7 Myths About BYOD Debunked BYOD | Viewpoint 7 Myths About BYOD Debunked Lisa Nielsen, the author of "Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning" and "The Innovative Educator" blog, believes it is time to shatter a few myths about students bringing their own devices (BYOD) to school. By Lisa Nielsen11/09/11 More than a decade into the 21st century and we are still keeping learners and teachers prisoners of the analog past by enforcing outdated mandates that ban and block them from using the digital resources of their world. Fortunately, today’s students are standing up, speaking out, and, in many cases, using the technology and websites they do not have access to in school to do so. Myth No. 1: BYOD deepens the digital divide. Myth No. 2: BYOD will result in lessons geared toward the weakest device. Myth No. 3: BYOD will cause students to be distracted.
21 Map Creation Tools for Students and Teachers Yesterday, I published a review of MapFab which is a fabulous, free, and simple tool for creating maps online. Writing that post got me thinking about all of the other free map creation tools that I've reviewed over the years. Google Maps and Google Earth are my favorite tools for creating maps, but not every school allows teachers and students to download it. And creating Google Maps does require you to have a Google account which is an obstacle to use in some schools too. Animaps is a service that was built for the purpose of allowing users to create animated Google Maps. Tripline is a service designed to enable anyone to record a trip they've taken or to plan a trip itinerary. Build A Map is a service that allows you to build layers on top of Google Maps. Scribble Maps is a fun and useful application for drawing and typing on Google Maps. UMapper is a custom map creation tool that allows you to create maps from just about any JPG, PNG, or GIF file.
20 Pros and Cons of implementing BYOD in schools BYOD (bring your own device) is where you allow your students and staff to use personal mobile devices on your school wireless network. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, because it’s spreading through schools faster than juicy gossip in a tiny town. Now, there’s a lot to consider when determining if implementing BYOD in schools is the right move. So, here’s a list of 20 pros and cons to hopefully help make the decision a little easier on you. Pros of BYOD 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) 10.) 11.) 12.) Also Read | "1:1 or BYOD? 13.) 14.) 15.) 16.) 17.) 18.) 19.) 20.) Cons of BYOD 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) Also Read | "How to Plan a BYOD Security Policy for Schools" 10.) 11.) 12.) 13.) 14.) 15.) Okay, I know I said I would give you 20 but I honestly can’t think of any more cons at the moment. So we have 20 pros and 15 cons…looks like the pros for BYOD in schools are beating out the cons here.
Learning@Lightspeed - The Lightspeed Systems Blog Recently PTAC (Privacy Technical Assistance Center, U.S. Department of Education) released a new publication, Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Requirements and Best Practices. You can get the full publication here. FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protects personally identifiable information (PII) from student records from unauthorized disclosure. Lightspeed Systems solutions (including My Big Campus, Mobile Manager, and our Web Filter) are such technologies, classified by PTAC as Online Educational Services. Because of the variety of services and the wide range of district needs and circumstances, the report offers “It depends” as the answer to both “Is student information used in Online Educational Services protected by FERPA” and “What does FERPA require if PII from students’ education records is disclosed to a provider.”
Aviary launches free mobile app photo editor for iOS & Android Aviary is a great resource that I use constantly. I use the Falcon and Talon online image editors to grab images from the web and edit/crop/add effects to use with my blog and with lesson materials. There are browser extensions to use with the online apps and it's very powerful. A while back, Aviary launched an add-on for mobile devices that allowed you to use Aviary within mobile apps. The Aviary mobile app is free and features an easy-to-use, intuitive interface with effects, stickers, color balance, crop and rotate, brightness, contrast, saturation, drawing, text, cosmetic tools and more. This is a great mobile tool that can be used for photo editing and effects on iOS and Android devices by teachers, students, bloggers, and for personal use, greatly increasing the abilities of your device. Try it out for yourself: Related: Aviary Falcon - online image markup
The Pros and Cons of Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) Programs in Our Schools Downsides to School-Supplied Devices Purchasing learning technology for every student is expensive. After the initial purchase, schools need to spend additional money on research, training and administration. Once you've supplied students with devices, you need an IT department to support them. With BYOT, maintenance is primarily a student responsibility. Schools will need a beefy wi-fi network separate from the staff network to prevent access to sensitive information. When the devices are issued, students and parents need to be made responsible. Control over content is an illusion. Deciding to supply students with technology is no speedy task.
Levels of Use in BYOT – Transforming Learning Experiences When students are encouraged to bring their own technology to school, this initiative has the potential to empower students and teachers in their learning experiences. We now have BYOT being implemented in all 35 schools in my district, and it is still gradually spreading from classroom to classroom. We have noticed varying levels of use of the technology devices that the students are bringing to school, yet our goal is to achieve the optimal potential of BYOT to impact student learning. To describe the use of instructional technology in our classrooms, we use Bernajean Porter’s Grappling’s Technology and Learning Spectrum to differentiate between Literacy, Adapting, and Transforming uses of technology. In fact, this spectrum has been incorporated into the classroom observation of our teachers to help focus on areas of strength and potential areas for future growth. Literacy Uses Adapting Uses Transforming Uses The Next Steps… Please share your ideas for additional transforming uses of BYOT…
Android for Education (updated often) Android is a great operating system with a lot of great features and apps for education. Most of my students have Android phones, with a few having iPhones. Android phones make up more than 50% of the smartphone market, so it is very widespread. Comparison to iOSEvery app I want or need is available on Android. Google - search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Google Plus, Docs, Google Tasks, Blogger, Maps, Google Voice, Voice Search, Translate, Music, goo.gl, YouTube, and much more. yasp! QuickOffice - access, view, and edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel files.Free version comes with phone and can view documents. Cloud Storage apps - Dropbox, SugarSync, - access, upload, download all your files and data from your computer to the cloud and your device. Android news, resources, app reviews and
Enriching literacy with cell phones? 3 ideas to get started SmartBlogs September is National Literacy Month, and what better way to celebrate and promote literacy than focusing on the tools that students own and love: their cellphones! Using cellphones to enhance learning does not require that they be used in class. If you are in a school where cellphones are banned, the ideas shared here are also applicable outside of class. Cellphones are a great tool for enriching literacy instruction. Texting drafts Students are reading and writing more than ever. In the classroom: Texting has become the shorthand of the 21st century. Oral reports Google Voice is one of many tools that can capture students’ voices. In the classroom: Have students do their oral reports using Google Voice. Video Most cellphones today can shoot video. In the classroom: Have students record themselves acting out chapters of a book they are reading. Let’s take the devices students own and love out of their pockets and into the classroom for learning.