BYOD

BYOD - Bring Your Own Device

Technology is here to stay and it offers many benefits for students. Using technology in school provides students with the necessary skills they will need in their future careers as well as the necessary know-how when navigating the Web. It helps them to avoid those internet scams we have all been exposed to. "Congratulations you have won the Nigerian lottery!"...yep, received that one.

Now we are not all lottery winners and most schools have yet to win the government jackpot, so a BYOD policy seems like a feasible option for utilizing technology in our classrooms when our district cannot afford to be a 1:1 school; however, proceed with caution. It is important to know the pro's and con's of BYOD before implementing it.

Let's start with the pro's:

• According to Fingal (2012), "BYOD allows collaboration, sharing of resources, and mirrors the outside world (p. 5).
• Fingal (2012) also states, "it empowers families to take ownership of securing tools for their learning" which in turn helps to create change making technology important (p. 5).
• LeMaster (2012) states that it allows students to "construct education in ways that are meaningful to them" (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7).
• LeMaster (2012) also states that it allows students to learn internet and technology safety inside the the safety of the school versus outside where there maybe limited support (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7)
• LeMaster (2012) also points out that it helps to enlighten students about the ever changing technology available to them (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7)
• Sucre (2012) states, "it can extend their learning activities beyond the classroom" because they are portable (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 8).
• Allows students to use technology they are familiar with.

Now for the con's:

• Stager states that BYOD "will actually widen the digital divide because some students would have much better devices than others, and some will get the school hand-me-downs" (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 5).
• Angie a commenter states that it can cause anxiety because there are various devices which can make troubleshooting impossible if you are not familiar with the device the student brought (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 5).
• A commenter by the name "Realist...sorry" states that it can cause students to be bullied because they do not have the latest and greatest device (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 5).
• Stager (2012) states it "creates false equivalencies between any objects that happen to use electricity" (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7). This means that each device is different and better suited for specific tasks. For instance, a cell phone is not equivalent to a laptop.
• Stager (2012) also states that "BYOD narrows the learning process to information access and chat" (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7).
• Stager (2012) feels that BYOD will "increase teacher anxiety" which will reduce the use of them (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7).
• Another point made by Stager (2012) is "BYOD diminishes the otherwise enormous potential of educational computing to the weakest device in the room" (as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7).
• Stager (2012) states, "BYOD contributes to te growing narrative that education is not worthy of investment"(as cited by Fingal, 2012, p. 7). 
• Pettit (2012) feels that it can lead to excuses for missing work if the device is in need of repair. The teacher and student are at the whim of whoever the parent could find to fix it.
• Fang (2009) they can cause distractions such as ringing during the middle of a lesson or multitasking (para. 5).
• Will need to get the devices hooked up to the school's WiFi.
• Nagel (2012) some students will not have the money to buy a device (para. 10).
• School and home internet access can be an issue (Nagel, 2012, para. 10).

I see both sides of the argument of BYOD, but I feel that BYOD is a great option for schools. For instance, the school I work at is working towards becoming a 1:1 school and while we have laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, iPads, etc available for students we do not discourage students from bringing their own devices. Some devices such as the Chromebooks are limited in their abilities and a student who wants to use their laptop for an assignment so they have more options available to them should be allowed. We cannot let our fears of the "con's" guide us in our decision making. We have to think about what is best for our students. Frank D. LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center states, "The first generation of policymaking around communication technology in schools has been built on a foundation of fear, and it's time to push 'reboot' and institute 'Policymaking 2.0' built on facts and research instead. Education is something wee do 'with' students and not something we do 'to' students" ( as cited by Nagel, 2012, para. 11).

Now in order for  BYOD to work a policy needs to be in place (Fang, 2009, para 1-30). One way to do this is to create a contract with students over the rules of BYOD (Fang, 2009, para. 29); however, Fang (2009) points out that the contract method is better suited for college age students. Another option is community training (Fang, 2009, para 31). This would be a class students take over how to use and not misuse technology in the classroom (Fang, 2009, para. 32). My personal opinion is that BYOD is best suited for middle school aged students and up because they are older and could be trusted to bring the necessary technology to school everyday. I do not feel the types of devices should be limited because then you may be limiting the use of technology for a student who only has one type of device available to them. Consequences for misuse need to be established at the beginning and it might be a good idea to involve the class in coming up with the rules and consequences for device use. Teachers will need to be trained on how to use technology in their classroom as well as how to troubleshoot common problems. To go along with that, IT staff would need to be available for more complicated troubleshooting tasks.


References:

Fingal, D. (2012). Is BYOD the answer to our problems or the worst idea ever? Learning & Leading
with Technology, 5-8.

Fang, B. (2009). From distraction to engagement: Wireless devices in the classroom. Education Review Online. Retrieved from http:/www.snhu.edu/blackboard.

Nagel, D. (2012). 'Banning is not the answer' to mobile and social tools in schools. the Journal.