NWEA does not support touchscreen devices with flip screens. However, this is specific to student testing devices that are using touchscreens as "standard" laptop screens. There are some new devices on the market, such as those offered by Lenovo and Dell, that allow the computer screen to be "flipped" to become/function like a tablet device instead of a standard laptop device. These devices are also referred to as 2:1 devices.
Students may not use the devices in flipped-screen tablet mode for the operational CBT exams.
When the screen is flipped to tablet mode, the user interaction with input technology is not supported by NWEA. The following provides some details regarding issues with screens that can be flipped to tablet mode:
- Built in Electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) technology pens do not function the same as finger-touching or a standard stylus that can be used on a standard touchscreen laptop. Students will find that the stylus or digital pen does not work when in tablet mode.
- Even if the flipped-screen tablet mode and stylus work for the student, there are multiple system features available in tablet mode that are not disabled by the Secure Browser, such as predictive text, speech to text, and handwriting mode.
- Tablet mode allows the device to be rotated to portrait mode, which degrades the student experience when testing on the Nextera Test Delivery System.
NWEA will continue to review these 2:1 devices for future CBT administrations. Please contact NWEA Customer Service if you have any questions regarding whether or not your students are using a fully supported device for operational CBT administrations.
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