ClassroomTech

=Technology in the Classroom=

iPods - Do they have a place in your classes?

 * 1) Read [|this article], which is causing a great deal of controversy
 * 2) Read the various comments people have made (listed below)
 * 3) Read this [|NPR] story about Rafe Esquith (my new hero)
 * 4) Go to YOUR page in this wiki and write a good argument either for or against the use of iPods and similar electronic devices in the classroom.
 * 5) //To get to your page, click on// Student Pages //in the left hand frame, then click on your name, then click on the// Edit This Page //button at the top of your page.//

Kohlberg's Stages of Development
Now that you've had a chance to react to the iPod dilemma, let's try to put some teeth into your arguments. [|Read] (or listen to) this information about Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development. What stage best applies to your argument? What would be the ideal reason to allow or deny the use of iPods in the classroom? Support your arguments with links and quotes (cited, of course!).

Comments
//I think there is some sensationalism going on here. yes, there is cheating, and always has been and always will be. However, at the end of the article is the real issue: values such as expectations and integrity. taking iPods out of the classroom is not doing a bit of good to instill the values that we want students to have. It's like gun control - all the good citizens will not have iPods because a few misuse them, and those kids may find another way to cheat anyway. I would think that a teacher could walk about the class like during TAKS testing and see whether or not a student is cheating.//


 * Why introduce distractions into the classroom that can be easily used to disrupt a students' education?**

Right, I think we should just go back to paper and pencil…why use all these electronic devices that kids have integrated into their lives? While you’re at it, take out laptops and projectors and remove internet access. I’m tired of trying to keep students out of places they shouldn’t be visiting.

//Right on—if I can remember back to my HS and college days, we should probably ban paper and pencil, because you can use those to cheat with as well. I mean, we are all about assessing what students can remember, right? We shouldn’t re-think assessment—more aligned with finding information, sorting it, and making it their own—that takes too much time, and we all know that’s one thing we don’t have—time. We should probably remove things that are hanging in the classroom—kids can cheat off those. While we’re at it, remove the desks and chairs—those can be used for cheating as well.//


 * When teachers start letting students use resources available to them to solve problems and demonstrate knowlede instead of rote memorization, the iPod will be viewed as a tool. When I reply to an important question from my supt. I use lots of resources including talking to colleagues before creating my response. I guess in the traditional claasroom that might be considered cheating.**

I believe that if a student makes the choice to cheat, then they will find a way. Back when I was in high school (before cells, PDAs, iPods), kids simply wrote answers on the bottom of their shoes and then during the test they crossed their legs to place their foot on their knee so they could see the bottom of their shoe. The only technology involved here was a ball point pen and a shoe with no tread on the bottom. When caught, they did not have their shoes and pens taken away. Usually, the only way you were caught is if that specific teacher had good class management skills. Walking around and monitoring her students instead of sitting at a desk all class period reading or grading papers. Good classroom management skills would eliminate a high percentage of cheating, if used. Agreed, as more technology comes along (cell phones, iPods, palms, etc) - there are more opportunities to be creative and cheat. Teachers must be aware of this and use it to their advantage.

We use iPods in our classrooms at grades PreK through 12. Teachers and students alike are creating outstanding podcasts at all levels including special ed, ESL and GT. iPods are yet another tool to enrich the curriculum and take it one step further. Banning/removing them from the classroom would be a step in the wrong direction. Teach students how to use these devices correctly and lay down the rules of how they will be used. Then, if the rules are broken - remove it from that student's use.

Why make everyone suffer due to the low morals of a few students who chose to make a bad choice?