AXIOS (Josephine Walker) - Blue books make a comeback at colleges in the AI era. Why not "chisels," critic mocks
Colleges besieged by AI-generated writing brought back blue book exams to deter cheating , but some educators say hand-written tests don't showcase students' best work and disadvantage swaths of learners. Why it matters: Educators say AI cheating is real — if sometimes overstated — but reverting to pen-and-paper tests sidesteps the reality that many employers want graduates who are comfortable using AI tools. State of play: Education has fundamentally changed since OpenAI dropped ChatGPT in 2022. - Blue books can help prevent copy-and-paste cheating. But Professor Dan Melzer, at University of California, Davis, says educators won't be able to completely "outsmart ChatGPT" use because students will find workarounds. Zoom in: Steven…