MP3 Players

    Pros of MP3's
       - Promotes growth in critical thinking, problem solving, and workplace skills
       - Can help ELL students improve their skills in English
       - English speakers can learn to speak other languages
       - Create teacher-created podcasts designed to help students review concepts when on bus or at home
       - Use to teach students about property rights, and copyright laws
       - Students can dictate and record notes while working on research or on a field trip

    Cons of MP3's
       - Students use them to cheat on tests
       - Students might isolate themselves from other classmates
       - Illegal downloading of music
       - A distraction from what is going on in class

    After looking through the links in this chapter the one that I thought was the best and would be the most helpful in the classroom is the LearnOutLoud.com.  I like this one the best and it stood out to me because there was so many different downloadable MP3's/audio books for every different topic that will be very helpful for students doing research or just interested in certain topics.  There is also a lot of podcasts on this site and if teachers signed up they could also publish podcasts on this site.  Letting children go on this site and learn by listening and seeing the information would be a helpful tool for them. 

     I believe that the idea of using podcasts in the classroom for your students is great and could be fun and helpful. Especially for older kids it would be helpful for the teacher to put up lectures or important information that will be on an exam or test.  This would also be a great project for a teacher to asign a classroom.  If they took the time to plan and create their own podcast that they will share with their peers they could get a lot out of what they were learning.  There is many options and ways to incorporate MP3's and podcasts into the classroom and they could be effective tools if used appropriatly.