BYOT Improves Learning Without Breaking the Bank. Two years ago, Forsyth County Schools staffers treated students' cell phones, handheld video game consoles and other electronic devices like most other school districts around the country: If they caught students with them, they confiscated them. Not anymore. The Georgia district, about 40 miles north of Atlanta, wants to equip every student with a computer. But with 36,500 students in 35 schools, it can't afford a one-to-one computing initiative.
So instead, Forsyth County Schools encourages students to bring to school their personal technology, which is fast becoming an important part of their everyday classroom learning experience. "From a vision standpoint, it's coming to the realization that the instructional benefits far outweigh any concerns we may have had," says Bailey Mitchell, the district's chief technology and information officer. Proponents say BYOT can transform the entire classroom learning experience. Infrastructure Needs Twenty-four schools took the plunge. School District of New Berlin. Creative Educator Spring 2011. Reader (70)
Teachers learn ways to keep students' attention, but are brain claims valid? The research page of Whole Brain Teaching’s website says “Class Yes” activates the prefrontal cortex of the brain and “readies students for instruction.” But the techniques are not validated by contemporary brain research, at least two experts say. When Chris Biffle called out the word “Class!” On July 11 at Walsh University in Ohio, 450 teachers and administrators yelled back, “Yes!” “Class class?” He said. “Yes! “Classity classity,” he said. “Yessity yessity,” they chanted back. Biffle, one of the co-founders of Southern California-based Whole Brain Teaching LLC, is leading a two-day conference at Walsh about his method. The research page of Whole Brain Teaching’s website says “Class Yes” activates the prefrontal cortex of the brain and “readies students for instruction.” It’s one of seven techniques the company says “are validated by contemporary brain research.”
The method might be fun, engaging, and popular, judging by teacher testimonials and company-conducted polls.