Because having the highest score requirement to pass isn’t enough of a challenge, the California bar has also boasted its fair share of tech mishaps. AI-generated questions, grading screw-ups, and faulty software made it seem like test takers were sleuthing out maximum patience rather than minimum competency. But who says you have to finish law school before a test’s technical failures makes you want to rip your hair out? UC Berkeley’s required exam software has its fair share of errors and students are pushing back against being forced to use it. Daily Cal has coverage:
In the face of high-stakes exams, students at the UC Berkeley School of Law have voiced concerns over required exam software, citing serious technical issues, privacy risks and exam complications while the school continues to use Electric Bluebook, or EBB.
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Last fall, a version of the software posed issues for a number of students, including crashes, failed submissions, device malfunctions that required full restarts and data access concerns that led some to arrange borrowing a new device.“We received over 150 anonymous comments last semester raising technical problems, privacy issues, or personal concerns relating to the Electronic Bluebook,” said Ben Shipman, the co-president of the Student Association of Berkeley Law, in an email. “This semester specifically, we received 57 non-anonymous concerns in addition to more concerns raised by anonymous submissions, in-the-hall interactions, and students who came to SABL’s semesterly Town Hall in which they voiced concerns about the EBB.”
The silver lining is that the school reached out to the developer to fix the errors. Unfortunately, there are still privacy concerns even if the exams run smoothy. The EBB requires admin access to sensitive data on the student’s computers making international students and students doing pro-bono work hesitant to use the program. Where the EBB poses too difficult, it might be time for the old non-digital version to step up.
Berkeley Law Students Raise Concerns Over Exam Software Glitches, Data Access [Daily Cal]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
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