Technology is taking over nearly every aspect of our lives; what’s next on its hit list? The Scholastic Assessment Test(SAT).
We live in a digital world and after COVID-19, school and technology will forever go hand in hand. It was inevitable the 50 year tradition of the fall Practice SAT(PSAT) would be technology’s next takeover.
Forget bubble sheets and outdated number two pencils; only an individual computer is needed.
Truthfully, I was dreading the change from paper to staring at a computer screen. When I’d taken PSATs on the computer before they made the already long process feel even longer.
Then I took it.
The whole process felt shorter, less stressful and I almost forgot I was staring at a computer screen. The long reading passages that used to drag on? Gone. With each question you get a new short reading passage. As a result, I quickly moved through the reading sections with time to spare.
However, the second reading section was significantly harder. This is because your score on the first module determines the difficulty of the second section.
The math sections are also set up this way. Additionally, Desmos graphing calculator is available. When it comes to math Desmos is my best friend. Its graphs are bigger than a regular graphing calculator and you can clearly see the points, making solving problems easier.
One downside, though, unlike paper, computer’s need battery. Despite charging my computer the night before, towards the end of the PSAT my computer was at 10 percent. This is because Bluebook, the app the PSAT is in, drains your battery. So it’s important to bring a charger.
Overall, the online PSAT surprised me. As a part of the first UCS grade to take the online SAT in the Spring, I hope it will go as smoothly as the PSAT did.
