With technological advancements, cheating at the academic level has reached a whole new dimension.
Due to this unusual problem, the Board of Law Examiners of the State of North Carolina has issued a notice to bar exam applicants. According to the notice, Apple's MacBook Pro Touch Bar hardware must be disabled for the duration of the examination.
The Board issued the notice for the examinees who will be appearing for the exam in February. The notice warned the applicants against the use of the Touch Bar if they intended to deploy the MacBook Pro.
"If you are planning to use the newest version of the Mac Book Pro with Touch Bar, you will be required to disable the Touch Bar feature prior to entry into bar examination Site," announced The Board of Law Examiners of the State of North Carolina.
Why Disable?
The announcement comes as a surprise for many examinees. The Board did not divulge the reason, nor offer a concrete explanation that has led to the introduction of this policy. However, the change in the policy is reflective of the fact that the Board perceives the use of the Touch Bar as a risky proposition, which may propagate cheating.
The Touch Bar function is designed in such a way that it replaces certain functional keys with context sensitive touch commands. As a result, examinees looking to use unethical means may deploy a software, which could potentially display all the answers of the test. The new Touch Bar could help in displaying the content depending on the action of the users.
Due to this concern, it is likely that the Board has decided to take precautionary measures to counter any such incidents.
How To Disable The Touch Bar
The Board is leaving no stone unturned and has even given a detailed step-by-step guide on how to disable the Touch Bar.
Here's the process:
Step 1: Navigate to System Preferences from the dock.
Step 2: Double-click the Keyboard.
Step 3: Next, open the drop down list for Touch Bar Show.
Step 4: Now select App Controls and open the dropdown menu for the option Press Fn Key To.
Step 5: Once this is open, select Show F1, F2 keys
Some of the analysts mentioned that removing the Touch Bar technology can make the entire functioning of the MacBook Pro difficult. The process of carrying out certain functions can get too lengthy as users may have to click on to the menu to accomplish the basic tasks.
Some of the states have already started taking hard core measures, which would discourage applicants from bringing their MacBook Pro to the examinations. Like in North Carolina, students have been forbidden from carrying the MacBook Pro for the upcoming February examination.
The Board revealed that during the exam a technician would be at hand to ensure the Touch Bar is disabled.
