Should MP3 Players Be Banned From Schools?
The list of things you can't do at school is getting longer by the second. The newest controversial item? iPods. But it's not because they take away your attention from your teachers -- it's because crafty students have learned to cheat with 'em.
Students use MP3 players to record test answers in advance and to download notes as text files; the players are worn inconspicuously by using earbuds and hiding the player under clothing. "I think it is becoming a national trend," Shana Kemp, spokeswoman for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, tells the Associated Press. "We hope that each district will have a policy in place for technology -- it keeps a lot of the problems down."
Still, students like Mountain View High senior, Kelsey Nelson, who likes to listen to her iPod when she's done with tests, says the ban won't make a difference in her Meridian, Idaho school. "You can just thread the earbud up your sleeve and then hold it to your ear like you're resting your head on your hand," she says. "I think you should still be able to use iPods. People who are going to cheat are still going to cheat, with or without them."
On the other end of the spectrum, Duke University provides iPods to its students to enhance learning, especially in music, engineering, and sociology classes. "Trying to fight the technology without a dialogue on values and expectations is a losing battle," Tim Dodd, Duke's executive director of The Center for Academic Integrity tells the AP. "I think there's kind of a backdoor benefit here. As teachers are thinking about how technology has corrupted, they're also thinking about ways it can be used productively."
Style Slides
Interviews
Astro Slides
Sound Off
