I'm writing to express my opinion about BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device to school. While this hasn't been fully implemented yet in our school district, I believe it's just right around the corner. Perhaps working out the logistics of BYOD has been the stumbling block. I have read several articles in our local newspaper concerning this issue as well as heard talk around the division about this topic.
Today's learners (21st Century learners) can access information that is alive and linked 24/7. They constantly collaborate and connect to each other and the outside world. Today's learners are digital natives who live in a multimedia world. Their media is all color, and they prioritize visual learning. They demand creativity and learn through trial and error. Therefore, we MUST provide them with the "means" (technology) if we expect them to learn at their fullest potential. They are boring easily with lectures, but are fully engaged and on task when technology is brought in the picture. How do we do this? Do we allow them to bring their own device to school?
First, I'd like to begin with the pros of BYOD. The benefits of having your own device are limitless, but here are just a few. The device provides the student with writing, inspiration, news, calculating, references, collaborating, drawing, etc.. The school system does not have to cover the cost of the purchase nor the repair of the device. The devices are most always updated and maintained by it's owner. Therefore, the school system's ITRT isn't having to maintain and update, which would be impossible if EVERY student had a system-owned device. The students are more familiar with their own device, which would save navigation time during class. BYOD is not mandatory, just allowed.
Now, please allow me to present the cons of BYOD. As we all know, children are tech savy and can go anywhere and do anything on a device. How do we know when they're on their device if they're really working on what they've been asked to work on? As a parent, I control, to the best of my ability, what my children can and cannot access on their devices by putting restrictions and passcodes on their devices. If they're using these devices at school, I have to disable the restrictions to allow them to access certain websites, etc. Therefore, I 'm letting down my "parental guard" and feel as if I'm doing something that goes against my parenting techniques. The students would have uncontrolled network access. Another con is the lack of uniformity of devices and platforms. The school system would have to pay for an infrastructure with larger bandwidth to support the amount of devices being used at one time. BYOD would require a robost network.
I am sitting on the fence about how I feel about BYOD. I have had to come to the raw conclusion recently that if I'm going to be an effective teacher in the 21st century, then MUST learn about technology and be more accepting of devices in my home and my classroom. This has not been easy for me at all. I've been teaching for 20 years. Trust me when I say, "It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks!" However, I want to be as effective in the last 20 years of my career as I was the first 20 years, therefore, I will do what changing I need to do to see that my students learn! Our school system has strict policies on cell phone and device usage. I think if we went to BYOD there would have to be a huge change in policy and acceptance of devices. As we all know, some children do things just because they know they aren't allowed to. Perhaps if we allow them to bring their own devices and use them for educational purposes only, device issues would be a thing of the past. If we allow BYOD straightforward policies MUST be in place and MUST be carried through for it to work. I think we are quickly moving to BYOD. With that being said, I must wonder, will this replace me? Time and change will tell I suppose.
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