On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, Miller County Schools stepped into the future with online testing. Students from Coach Griffin’s economics classes participated in online End of Course Testing. The End of Course Test is required by the Georgia Department of Education and counts as 15% of each student’s final grade. Test-takers were pleasantly surprised with the ease of moving from question to question on the computers. Students exited the two-hour session with statements proclaiming that the computerized administration was much easier than handling the paper-andpencil tests traditionally used. The students appeared to be more focused since only one question appeared on the screen at a time. They were also allowed to go back and check their answers before they were finally submitted for scoring.

The Miller County tech engineers under the direction of Technology Director, Jeff Hatcher, prepared the classrooms for the test administration by screening and installing special programs on the laptops being used and remained on stand-by in the event that computer problems might occur. School Test Coordinator, Cleve Roland, trained teachers and coordinated the administration of the test.