Using digital music players as a cheating device hasn’t seemed to have caught on yet at Santa Monica High School, where iPods are wildly popular among students.
After school on Thursday, high school students could be seen walking along Lincoln Boulevard, each oblivious to the scene around them as they listened to their music players. Several students along the backside of Samohi on Seventh Street were listening to digital players as they awaited their parents to pick them up.
One student, who asked to remain anonymous, said he has thought of using an iPod to cheat on tests, but said he would never act on his idea since “I’m not that kind of kid.”
Though iPods are not technically allowed in the classroom, some teachers will allow students to listen to music if they are finished with their tests, the student said.
Apple has also promoted the tiny and sleek toys as educational tools, painting the iPod as a device with which the student can learn on the go. Using software such as iLife, teachers and students can create their own content and upload it to their iPods.
A representative of Apple could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Santa Monica College has welcomed the iPods with open arms, creating a podcast program called “SMC on iTunes U.” The program enables students to download course materials onto their music player.
In some cases, the world would be easier if technology wasn’t constantly changing and creating new obstacles for educators. But in other cases, these new technological advances are beneficial for enhancing education, he said.
“I saw a kid the other day come across some article on a Web site over a subject he was studying... and he reached over and got his iPod and downloaded the article,” Maybon said. “He was on a field trip sitting there reading an article.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 4, 2007. Read the original PDF.