PatSine

The month of June brought two stories that are hard to hold in your head at the same time.

Schools banning iPods to beat cheaters
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports
June 1, 2007—

Banning baseball caps during tests was obvious--students were writing the answers under the brim. Then, schools started banning cell phones, realizing students could text-message the answers to each other. Now, schools across the country are targeting digital media players as a potential cheating device.

Devices such as iPods and Zunes can be hidden under clothing, with just an earbud and a wire snaking behind an ear and into a shirt collar to give them away, school officials say. ...

Then, eSchool News also pointed to this NY Times story.

Prepare for the SAT Test, or Play With Your iPod? Have It Both Ways

By MARIA ASPAN
Published: June 25, 2007

High school students cramming for the SAT test have traditionally relied on thick books full of practice exams, sharpened No. 2 pencils and intensive tutoring sessions. But now a traditional test preparation company is offering some options for the iPod generation. ...

To me, all of this underlines the fact that we, as educators, really need to be doing things differently within our schools, while the rest of the world changes so much around us.