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OGDEN — One Utah school has banned students from wearing watches during exams in a move to nix the cheating possibilities that come with smart watches.
"One of the concerns we have is maintaining the academic integrity of our location," said John Kowalewsky, executive director of marketing and communications of Weber State University.
That is why the school is banning smart watches from its testing centers, he said. The move came when administrators saw more and more students — being the early tech adopters they are — wearing smart watches. The fear is students could receive text messages, smuggle in notes or even pull up websites during tests.
"We needed to update our policies and restrict the use of any sort of device on wrists, for fear that may provide an unfair advantage for people taking tests on campus," he explained.
The ban even includes "dumb" watches because some smart watches look like traditional time pieces. Weber State administrators do not want to check every wrist.
"It seemed easier to restrict any sort of wrist device rather than have our staff make a judgment call on a case-by-case basis," Kowalewsky said.
Several campuses across this country and Europe already have banned wrist watches during tests. Expect more action like that locally.
"I expect in short order schools in Utah and Idaho will adopt similar policies," he added.
