{"id":20908,"date":"2013-12-10T14:28:43","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T19:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=20908"},"modified":"2013-12-10T14:39:46","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T19:39:46","slug":"why-the-ged-is-going-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/12\/10\/why-the-ged-is-going-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Why The GED Is Going Online"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_20909\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Cynthia Williams is studying for the GED. She said she's had to learn how to use a computer to take the new online exam next year.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/12\/12-10-CynthiaWilliams.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-20909\" alt=\"Cynthia Williams is studying for the GED. She said she's had to learn how to use a computer to take the new online exam next year.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/12\/12-10-CynthiaWilliams-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/12\/12-10-CynthiaWilliams-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/12\/12-10-CynthiaWilliams-620x465.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Williams is studying for the GED. She said she&#39;s had to learn how to use a computer to take the new online exam next year.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One of the big changes with the <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/12\/08\/changing-ged-adds-new-problems-to-an-old-test\/\">new GED test come January<\/a> will be that the exam is going online. Students will no longer have a pencil and paper option and will have to take the exam on a computer.<\/p>\n<p>GED Testing Services vice president Nicole Chestang said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gedtestingservice.com\/educators\/2014-faqs\">online exams offer a lot of benefits to test-takers.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ll get their results the same day they take the exam. They&#8217;ll also be able to get copies of their transcript or take a practice GED exam to find out if they are ready.<\/p>\n<p>GED data from Florida and other states shows students taking computer-based tests are finishing their studies quicker, more likely to pass the test and more likely to take the test again if they fail a section, Chestang said.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a secondary reason the tests are going online: It&#8217;s tough to find a job that doesn&#8217;t require computer skills.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p>&#8220;Adults need basic computer skills to kind of be prepared for the most basic things in life today,&#8221; Chestang said, &#8220;such as searching for or applying for a job and in some states it&#8217;s the only way to access social services. So we want to make sure adults who are entering today&#8217;s workforce have those basic skills.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Still, for adults taking the GED the computer is intimidating.<\/p>\n<p>Hillsborough County teacher Travis McGinnis said he&#8217;s had to<a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/12\/08\/changing-ged-adds-new-problems-to-an-old-test\/\"> teach his students at Metropolitan Ministries how to use computers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Very nervous about it, because I&#8217;m not that used to a computer,&#8221; said Cynthia Williams, who is studying for the GED. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been practicing with my teenage children at home. They have been helping me. They know it all.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the big changes with the new GED test come January will be that the exam is going online. Students will no longer have a pencil and paper option and will have to take the exam on a computer. GED Testing Services vice president Nicole Chestang said online exams offer a lot of benefits [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":20909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[185,183,1011,1050],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20908"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20911,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20908\/revisions\/20911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}