current Issue # 2

In Some Schools, iPods Are Required Listening


In Some Schools, ipods Are Required Listening
New York Times
By Winnie Hu
October 9, 2007
Submitted by Nathan Jean-Jacques

Summary
While ipods, as a personal possession, are banned at José Martí Middle School in Union City, New Jersey; the little device that could is becoming ever more popular in the education system.
Winnie Hu wrote in her article,” In Some Schools, ipods are Required Listening”, that Union City district has inaugurated a $130,000 initiative to distribute ipods to students at its schools, including José Martí. Such effort has influenced other school districts in the state to start similar programs of their own. So far the devices had been used in bilingual classes. Eventually, the district will expand their usage to students with learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
According to Ms. Poli, the ipods has helped her bilingual students feel like insiders because the device has played a major role in improving their English. The principal at Jose Marti has experienced tremendous changes in her student’s self- confidence to express themselves where they would not dare before. Furthermore, she claims that parents have requested placement for their children in ipod- equipped classes.

In my school, I have shown the students how to use their own ipods as storage devices for home works and other documents. I don’t expect my school to distribute any ipod to students. I do support the ipod initiative in Jersey. Although the evidences point toward the ipod program as a success; however, I find it confusing that the schools would not allow the students to bring their own and still use them for the same purpose. In addition, the learners wouldn’t be able to have access to the materials at their own leisure and away from school. To keep the ipods only in the classroom does not adequately fulfill technology usage. The students should have the tools at their disposal in and out of the school building to enforce the learning objectives.