Does it Pay to Invest in Computer Based Testing Technology? Realities to Implement an Internet Based University Entrance Examination (iB PAU)

The University entrance examination (PAU) is the most important high-stakes exam in the General educational system in Spain. It has 6 sections of which the Foreign Language one is very relevant to the final score. The English section has had almost not significant changes in the last 20 years despite all the research in language learning and language testing in that time. Recent Spanish research projects suggest that there is a possibility to computerize the English (and the rest) sections of the University Entrance National Examination. Computer assisted language testing (CALT) seems an interesting possibility to improve its format, face validity and make it more reliable for all the different stake holders (students, teachers, institutions and so). Because of technical and administrative issues, students need to move to the universities (and, in not few cases, that mean very long distances) to take the exam. Thus, the key matter is whether it is possible to implement CALT in schools instead of universities to make it more accessible and less stressing for most students, and also to include a new test format to strengthen the exam validity. In order to study the deficiencies, a survey was completed by 100 teachers and then some of them participated in three focus groups. The study concluded that it is possible to implement CALT in high schools but requires an institutional and personal effort for both teachers and students. The survey also pointed that the computer version could include tasks that, at the moment, are not done due to the high price of their inclusion (such as an oral section).