What You Need to Know About BYOD. Few topics are generating more buzz in K–12 planning meetings this spring than the “bring your own device” movement. Teachers and administrators hunger to unleash the educational potential of mobile computing in their classrooms. But shrinking budgets and hard financial choices have kept schools from making the kinds of wholesale investments needed to put a device in the hands of every student. That reality, though not ideal, has forced educators to consider another possibility: Why not let students use devices they already own as learning tools? In many ways, it makes sense. Most students today already have a mobile device, whether it’s a smartphone, a notebook computer, a tablet, or even a Nintendo DSi. These devices come equipped with mobile broadband and Wi-Fi capabilities, which allow students to tap into the wealth of information offered by the web and Internet-connected applications. Not sure which way to go? Want to Learn More? Thursday, May 3, at 2 p.m.
What They’re Saying. How to Make Your BYOD Program Successful. A “bring your own device” (BYOD) initiative isn’t a panacea. Kari Rhame Murphy, chief technology officer for the Deer Park (Texas) Independent School District, says her district’s transition to BYOD was surprisingly easy, but only because she and her team spent nearly two years planning for it. To help ensure success, school leaders should consider some of the following best practices.
Seek buy-in. At present, most schools ban personal devices. Therefore, getting stakeholders to reverse course and welcome them into the learning environment can be difficult. It’s incumbent upon BYOD advocates to convince their colleagues that BYOD won’t result in students running amok in the classroom and clogging (or corrupting) the school network. Explain the network and security safeguards, detail the financial and pedagogical benefits that BYOD-friendly schools have experienced, and show the concept in action by taking stakeholders to visit these early adopters. Develop a “Responsible Use” policy. Bring your own technology. If ever there was an idea whose time has come, it is surely Bring Your Own Device or, to be less restrictive, Bring Your Own Technology. There are at least two comp0elling reasons for this. Girl with her phoneFrom a financial point of view, if students are allowed to bring their own technology it should save the school money.
A cynical view would be that the school is shifting the expense from itself to its parents. A realistic view (and, after all, what is a cynical view if not realistic?) But a narrow cynical view doesn't tell the whole story. Another benefit is teacher and student satisfaction. There are other potential benefits too, such as being able to achieve a one-to-one computer-pupil ratio more cheaply, quickly and easily than by purchasing lots of devices for students to use. There are downsides too, of course. Australia-based consultant and author Mal Lee states: I’m especially interested in BYOT or BYOD because I’ve been asked to contribute to the book mentioned by Mal.
Building an Effective School BYOD Plan. BYOD – Worst Idea of the 21st Century? In 1990, I began helping schools across the globe realize the transformational learning potential of a laptop for every child. From the start there was a recognition of the certain inevitability that every student would own their a personal mobile personal computer in the near future, whether school provided it or not. Twenty-one years later, way too few students have a personal computer and the very issue seems to become more controversial with each passing day. Schools and school districts who have come to the personal computing party decades late now have conjured a cheap less-empowering way to produce an illusion of modernity.
They call it “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) or “Bring Your Own Technology” (BYOT) and it’s a terribly reckless idea for the following reasons. BYOD enshrines inequity The only way to guarantee equitable educational experiences is for each student to have access to the same materials and learning opportunities.