CD/DVD

It's hard to imagine that in the 1980s the first CD players cost thousands of dollars and were the province of only the wealthy and rabid audiophiles. Today compact discs and compact disc players are found in virtually every environment imaginable—from the home to the workplace to the classroom. They're inexpensive and they are the closest thing we have to a universal format for music media (although the MP3 format is rapidly catching up).

Digital versatile discs (you probably know them better as DVDs) and their players are in much the same situation as CDs and CD players were in the '80s and early '90s. Just as the CD virtually eliminated the demand for vinyl records, so too has the DVD begun to cut deeply into the sale and rental of videocassettes. When recording to the DVD format becomes more affordable, you can be sure that VCRs will disappear entirely.

While CDs and DVDs are best known as entertainment media (for listening to music and watching movies, respectively), you'll see that both media are capable of storing all kinds of information. Click on the questions below to learn more about how CD/DVD technologies work and how they can be used in learning environments.

1. How do CDs and DVDs actually work?
2. What can CDs and DVDs be used for?
3. What are some educational uses for CDs and DVDs?