Hello,
I never thought that this could happen to me, as through all the exams I have been very careful about what I take into the exam room, but here is my little story.
Afraid that my wristwatch might not work properly (as it started failing two days before the exam and I didn’t have the time or energy to get it fixed), and not knowing if there was going to be a timer visible in the exam room, I decided to take my Fitbit with me.
The model I have has basically three functions, a digital watch, a stopwatch and a pace counter. Before going to the exam I was sure I had read that no smartwatches were allowed, same message on the posters outside, so I thought I was correct, as I didn’t think of this tracker as a smartwatch (quite silly, I know).
As we got the exam booklet and the proctor was reading the rules (before the exams had been opened or the time had started) I read on the front page rules that fitness trackers were mentioned as one of the forbiden items. I immediately raised my hand and gave my device to the proctor before the exam started.
I was actually shaking and paranoid for the first 20 minutes thinking that I was going to be suspended.
After the morning session was done I went to talk to the proctor about the fact that I though my device did not qualify as a smartwatch because there is basically no screen, mic, camera, or anything really, and he said it was all ok because I had submitted it before the exam started in any case.
As I picked the fitbit up from the storage room I noticed at least 4 other fitness trackers that had been surrendered in the same conditions, I assume, and I have kept myself at ease by thinking I wasn’t the only one.
Would this be a problem? What is the attitude towards the surrender of forbidden items to a proctor before exam begins?