It's the beginning of the end for electronic cheats on exams. Casio launched last month a new range of calculators mainly integrating an "exam mode", which teach many schoolchildren the imminent entry into force of new regulations from the Ministry of National Education.
The sounds of hallways and playgrounds spoke true. An anti-cheating law was published last month in the official bulletin. It prohibits the use of conventional programmable calculators for secondary education exams, that is to say for the college certificate and the baccalaureate, from January 1, 2018.
Students entering high school at the start of the next school year will have to equip themselves with new calculators with an "exam mode".
Memory erased and LED flashing
Activated by the student at the start of a test, this function will neutralize or erase the memory, and thus prevent access to any cards and cheat sheets. To exit exam mode, you will need to connect the calculator to a computer or simply connect two identical calculators to each other with a USB cable. But students who attempted the operation during the exam would be easily spotted, as the exam mode activates a flashing LED on the top edge, which allows supervisors to spot offenders.Casio is therefore launching the Graph 25 + E (professional and non-scientific baccalaureate), Graph 35 + E (baccalaureate in all sections) and Graph 75 + E (S and ES sections then higher education), with exam mode. They will be available soon, at prices not communicated. The new fx-92 Special College, on the other hand, does not have this mode.
As for Texas Instruments, the TI-82 Advanced, TI-83 Premium CE and TI-Nspire CX presented earlier this year are also compliant. Please note, activating the exam mode will permanently erase the memory of the first two models. You will need to transfer your personal data to a computer before and after an exam.
Related contents
- TI-83 Premium CE,…: calculators to take you back to school
Download My Calculator for Windows.
