Just wondering if a couple years down the track you have any follow-up on the issue of engagement behind a sound barrier (interesting title)? I am in the middle of experimenting with what music helps with learning…it would appear that some music whilst keeps the students quiet might actually decrease their capacity to engage with the subject.

It seems to me that if we are truly as creative as we think we are (as teachers) then we can surely come up with more educational uses for such devices.

For a few excellent examples, spend a little time on Tony Vincent’s site: http://learninginhand.com/index.html .

Music and text messaging are just the beginning.

That being said, I have allowed students to listen to music as they are taking a test. Honestly, I have not measured the impact – postive or negative- on their test scores. Something to consider for the following year.

Anyway, back to the ipod business:
At our primary school juniors are not allowed to bring ipods/expensive electrical stuff to school; middles and seniors are able to bring it with teacher & home’s permission.

I have my ipod in class with the kids so they can listen to podcasts etc sometimes during group rotation time.

As an aside, cell phones are a complete ban in case you were wondering. However when we watched “Pay Attention” at our staff meeting last month I did see a couple of teacher’s prick their ears up at the thought of using them.

Cheers, Rachel

I still treat it as a privilege, not a right, so they must ask me before they can bring out their iPods, but I almost never say no. I notice that those who ask me to use their iPod can concentrate better when they don’t have classroom distractions. I have also noticed that students that tend to be a distraction to others will happily use their iPod and “magically” turn into the perfect student – focusing on their own work and leaving other students alone.

I personally, find it much easier to concentrate when listening to the music of my choice, rather than the distraction of other voices. If it helps me, why shouldn’t I let it help my students?

Ideally we would see more learners being given the power to bring out the tool they feel fits the task, without the permission giving of the teacher.

As for creating podcasts, *huge* benefits for almost every subject I can think of. Kids can feed back into the education of their peers, too, by sharing their take on their learning for later years.

The quotes I get from kids and pop on the blog now and then reveal that they enjoy the challenge of the task and the authenticity of having real people get real benefit out of their show. Just scratching the surface here, but wish you luck in your venture and would love to see how things develop through the blog.

My school does have an ipod/cell phone policy. Can’t have them at school. It’s a battle I don’t fight with them. If I see an ipod or a cell phone I tell them to put it away. If they are using it in class I take it and if it’s a first offense they get it back at the end of the period. Second offense I send it down to the office and a parent has to come pick it up. I’d keep them myself until parents show up, but those are expensive items and we have some students that tend to walk away with things that aren’t theirs. I don’t want to be held responsible.

Matt Horne recently wrote an interesting post on his blog (esltechnology.com/?p=37) about his first experiences of podcasting with his ESL classes. I think his experience runs parallel with most teachers that attempt podcasting with the students: a definite struggle, but worth it in the end.