textually.org: Pupils to sit exams in Faraday cage

December 6, 2006

Pupils to sit exams in Faraday cage

Numbers released by the UK's Qualifications and Curriculum Agency (QCA) show that 25 percent of all exam cheating is done on mobile phones, reports The Inquirer. Phones are being used to text friends to ask for exam answers or to access the Internet.

"The agency has called for drastic measures to prevent mobile cheating including lining the exam rooms with metal, creating a Faraday cage, to block cell phone signals.

The QCA wanted to recommend the use of mobile phone signal blockers but the practice is banned by Ofcom, the UK's telecoms watchdog. Other suggested measures include searching pupils with metal detectors or using phone blocking paint - a company called NaturalNano has found a way to use nanotechnology to blend particles of copper into paint that can be brushed onto walls and effectively deflect radio signals.

A copy of 'Digital technologies and dishonesty in examinations and tests ' can be found at www.qca.org.uk/17712.html. You can find a related article in The Guardian.

Related student cheating articles:

-- Mobiles fuel exam cheating rise (UK)

-- Cheating reports in national exams (China)

-- Students found using SMS during final exams (Australia)

-- Pupils use mobile phones to cheat in exams (UK)

-- High School Kids tell the New York Post they cheat on exams with their cell phones

Links to articles on the largest student cheating scandal to date, which occured in South Korea:

-- Metal Detectors Present In Exam Rooms (South Korea)

-- Exam scandal offers shades Orwell's fear (South Korea)

-- Education Ministry goes after cheaters (South Korea)

-- A Struggle of 18 Days with 280,000 Text Messages (South Korea)