Here’s an article by The Associated Press that’s republished in many journals and papers - Schools banning iPods to beat cheaters.

So kids have it much better nowadays and even the adventure of cheating in exams have gone hi-tech. But is banning gadgets from school a stop-gap solution?

What’s cheating anyway

Cheating in schools have probably been around since, well, schools got the first clever boy. Hand signals, code words, crib notes are our caveman’s devices. iPods, Zunes, and cellphones are this generation’s. What’s going to stop them? Cheating is part of the school culture. While the list of banned items during exams grow longer, the more we encourage students to find ways to cheat.

Grades is the prime motivation for children to cheat. The very high premium we give on grade makes even the smartest of kids consider cheating. If schools consider cheating to be a problem then it’s probably worthwhile to check consider shifting the system from a grade-centric view to a more learning-centric one.

The Tech Effect

One thing that’s difficult to contest though is the increasing laziness of students. Though Wikipedia’s a great tool for cursory knowledge, more and more students are considering it a one-stop shop for term papers.

But we can’t reverse the trends and force students not to touch technology. It’s there. Schools themselves have access to the Web. And we all can’t deny that research and academic pursuits have been made much easier through technology.

However, the concern remains on how to deal with this lazy-ing effect. Should it be a question of changes on the side of the students? Or is it because the system isn’t properly challenging and motivating students to exercise their minds? So far, in this case, the brain-teaser that the system poses in the ban is to encourage them to find alternative ways of cheating.

Denying the inevitable

I encourage the use of technology for education and research. I think it’s a lot easier to present ideas through multimedia. And I believe it’s a lot more fun for students to learn things through the things they find cool and interesting.

So why don’t schools take a proactive (sometimes you either hate or love this word) stance on the matter. Instead of banning them, just regulate their use. Something like, the exam proctor or teacher could around and check if an earphones are stuck in student’s ears.

Or better yet, encourage the responsible use of these technologies. Like have students record lectures so that they can play them back for review. The more the students use the technology for educational purposes, the more they will be inclined to use them only for such (Generalization, but I believe this is so.)

Technologies will develop. And who knows when will they stop shrinking. Who knows, it’ll be a matter of time when these things can be implanted in people. What’s the school going to do by then. It’ll be a lot better to encourage responsible.

The bigger picture

Sure knowing the fundamentals are essential, but does memorizing all the formulas in math and physics give one an advantage in the daily course of life. Well, unless one’s professionally in those fields or just a plain MacGyver, then I think the last time I used arc measurement formulas was in my high school geometry class.

Focusing mainly on menial facets of learning like memory work doesn’t encourage the development of higher order thinking skills. I believe that there’s a factor of change management too. Given that the students are so tech-savvy, the system and the educators themselves should be able to cope with these changes.

Other views, anyone?