Online testing fails to improve safety

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
I am in my sixties, and all tests of some consequences were taken 40+ years ago. They involved textbooks, classrooms, instructors, and paper exams. A lot has changed since then. Some call it progress. I’m not so sure.

The California Boater Card is a requirement in my state to improve boater safety. It was an online test with multiple chapters, each having timed study pages before advancing. The test is a one-size-fits-all, and since the information was not focused on my type of boating, I cheated.

It wasn’t hard. Without reading the study pages, I’d advance to the next page when the timer allowed, highlight the test questions, and right click to search the internet for the answers. I passed.

More recently, I sought to reduce the penalty of an automobile speeding ticket by attending traffic school. I needed this just once before as a young driver, and it was a long day. But the online test had no timed pages, I did no studying, clicked forward as fast as I could, and the internet again provided the answers.

Forgive me for this admission, as both tests sought to make the world safer. That’s a good thing, but if completing the course is the only objective, online testing failed. Our sport now has a lot of certifications to improve deliverability, and I hope the ones that really matter involve textbooks, classrooms, instructors, and paper exams.