SMART CH 3: MP3 Players

MP3 Players are a whole different issue surrounding schools today. Some cons with MP3 Players are that they are another distraction. Students say they are multitasking when they are using the media but are they really? Can the brain really multitask or is the brain just half way concentrating on both? Another con would be the cheating that can take place with it. This hasn't happened much in recent years but test scores can be recorded and listened to and information could be stored on them in a bad way. 


Some pros associated with MP3's are the usefulness of audio media in the classroom. Stories can be listened to, music can be listened to and languages can be mastered with ease. MP3 Players can also be used to record audio and so students could practice fluency. MP3's open the world up to podcasting where audio is recorded and listened to on MP3 devices which are a strong tool for classroom instructions and sharing of information over the world. 

I really liked the website for Grandview Library Blog. There were many reader's theaters, ebooks and audio to listen to and use as tools in the classroom. Listening to stories can be a strong asset to learning good reading skills in students. 

The second link for Radio Willow Web was really really neat! It was very inspiring to see a school achieve such a great level of podcasting. It was fun to listen too and anyone could learn something from it. It was very organized and clear to listen to and very professional. I would even share these podcasts with my students every week or even have my students make podcasts for different subjects or events in the class. 

For use in the classroom, the book gave several suggestions. One new way for me is that podcasts can be use for students to dictate and record notes while working on research or on a field trip A podcast can be a student's recording of a process or them reaching a goal or solving a mystery. Also, podcasts could be used in debating different issues or types of genres of book over other books. I'm sure there are many many other ways of using podcasts so I would like to investigate an extensive ways so that I may incorporate it into my classroom someday.