Is the internet hindering our educational system's ability to test people fairly?

Just the other day, while walking through Stokes Croft in Bristol, I stumbled upon a piece of street-art which resonated with me. It was something that I have often thought, but rarely heard people speak about as much as I believe they should. The art was of a student in a graduation robe holding a phone and a degree, and beside this, simply the words 'smart phone'. It is so interesting to think that nowadays, since all this information is just a click away, it is increasingly hard to know when one is thinking for one's-self. 

One thing I always tell my mum when she says to me, 'You're so clever, I only got a 2:2 at Uni and you're on a first!', is that, University is completely different nowadays, and I often wonder if Universities are equipped to modernise their educational system at the same pace that the internet has accelerated. Now, when my mum was at Uni, it was in the days where admission was free, and where computers were a fairly new invention, with my dad going into a newly sought after career of coding after he graduated. The reason I see a degree from say, the 1970's, was so much more valuable than 2019, is that the internet did not exist and thus people actually had to do the work for themselves. 

Being an English Literature student, it is so interesting to me how quickly I learnt in first year that people seldom read the books, and instead there is this magical invention called SparkNotes which dates back to GCSE English. After browsing a quick synopsis of a four-hundred page book on this site, you will be well equipped to answer on your final exams. If you don't believe me, just take an example of a University student who recently came forward to say that they achieved a first class degree through the use of the website SparkNotes, (trust me, it works!). 

The thing that I find so important, that I believe is often missed by many, is that the internet has enabled us to gain a  vast knowledge far quicker than University before the internet. Imagine a time where you actually had to read the book, or when, to find a seemingly small piece of information, you had to raid the library. Imagine a time where you actually had to make every 9am, because if you didn't there was no recording to be found on blackboard. IMAGINE! 

And I'm not for one second saying that university students nowadays don't have to work hard, because of course they do. Especially because the value of a degree has become far less, as it becomes far more commonplace to have one and since competition is so high you're always under pressure to secure about ten work placements just to stand out. All I'm saying is that I believe that the idea of being academically clever has become skewed for many, and in fact the whole notion of it has changed. 

The whole class divide plays an important role here, too, as even from primary school, disadvantaged kids from lower income backgrounds lack perhaps the new most basic tools for modern day education- smartphones, computers and the internet. Instead of having a middle class habitus, it seems more and more educational success is now far more dependant on one's ability to acquire the internet and technology, which poses the question of whether it truly was me, or perhaps half me and half me smartphone that helped me to acquire my degree?