COLLABORATIVELY DEVELOPING GUIDELINES FOR USING PERSONAL MUSIC PLAYERS IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to work collaboratively with a group of high school students to develop a list of guidelines for using Personal Music Players (PMPs) in their classroom. Even though PMPs are extremely popular with secondary school students (Boal-Palheiros & Hargreaves, 2001; North et al., 2000) and there are benefits associated with music listening that align with learning and academic goals in certain school settings (e.g., Abikoff, Courtney, Szeibel & Koplewicz, 1996; Beentjes, Koolstra & van der voort, 1996; Boal-Palheiros & Hargreaves, 2001; Hallam & Price, 1998; Hallam, Price & Katsarou, 2002; Morton, Kershner & Seigel, 1990; Rainey & Larsen, 2002; Saarikallio & Erkkila, 2007; Savan, 1998,1999; Thompson, Schellenberg & Husain, 2001), school stakeholders remain divided on the use of such devices in schools and outright banning occurs in many school environments (Domitrek & Raby, 2008). Another approach would be to consult with and include students in developing guidelines for incorporating new technologies. Researchers have recommended the inclusion of student voices in both research that affects them (Powers & Tiffany, 2006; Rodriguez & Brown, 2009) and in the development of rules and regulations (Domitrek & Raby, 2008; Raby & Domitrek, 2007; Raby, 2008). Student involvement can decrease rule-breaking behavior, increase student responsibility and ownership, and to teach students to be participate and be involved in matters that affect them (Raby & Domitrek, 2007; Raby, 2008). Using an action research model (Mertler & Charles, 2005; Mertler, 2006), a research team composed of myself and a small group of high school students moved through three cycles of the action research process in order to collaboratively develop, reflect upon and revise guidelines for using PMPs in their classroom. A list of seven guidelines was generated. Additionally, the student members of the research team provided information about their thoughts and feelings regarding music listening in their classroom and I provided reflections on conducting an action research project with youth. Implications for practice and further research were identified.