Iowa school district to use iPods for standardized testing

I think the school district has improved n a lot of things I'm Tyler Hinkhouse's little brother, Samuel Hinkhouse and the News site is updated!!
http://web.mac.com/lmelemstudents/iWeb/FDN-HDTV%20Home/News.html - Graphics created by Lead Weathercast, Tyler M. Hinkhouse - FDN-HDTV Viper Weather

Just as a note. I went to this school. It's tiny. There were 61 people in my graduating class in 1999. It's very, very rural. We were surrounded on three sides by cornfields. Seriously.

I think it's a good place to test run something like this. They can get an idea of how it works, and perhaps other schools can model it on a larger scale.

Also, in terms of the school... Granted, it was seven years ago, but there was little to no fighting, vandalism, etc. Crime is minimal. Two of my brothers still attend, so I know it hasn't changed much.

Additionally, because of the small town thing... A lot of the teachers probably also taught your parents. Everyone knows everyone which can be both a blessing and a curse. I don't see theft as something that will be a MAJOR problem, though perhaps I am being overly optimistic.

As a final note, my brother Tyler, who is a senior working with the Falcon Daily News, http://web.mac.com/lmelemstudents/iWeb/FDN/FDN-HDTV/FDN-HDTV.html
tells me that there is a massive budget surplus that allows for such things. I can't specifically verify this. But if they have money to play with, I love that they are innovating in the way of technology.

What happened to pen and paper?

They're not just using the audio features of the iPod - they're also using the Smart Notes functionality to provide on-screen help that corresponds to what the students are listening to.

That's why they needed something like the iPod, instead of just a cheap CD player.

Really, I consider myself an honest person, I go to church and help old ladies across the street.

But any school district that does this when less expensive options are available deserves to have these iPods disappear.

As a teacher, I see this as an exorbitant expense for the school district. Many times schools force the use of technology to prove to parents and boards that they are "advanced," even though the ways they are using the technology are merely replacing low tech, cheaper methods that worked for ages.

I'll bet the kids are already trying to figure out how to get an iPod via 5-finger discount.

Hm... I could see this saving a lot of money in the long run for California if we were to follow this school district's lead - Sure, the startup costs might be high, but each year schools pay teachers money to read the tests aloud to students. If iPods (or any mp3 player for that matter) were used that wouldn't be necessary. There would still be the kids who needed to take the test in a separate room, but at least some of the extra teacher costs would be eliminated.

That's cool and all, but wouldn't it be a heck of a lot cheaper to burn the material to CDs and provide the students with portable CD players? I know it's not quite as 21st century cool, but it seems more practical.