Sunday, April 29, 2007

Podcast #80 - Students Cheating With i-Pods : Teachers Should Learn Lesson

Hello. Yesterday I noticed a story on CNN about students using i-Pods to cheat on tests in school and several schools have decided to ban i-Pods because of this situation. Clearly, cheating is not appropriate in any format but I think the greater story here is the fact that students are using this new technology and teachers should be adapting the delivery of content to take advantage of the popularity of MP3 players instead of banning them from schools.



Regular listeners to this podcast know that I have used "StudyCasts" - audio reviews for upcoming tests that I post on our classroom web page and make available through iTunes - for the past two years and it has been a powerful study tool for my students. Parents have embraced it and other teachers have incorporated it into their curriculum. Other examples in our district include special education teachers recording the instructions for tests and help with reading assignments using MP3 players.

Please read the article and listen to the podcast, then let me know what you think. Am I crazy to think MP3 players should be used in schools. In the podcast I discuss how our building allows students to have MP3 players in school. What is your school's policy about MP3 players in the classroom. Please leave a comment to this blog entry to join the discussion or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Direct link to Podcast #80 - Students Cheating with i-Pods : Teachers Should Learn Lesson - MP3 format - 10:15 minutes

Podcast #80 Show Notes:

- CNN Story - Schools Say i-Pods Become Tools For Cheating

3 comments:

  1. You're definitely not crazy for wanting teachers to use mp3 players constructively for learning, Eric! I'm with you on this, and I think a better response to this technology would be having many teachers rethink their assessments.

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  2. Eric

    I agree entirely with your assessment of this issue. As I mentioned to you at NECC, our school found success in using iPods for educational purposes. After attending Troy Vincent'S presentation at NECC I expect more wide spread results and will update you on our progress.

    Enjoy your day,

    Kyle

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  3. Yea well we also gota worry about the teachers now... read this article from DailyCents.com:

    http://blogs.dailycents.com/?p=819

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