the local level, have been screaming at the top of our lungs about that. These are enormous barriers for a majority of the students we serve.”
No cost-relief plan is projected at this point, and Smith said the digital test could create some issues for students as well.
“I predict that it will be quite a barrier, because one of the measures the state looks for in awarding the high school equivalencies is writing” he said. “You have to write in a timed test, so no matter how great a writer you are, it’s going to kind of depend on your computer skills. There are still a lot of people who need education who are not great with a computer.
“That really concerns me.”
Grace White, a Cove City woman completing her final GED class at LCC, has seen first-hand how technology may introduce a struggle for some students.
“I have a lot of experience with computers,” she said. “I feel comfortable with it, but I just think about my fellow students. A lot of them don’t consider computerizing being part of their skills.”
The GED Testing Service will be initially offered at Pitt Community College in Greenville and Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine.
Smith said the college urges anyone with computer limitation to complete their GED program this year.
“All of the classes are free, all of the pretests are free,” he said. “That is why it’s essential that anyone who needs the GED … they need to come now or call now.”
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
BREAKOUT BOX:
Want to learn more?
n For more information on GED Testing Service, visit GEDcomputer.com
n For more information GED classes at Lenoir Community College, contact the school at 252-527-6223 ext. 730 and lenoircc.edu