The global pandemic pushed things online keeping the safety and health standards in check for students. Keeping the digital wave in check, students wanted the same to happen with the English Language Test as well. The revolution happened as the majority of UK universities started accepting Duolingo English Test, before other test-providers and traditional test-center-based exams, including IELTS and TOEFL, introduced their own online versions.
However the question of concern is that can a significant number of institutions, support digital English Testing methods for higher education in the United Kingdom. What will be the function of online tests as the market develops, though, as the pandemic’s effects fade and university recruitment and admissions activities restart in a more conventional capacity?
A public research university’s regional director of international recruitment noted that her institution adopted the DET as a result of the lockdown that took place during the pandemic in China. In fact, according to Duolingo’s Alvarez, even though the pandemic wasn’t anticipated or welcomed, its effects on the DET were positive because thousands of universities all over the world started accepting the online exam as a result of the extraordinary circumstances.
For instance, after taking the DET, students from refugee communities received offers from international universities.Luis von Ahn, a co-founder of Duolingo, concluded the discussion by recalling how his company was founded with a mission that still guides all it does today: to utilize technology to break down obstacles to education and, in doing so, to advance equal access.