7-2: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

• What is BYOD?

BYOD stands for "Bring Your Own Device". It is a policy that some school have adopted allowing students to bring in their own wireless devices to use in the classroom. Some popular devices are laptops, tablets, iPods, and smartphones.

• What age group of students would this be appropriate for?

I believe that BYOD can be adapted to any age level with careful consideration of what types of technology students will be bringing and what activities you want them to do with the technology. Having third graders create spreadsheets on Google Sheets wouldn't be realistic, but having them use Google search or maps would be something they could easily manage!

• What type of infrastructure must be in place for this to work?

For BYOD to work you need to think about the hardware and software infrastructures at the school. For hardware, schools need to consider what their networks limits are, if they have enough wireless access points for everyone, and how they want to arrange their networks (K-12 Blueprint, 2014). Schools may want to consider having a couple networks - one decided to student use and one for teacher use only, so confidential data is not available to the students (K-12 Blueprint, 2014). Schools also need to consider how they will keep their networks protected from viruses and malware and what (if anything) they want to use to monitor student usage of the internet (K-12 Blueprint, 2014). When it comes to software, the school needs to make sure that they are primarily using web based products, so they do not need to worry about students installing programs on their device and may want to consider cloud based storage, so students can access the information from any device (in case they forget their own!) (K-12 Blueprint, 2014).

• What types of devices can be brought into school?

Any device that is able to connect to wireless could be used. Ideally, you would want devices that are either not connected to a mobile network or can turn that off for class time so students are not getting tempted to text or talk instead of learn. Depending on the activity planned, some devices would not be very helpful. If you were planning to have students do research, any device that can connect to the internet and search would be fine. However, if you wanted students to take pictures or make a video for a project, they would need a device that has a camera and the ability to record. I would argue that the device needs to match the usage and students need to know what they task is so they can either bring in an appropriate device or borrow one from the school.

• What happens if there are violations and abuse of the technology?

Students should be made fully aware of the consequences of violating school policies. Depending on how the student violated expectations some possible consequences could be banning their device from the classroom for a few days, turning off wireless access, using filtering programs to limit certain types of access, or attending digital etiquette classes (Fang, 2009). 

• What types of expectations or policies are in place?

One suggestion is that the school creates an acceptable use policy and contract that students sign before they can bring they can connect their device to the school network (Chadband, 2012). Contracts should clearly state what devices can be brought into the school, as well as how they are to be used. Any policies developed by the staff should be on the contract and it should be available to students at all times. Policies that appear on it should focus on how the devices are to be used like devices should be used for school work and not checking social media, used during appropriate lessons vs all the time, or even what applications are and aren't acceptable. 

• Who will train students, staff, and parents on responsible use and policy?

The district's technology director should train the staff on how to use the network safely and responsibly, as well as how to do some minor troubleshooting techniques (Chadband, 2012). The staff should then take their knowledge and involve the community in sessions about responsible use of the internet and how long information really hangs around on the internet. Teachers should also have these discussions with students often. Responsible use is not something that can be learned in a one time lecture session. It is something that grows and evolves with the technology!

References:

Chadband, E. (July 19, 2012). Should schools embrace "bring your own device"? Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2012/07/19/should-schools-embrace-bring-your-own-device/

Fang, B. (2009). From distraction to engagement: wireless devices in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/distraction-engagement-wireless-devices-classroom

K-12 Blueprint. (2014). BYOD planning and implementation framework. Retrieved from http://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/BYOD-Planning-Implementation.pdf