TORONTO -- Ontario is moving its standardized tests online in an effort to better engage students who have grown up in a digital world.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office said Wednesday it will be shifting toward web-based testing over several years, starting in the 2015-16 school year with the literacy test written by students in Grade 10.

But first, the agency said it will check what technological equipment and bandwidth is available in each school board. Any desktop, laptop or tablet with a browser and an Internet connection can carry the test, it said.

It's unclear how schools with limited access to computers will be able to make the switch. A spokeswoman for the EQAO said it's too early "to speculate about any technology enhancements that may be necessary."

Paper tests will remain available throughout the transition for schools that aren't ready for an online version, Kathleen Garrett said in an email.

"One of the key benefits of this transition is that it should eventually allow multiple windows for the administration of the (literacy test), rather than the all-in-one-day current model," Garrett said.

There will be multiple versions of the online test, each with different questions so students who have taken it can't help others prepare, she said. Other technological safeguards will also be in place, she said.

"That also means that not all students will need to be assessed at once, reducing the number of computers needed at one time."

The governing Liberals have pledged to spend $150 million over three years to provide new technology learning tools, like digital tablets, netbooks, cameras and software for classrooms.

The EQAO said the change is part of its plan to modernize the provincial assessment program.

"Like so many other areas in life, technology has opened new opportunities for different, more sophisticated, more engaging student assessments," the agency's CEO, Bruce Rodrigues, said in statement.

"It's important that we bring the provincial assessments in line with the digital world we live in and the digital classroom that is an increasing part in education."

The coming year will be spent on consultations, research, analyses and test runs.