New South Wales’ Digital Curriculum Revolution and How Examarius Helps to Keep Up with Changes

We often say that “the world is changing”, but in reality it has already changed. This world of changes is what we are living in right now and will be living in the future. Different types of technologies are already here, and even more are waiting for all of us. Younger generations are accustomed to this fact, because most of them grew up without knowing about the existence of rotary phones or even analog watches.

There are a lot of TikToks where parents ask their children to tell the time while looking at the analog watches, and they just unable to do it. It’s not a surprise, because we now have touch screens with digital watches everywhere. Who needs a board with a bazillion lines anymore! And this is true. Most of the useful things we had are now the things of the past because of the rise of better alternatives. And they should stay there to let us move forward.

The government of New South Wales (NSW) has similar understanding. After almost 3 decades, the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) decided to perform a Curriculum Reform. These grandiose changes are happening as of now, so our Business Analysts decided to dive deeper into the topic to understand how we can help different educational institutions prepare for new modern types of education. This is how we created Examarius, an online test system that is already used by different businesses. Thus, let’s take a closer look at the curriculum changes in Australia and how our software development expertise greatly assists educational institutions to meet the new present and future.

Embracing the Metamorphosis of the New South Wales’ Digital Curriculum

Embarking on an educational revolution, the NSW Curriculum Review led by Professor Geoff Masters has paved the way for a groundbreaking transformation. It uncovered that the existing curriculum was overcrowded, leaving scant room for in-depth learning. In the review, it was also highlighted that there is a concerning gap in foundational English and math skills among students, along with a disconnection between Higher School Certificate (HSC) subjects and real-world opportunities.

In response to these issues, it was decided to create a new K-12 curriculum:

• Kindergarten to Year 2 students will be greeted with fresh, robust English and math syllabuses, laying the cornerstone for literacy and numeracy;
• Year 11 and 12 students will be equipped with innovative learning domains and clear pathways to their future careers, ensuring they’re ready to take on the world after graduation;
• Teachers will reclaim time to dive deeper into teaching, liberated from the shackles of non-essential tasks and compliance demands.

The Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) 11-12 syllabuses in particular, which include Enterprise Computing, Computing Technology Life Skills, and Software Engineering among others, caught our special attention. Till the end of 2024, it is planned to implement them in schools.

Examarius was created to meet this market demand for a more efficient way of navigating tests and digital assessments for both teachers and students. The initial requests for customisation from educational institutions confirmed this need. But, we will talk more about this system further. We still have some details to talk about.

Source: Customized Online Exam System based on Examarius

All in all, the NSW Curriculum Reform marks a significant shift in educational focus, prioritizing the development of digital skills and knowledge. It is a part of a broader strategy to modernize education and ensure that students are not only consumers of digital content but also creators and critical thinkers. Therefore, different questions should be answered.

What Is the Curriculum About?

This transformative NSW Curriculum Reform is set to ignite minds and unleash potential, so let’s see what it is all about.

Objectives and Goals. The primary goal of the new curriculum is to equip students with the necessary skills to thrive in the 21st century. This includes fostering digital literacy, computational thinking, and an understanding of how technology impacts society. Considering that this is all a part of our daily life, it’s impossible to ignore.

Digital Curriculum Details. The curriculum introduces new syllabuses across various stages, with a particular emphasis on Information and Digital Technology. It covers everything from basic computer science principles to advanced software development and cybersecurity, while also encouraging them to consider the broader societal impacts of technology, which is vital nowadays.

Implementation Strategy. The NSW government has laid out a clear timeline for the rollout of the new curriculum, with full implementation expected by 2025. This gradual approach allows for feedback and adjustments, ensuring the curriculum meets the evolving needs of students and educators.

Support for Educators and Students. To facilitate a smooth transition, the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) provides extensive resources and professional development opportunities for teachers. Additionally, the curriculum is designed to be inclusive, catering to students with diverse learning needs.

Expected Outcomes. The digital curriculum is expected to foster innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills. By integrating technology into all learning areas, students will gain a holistic understanding of its applications and implications.

As we can see, the NSW digital curriculum is more than just an educational policy. It is a commitment to future generations. By embracing digital education, NSW is setting a precedent for what learning can and should look like in the digital age.

Read Also Technology Indistinguishable from Magic. What Decision Makers Should Know about Generative AI

Why Is It Important?

The digital age has ushered in unprecedented changes in the way we live, work, and learn. Technologies are no longer fun and alien-like things, they impact our life. According to the imarcgroup research, experts predict that the online learning industry will grow annually at a consistent rate of 8%.

So, this forward-thinking initiative is an ideal way to integrate digital literacy and technology skills into the fabric of education, ensuring that students are well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities that are waiting for them in the future.

Changes traditional educational models

The traditional educational models are no longer sufficient in a world dominated by digital innovation. The previous curriculum was found to contain too much clutter, leaving insufficient time to focus on deep learning..

The reform is a proactive measure to prevent students from being left behind in a global economy that increasingly values technological proficiency. It represents a significant shift in educational priorities, with a focus on developing a curriculum that is agile, responsive, and relevant to the needs of today’s learners. Furthermore, the syllabuses are meticulously crafted to provide a balanced education that combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications.

Encourages ambitions

The overarching aim of the digital curriculum is to create a learning environment that not only imparts knowledge but also cultivates the essential skills required in a digital era. Besides the digital literacy that we already mentioned, these skills include critical thinking, computational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. The curriculum is designed to empower students to become active participants in a digital society, capable of using technology not just as consumers but as innovators and creators.

Empower educators

Central to the success of the digital curriculum is the empowerment of educators. Recognizing that teachers are the linchpins of educational delivery, the NSW government has invested in a robust support system. This includes ongoing professional development, access to cutting-edge teaching resources, and a supportive network that encourages collaboration and sharing of best practices. The aim is to build a community of educators who are confident and competent in delivering a digital curriculum.

Looks into the future

The anticipated outcomes of the digital curriculum are multifaceted. In the short term, students will gain a solid foundation in digital skills that are immediately applicable in various contexts. In the long term, the curriculum aims to cultivate a mindset that is adaptable, innovative, and prepared for lifelong learning. Graduates of the NSW education system will be well-equipped to navigate a future where technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

How to Keep Up with the Revolution?

Of course, different actions can be performed depending on the educational institution, the tests and exams they have, the testing software they use, etc. If looking in general, some strategies can be thought through.

For example, educators can engage in continuous professional development to stay current with new teaching methods and technologies. Working in collaboration with other educators to share best practices and resources is also vital, because you will be able to see different sides of one issue.

Also, developing strategic and operational plans to effectively integrate the new curriculum into the classroom will help greatly. And, of course, embrace technology! Otherwise, how would educators be able to teach about technology without knowing its ins and outs, pros and cons. Educators should make the process more engaging and simple for students, therefore educational institutions can ask IT outsourcing companies that offer education software development services to build the education software that is suitable for the upcoming changes.

Slowly but surely, we come closer to Examarius as an example of how technologies, and education software solutions in particular, can be used in the educational process. Our team is ready to share some insights on the product, so let’s see what we were hiding under the sleeve.

Read Also The Importance of Student Data Tracking Software in Modern Education

Examarius ー Ready-Made Online Test System for Easier Adaptation to Changes

So, what is Examarius exactly? Let us show you.

Examarius is an online test platform designed to facilitate the management and monitoring of online tests and exams. It offers tools for examiners and students to handle various aspects of the examination process, such as accessing completed assessments, receiving feedback, tracking progress, and more.

As an online test system, Examarius can support the New South Wales digital curriculum in several ways:

• Assessment Alignment. The system can help in aligning assessments with the new curriculum standards, ensuring that tests are relevant and up-to-date with the latest educational objectives. It can be easily done with the help of the Test Builder feature that offers ready-made controls (Spreadsheets, Diagrams, IDEs for coding tests, Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, etc.) that you just need to fill out with the relevant content.
• Efficient Testing. Examarius can also help in streamlining the testing process, making it easier for teachers to create, administer, and grade exams, which is particularly useful for the new digital competencies being assessed. The system automatically checks and grades most of the answers, and there is an option to check them manually as well.
• Progress Tracking. The system can help track student progress over time, providing valuable data that can inform teaching strategies and curriculum implementation. It is easy to customize the product according to your needs and add a detailed dashboard for students.
• Instant Feedback. With Examarius, students can receive immediate feedback on their performance, which is crucial for learning and improvement in a fast-paced digital environment. It can be achieved with the Feedback feature available when examiners check and grade student’s answers. Having valuable insights from the teachers can help students in improving their skills and knowledge.
• Accessibility. Online testing systems like Examarius can offer greater accessibility, allowing students to take assessments remotely, which aligns with the digital nature of the new curriculum.
• Cheating Prevention. We all have been students at some point of our lives, so we know how it can be tempting to cheat. Our product takes into consideration that nature of ours and puts all questions and answers in random order. Besides that, the system is created on three different architectures (Admin, Examiner, and Student modules) that have one base to avoid the desire to peak answers through HTML code or any other way a student may invent.

By leveraging these features, Examarius can be a valuable tool for educators and students navigating the changes in the New South Wales digital curriculum.

Comparing Examarius with Other Popular Alternatives

When comparing Examarius to other online test systems, it is important to consider various factors, such as features, user interface, security, and support. Therefore, let’s see what our education software can offer.

Features

First of all, it is important to mention that our education software solution is not subscription-based, which differs it from other solutions in the market. Most systems require a monthly subscription, usually asking for about $20-$540 per month for standard option and $50-$1400 per month for a pro option.

As for our product, you buy it only once for a particular price depending on your needs. Thus, only $99 is for a ready-made product that you can easily prepare for rebranding and customizing it in the system Settings. If you need help with some custom features and want to enhance the education software even more, our team can help you for about $499, depending on the services you need.

Simple as it is. You don’t need to bother yourself with paying each month or dealing with any limitations based on the plan you chose.

If talking about the more specific features of the product, we analyzed other popular education software systems that include the management of the examination process, and found out that there are key features that are expected to be in any system as a must-have.

For example, such features as exam management and feedback are vital for the evaluation process, and it is impossible to find a system without them. Therefore, we decided to pay close attention to these features. Thus, the Test Builder has different types of controls for questions and answers as we mentioned earlier. Adding images, videos, spreadsheets, and other types of media and content helps to make the examination process more engaging and user-friendly for students. And the ability to send feedback that we implemented for the Examiner role improves communication between educators and students.

During the deep analysis, our team also noticed that most of the systems don’t have a randomization feature. That is why we decided to fix this and add the feature to Examarius. The sequence of the distributed questions among the student and the choices in each question are random:

• Random Question Distribution. While the system is building a test for a student based on the data filled by an examiner, the questions are selected from the questions tier of a database. This is done to ensure a more secure and time-saving test building process, because the pattern of the set of questions selected for an exam is randomized. As a result, each student gets a randomly sorted set of questions that are differed from any other set of questions received by another student;
• Random Choices (Answers) Distribution. It means that the order of choices within the same question that is received by students is randomized. Let’s say two students get the same question at the same stage of a test. The choices of this question, however, will be randomly sorted in order to avoid possible cheating scenarios.

Besides that, not every system has a time reminder. It is a very useful feature that allows students to track their evaluation process and better manage the time allocated for the test. The users with the Examiner role are also able to use the test scheduling feature that adds more structure to the overall process both for them and the users with the Student role, because everyone will know when a test should take place.

Examarius also has Automatic Grading and Reports & Analytics features that enhance the examination process even more, increasing the reducing the time of receiving test results.

Custom Features

Another advantage that differs Examarius from other online test systems is that our team of dedicated developers is ready to help you implement new custom features, change the current ones, or customize the software in any other way you need.

For example, at your request, we can implement the Questions Bank that will help the teachers to create tests even faster by taking data from the previously created tests. Let’s say you need to be able to bulk upload to the Question Bank – no problem, we can surely help with that! Want to tag them or create folders with certain questions – let’s implement that.

Some businesses want to have an ability to provide their learners with online certifications. We can show how to add this feature to your platform. It all depends on your needs, and we are always eager to discuss them to fit your requirements.

User Interface

To make Examarius even more user-friendly, we added custom roles and permissions and a User Manager. Thus, the platform has three modules to let different users work with it without issues:

• Admin module – Full access to the system, ability to manage all users and tests;
• Examiner module – Detailed information on exams and students, access to Test Builder and reports, ability to grade tests manually;
• Student module – Access to the testing process depending on the assigned tests, ability to receive feedback from examiners and view tests results.

Security

Another beneficial aspect that differs Examarius from other solutions is that this system is not SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). We don’t have access to the data you keep in it. We give you the system with full access and you decide what to do with it, which

We also took into consideration other security measures and made secure login, which surprisingly not all systems have. Besides having three separate login options (Admin, Examiner, and Student), the system tends to be used within the educational facility. Thus, there is no need for an ID check required before the exam, because the system will identify the user and give access to the needed test.

Support

We value our customers and their feedback, which is why our specialists are always ready to help with the issues you run into. You can send us screenshots with bugs you have, and we will identify the problem right away.

All in all, we tried to implement all the useful features to Examarius to make it a great assistant during these times of changes. Please also note that if you are from another country or need the system for other evaluation processes, it is easy to rebrand it based on your goals regardless of any reform.

Conclusions

Changes in the Educational industry are unavoidable in any country or state, which is why it is essential to be prepared for them. We believe that Examarius is destined to be a great asset for your company if you need an online test, exam, certificate, or courses system. Any education evaluation process should be user-friendly and should fit the current times, therefore we offer Examarius to the world, just like a child that grew up.

So, if you need any help with the platform or want to know even more about it or the services that we can provide, please contact us, and we will be glad to collaborate with you.