Should we allow the use of internet during tests and exams

Today, using internet during a test or an exam would be cheating, but recently there have been a debate whether or not students should be allowed the use of internet during tests and exams. Being allowed internet give us the ability to research facts about whatever we would be writing about, and therefore, the evaluation will be more focused on how we present the facts, rather than what we know. Even though internet can be a huge advantage, it can be “dangerous” as well, because finding reliable information can be hard, and it is easy to just use the first you find when you search on Google. 

So I think whether or not students should be allowed internet during a test or an exam should be dependent of what kind of subject you’re writing about. If there is a history test, where the whole point is to test you on dates and historical events, having internet might be a too huge advantage.

My views on using the internet during the exam

If you are using internet during the exam, it is very easy to burn yourself by using bad sources. Because there are a lot of bad sources and a lot of incorrect facts spread all over the internet. Sometimes it is easy to see which facts that are false, but other times it is harder because they can be somewhat close to the truth but still wrong, and that is why we hear over and over again to pick our sources on the internet carefully.

Wikipedia is an example of a website filled with useful facts, easy to use, first site which appears on Google, but still have flaws in some articles because people can easily edit it without any form for approval. Students are being advised against using Wikipedia, but still we use, because finding an article on Wikipedia about pretty much anything is so easy. By doing this, we lose the skills to find other more reliable sites, and therefore keep using Wikipedia.

The best way to find good, correct facts is to find sources you know are reliable, like articles written by experts, teachers or other qualified people. Another encyclopedia (not Wikipedia) you know is written by professionals might be a good source. Controlling your facts by crosschecking them with other sites is a good way to find out whether the facts are true or not, but of course this requires more work.

So using internet during an exam can help you a lot in form of providing information, just make sure you fin reliable sources, or at least double-check you facts trough several websites.

The great debaters

The great debaters is a movie based on a true story, and is set in the 1930’s. It is made by Oprah Winfrey, and is directed by Denzel Washington, whom is also one of the main characters in movie, along with Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Denzel Whitaker.

The plot revolves around Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington), a professor at Wiley College and the debate team’s coach. He wants them to be the best and later debate against white people, and even the Harvard debate team. During the movie you can also see a lot of racism, which was common during the great depression, and this time period. One of the most essential scenes in the movie is a scene where they see a man who had been lynched, which was when a mob of white people hung or burned a black man.

They eventually get an answer from Harvard, and they are going to debate them, but Mr. Tolson are not allowed to join them, and they have to do all the work themselves, but they manage to pull it off, and win in the end.
I think it was a good movie about racism and the conditions during the great depression.

Lamb to the slaughter

Today we read a short story called “Lamb to the slaughter” by Roald Dahl. The whole class then wrote some questions each, and I’ve picked two of them to answer in this blogpost. Roald Dahl is a British novelist and short story writer. He was born in Wales and had Norwegian parents. In addition to “lamb to the slaughter”, he has also written “Charlie and the chocolate factory” and “the BFG”.

When was this short story written and what would be the penalty for killing if she was caught?
-    The short story was posted by Harper’s Magazine in September 1953, after being rejected by The New Yorker. If Mary Maloney were to be caught for the murder of her husband, she would have been sentenced to death. Death penalty was not suspended until 1965 in England.

What could the husband be telling his wife that was so bad she had to kill him?
-    It does not say in the story what Mr. Maloney tells his wife when he comes home. But from the way Mary Maloney act and from her thoughts, we can presume it’s something along the line of him leaving her. Maybe even for someone else.