OK, now we're talking. The Journalism Center on Children and Families just sent me an e-mail about Winnie Hu of the New York Times, who's reporting in today's paper that next month, the Union City school district will give out 300 iPods at its schools as part of a $130,000 experiment in one of New Jersey's poorest urban school systems. I like these ideas for pilot programs -- they’re creative, innovative and exciting to kids. This is a program worth watching in the Valley, since teaching English is job one for us. Passing out iPods loaded up with music to use during English class could be a fun tool to engage the students, especially low-income students who are not likely to have the money for such luxuries.
From the Journalism Center’s summary:
The portable digital players are viewed as a way to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs. A handful of other districts in the state, including the ones in Perth Amboy and South Brunswick, have started their own iPod programs in the last year, and the project has drawn the attention of educators from Westchester County to Monrovia, Calif. The spread of iPods into classrooms comes at a time when many school districts across the country have outlawed the portable players from their buildings — along with cellphones and DVD players — because they pose a distraction, or worse, to students. In some cases, students have been caught cheating on tests by loading answers, mathematical formulas and notes onto their iPods.
Take a look at the full story by clicking here
But some schools are trying to co-opt the devices for educational purposes. Pedro Noguera, a sociology professor at New York University who studies urban schools, said that more districts were using new technologies like iPods to connect with students. For instance, he said, teachers have designed video games around history lessons and assigned students to re-enact novels and plays on YouTube."You know the No. 1 complaint about school is that it’s boring because the traditional way it’s taught relies on passive learning," Mr. Noguera said. "It's not interactive enough."
I recently read in La Presa that the same program is taking place in Mexican classrooms. English speaking students are singing along to De Colores and Solomente una Vez on their I-pods and its really making a difference.
See how stupid it sounds?