6 Reasons EdLeaders Should Let Kids Bring Devices to School. Bans on student use of mobile devices exist for some good reasons—kids use them inappropriately at school and there are safety and security concerns. So why bother considering a change? There are six reasons to consider BYOD. Digital natives learn and live with technology. Most have and bring devices to school. Why not leverage the power? Most schools have an awkward mix of print and technology-based learning resources—often not quite enough of either.
More BYOD resources: Creating a Robust and Safe BYOD Program. Until recently, student electronic devices, from cell phones to iPods to laptop computers, were the forbidden fruit in schools. But with technology budgets languishing and such devices becoming more powerful, affordable and omnipresent in students’ lives, district technology leaders are now eyeing a welcome educational harvest through bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs. Lucy Gray, project director of the Leadership for Mobile Learning Initiative at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), has studied early BYOD adopters. “I’m stunned by the number of school districts opening their minds to this approach,” she says.
High school, middle school and even elementary school students in a growing number of districts are being encouraged to bring in the very electronic equipment they were once admonished to leave at home. To hear Wilson and other tech directors tell it, these devices are more than welcome. In the 180,000-student Fairfax County (Va.) Building Network Capacity Early Reviews. SCHOOLCIO : BYOD Strategies. 1/31/2012 By: Proponents of “bring your own device” (BYOD) programs like them for a lot of reasons: budgets keep dwindling, students already bring devices to school, and technology isn’t getting cheaper. “People are saying ‘It’s happening in the real world. Let’s mirror that in our schools,” says Lucy Gray, project director ofthe Leadership for Mobile Learning (LML) initiative at CoSN, the Consortium for School Networking.
But this article isn’t meant to convince readers to try BYOD. It’s about how to make it work once you’ve decided it’s the way to go. Here are the methods three districts took to make BYOD happen. Universal Content The tech team at Lake Travis (TX) Independent School District began planning for BYOD last year by discussing it with administrators, principals, and the cabinet. Last summer, more access points were added to the wireless network, along with anchor mobility, which is offered through Cisco. Essentially, BYOD at New Canaan is about respect. A Grassroots Effort. BYOD Policy vs. BYOD Learning Environment. There is a big difference between having a BYOD policy and a BYOD learning environment. The former lays the foundation for a BYOD learning environment but it by no means guarantees it. In order to shift from a school with a BYOD policy to a school with a BYOD learning environment, mindset shifts need to occur organizationally: All of these require professional development and a systemic mindset that such an environment is desired.
The latter requires leadership. The former requires both leadership and learning. The good news is that if you have a BYOD policy, there is a good chance you have pockets of BYOD learning environment– those teachers that only need the policy to be in place and they take off running with the possibilities. This is the foundation for professional development. While schools and districts continue to look at BYOD, it is imperative to see the policy formation as just one step. Laptop_Information_Sheet_Richmond_River. 6 Steps for Increasing Student Access with BYOD. More than 900 middle and high school students in Edina, Minn., bring their own personal devices to school. Although that represents just 20 percent of the student population, it’s the equivalent of more than 30 labs coming to school each day.
These are “labs” that Edina Public Schools didn’t have to purchase or support, but that students can use for learning. The district’s successful “bring your own device” initiative, dubbed “Go Wireless,” began with a less-than-successful effort to launch a one-to-one computing program. (Read “How Edina Public Schools Moved from One-to-One to BYOD.”) Students, parents and teachers all have responded positively to the district’s adoption of the BYOD model: The district’s IT team and other staff members learned plenty of lessons along the way. One: Define the Goals Why do you want to have a BYOD program? Two: Prepare the Infrastructure The infrastructure for wireless coverage and density needs to be in place and tested before a district begins BYOD. FISD_BYODCommunication_001. Cybrary Man. A Guide for Administrators. BYOD Questions to Consider. The buzz in 1-to-1 right now is about BYOD — Bring Your Own Device — and it’s not a fad and it’s not going away.
There’s a convergence of factors causing it including: Hardware is diverse and at price points that are more affordableSchools are hyper budget consciousThe “cloud” (previously called The Internet, the Web and the Information Superhighway) is ideal for core apps which are free or inexpensive with such as Google (although be sure to use GAFE), and ZohoParents are realizing that a digital device is necessary for learningSchools want to be sure students possess 21st Century skills But BYOD upsets apple carts right and left. But then there are the students. In order for BYOD to work well there must be a strong partnership between administration, Board members, teachers, technology, students, and parents.
Have you visited a BYOD school or district? - Pamela Livingston. FISD Online :: Technology :: BYOD Hanover ISD. #BYOD - Criteria for Implementation Success #byodchat #edchat. #BYOD - Criteria for Implementation SuccessCreative Commons Copyright ShareAlike-Attribution-NonCommercial This past week in a conversation, I found myself saying, “Wouldn’t it be neat if there was a rubric or list of criteria for implementing a BYOD program?
That way, you could just share that with campus/district leaders so they could be aware of what was needed from 3 different perspectives: Teaching & Learning, Policy and Procedures, and Infrastructure & Administration.” Everyone looked at me with expectation in their faces. Internally, I gave a long sigh. That sigh isn’t unlike the sigh educators give in response to their increasing awareness that crafting a strategy to implement BYOD is important given the following statistics: In light of the facts above, it’s obvious that BYOD is an initiative whose time has come...and, in spite of fears--such as inappropriate social media usage by teachers and students--that may derail it: So, how do schools “get ready” to implement BYOD?
I. II. Forsyth schools. BYOT Network. Learning at Your Fingertips: Cell Phones in the Classroom - ASCD Annual Conference 2012. Paulina Malek Although Kevin Thomas admits that cell phones can contribute to problems—including classroom disruption, cheating, and cyberbullying—he believes the benefits are far greater than the challenges.
"It's about ethics. It's not about technology," he said. In the session "Using Cell Phones in the Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Classrooms," Thomas, professor at the Frazier School of Education at Bellarmine University in Kentucky, discussed the potential benefits of mobile phone use in the classroom. Mobile features such as texting can also provide a variety of possibilities for student learning.
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, about 75 percent of teens and 85 percent of adults own a mobile phone. Texting can be a valuable communication tool for both students and teachers. Another phone feature, the digital camera, allows students to create their own multimedia stories. Using mobile phones, educators can help students learn and keep them engaged. #BYOTchat for 03/29/2012. #BYOD Vision/Mission Statements.