Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Bring Your Own Device - Questions to Consider

Guest post by - Pamela Livingston | Cross posted at 1:1 Schools

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 affordable
  • Schools are hyper budget conscious
  • The "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 Zoho
  • Parents are realizing that a digital device is necessary for learning
  • Schools want to be sure students possess 21st Century skills
But BYOD upsets apple carts right and left. We've been building school infrastructures for a long time that have supported a data-centric model in that IT directors allow or disallow devices on the school network according to a set model which is partly about good design and support, partly about supporting what already exists and partly about not taking on new projects or approaches that require more work, resources, and skill sets. And I've been a tech director in schools so know firsthand that opening a can of worms when it impacts the network, the laptop/desktop standardization, and the hardware replacement plan is not something many people will relish.
But then there are the students. They grow and develop and move to the next grade level and out the door to college and to life. They need to be empowered and learn in an environment that encourages them to think and write and research and publish and present and analyze and create new ideas and solutions to problems. They also need to own and understand the vehicles used for learning. So this might mean BYOD.
In order for BYOD to work well there must be a strong partnership between administration, Board members, teachers, technology, students, and parents. Everyone is going to be impacted by 1-to-1 no matter how it is implemented, whether BYOD or a standard hardware platform either provided or specified by the school or district. But with BYOD it's likely you are going to see some pushback from technology people because of the complexity, change, work, planning and resources required. So here are some questions to consider:
  • Have you visited a BYOD school or district?
    • If not a team with representative stakeholders should do so armed with lots of questions
  • Are you already using Google or Zoho or some cloud solution?
    • Without cloud apps BYOD is going to be nearly impossible to implement in a meaningful way
      • You need the entire school/district community to be able to communicate, publish, present and share centrally
  • How will you define BYOD?
    • Will there be a minimum device or specification?
    • Will smartphones be one of the devices?
  • How's your network - is it ready for
    • Wifi everywhere with multiple roaming wireless devices
    • Centralized data security (BarracudaLightspeed, etc.)
  • How will you address logistics?
    • Will students be charged with keeping their devices charged, ready and safe/secure?
    • Will you have "loaner" devices?
    • Will devices be locked up somewhere/somehow during lunch, tests, sports?
  • How's your curriculum?
    • Are teachers already used to assignments in Google and in using online social media tools so that student work is already free of hardware requirements - and happening in "the cloud"?
  • How's your digital citizenship education?
    • Do students already know how to keep a respectful appropriate digital footprint?
      • In my book I talk about L.A.R.K. - technology use by students should be L - Legal, A - Appropriate, R - Responsible, K - Kind
  • How's your communication channel with parents, students?
    • If the device is purchased, maintained, repaired and managed by parents and students, it's going to be important to communicate often and well
  • How's your budget?
    • Unless you have planned fully for the changes of BYOD you might be blindsided by some upgrades or unexpected costs so make sure to ask these questions when you are visiting BYOD schools
There are terrific schools that have been BYOD for years, The Harker School in San Jose comes to mind for instance. Many people I respect have been writing about BYOD including William Stites who posted this blog post for Educational Collaborators early this year, Lisa Nielsen who wrote about debunking BYOD for T.H.E. Journal and a recent article in District Administrator starts with a quote from Lucy Gray who I respect very much - this entire article by the way is an important read. TheLaptop Institute which is highly recommended will have threads this summer in Memphis on BYOD.
BYOD can be a solution if you do your planning and homework and try to figure out up front exactly what you're getting into and plan carefully. You'll want to be ready to rethink your network as not being about enabling a few models of specific controllable devices but instead as a pathway to the cloud where your school/district-wide learning community resides.
Related posts:
  1. 1:1 questions to consider 
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For more ideas about thinking outside the ban and harnessing the power of student-owned devices for learning check out Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning.

5 comments:

  1. There is ZERO that I did with kids or teachers over the past school year that could be accomplished with a phone. Sorry. Wrong answer!

    Why are so many "educators" so determined to cheat my students (and yours) out of computers and the power they bring?

    Read more...
    http://stager.tv/blog/?p=2655

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  2. In the past, we were afraid as educators to allow students to bring their own devices, because of lack of control and lack of access by students to the network. This year as our laptops worked periodically due server connectivity and older systems that needed updating, I found it only natural to allow students to bring their own devices. Together, we figured out how to access the network in the classroom and helped each other get online which freed me to teach and deal with the older computers that were not working.

    As a district we have gone to Google docs, so any student can access their accounts from any wireless system. It saved us tremendous amounts of time and students felt empowered. In addition many of my students are reading on I-Pads, Nooks, and Kindles. Being able to connect to the internet at any time, they are able to download books and connect to the internet at will during Reader's Workshop.

    This type of access requires a great deal of teaching, but there needs to be a great deal of teaching about information access anyway. The children are more likely to try and problem solve if the device is their own. I am all for the BYOD idea. It frees the other devices in the room for those who do not have their own devices and makes the technology more of a tool and less of a gadget.
    - an Innovative Fifth Grade Teacher

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  3. How can you post 'BYOD Question to Consider" and not even mention the significant equity challenges that BYOD brings? Most good BYOD policies and practices allow for the fact that low income families struggle to participate in BYOD programs. This HAS to be part of what we consider. http://acampbell99.edublogs.org/?p=219

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  4. Definitely let your students BTOD as long as you can handle it. I've been using an app that is very useful. It works with ipads and iphones, Nearpod. Anyone heard of it? It allows you to control who's out of the presentation, assess, ask questions, draw, etc. You should try it, here's what it does: https://vimeo.com/41876474

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  5. I work for a company that supplies ICT into schools and BYOD is being seen as the second coming in Education circles. This is down to two factors - cost and real life experience. Budgets can only stretch so far these days and parents funding devices is a great driver for change. Additionally, students use devices at home and then in work after education so why prevent them from access during their studies?

    There are some major issues with BYOD though, rather than re-hash them you can read them here:
    http://www.massineducation.co.uk/index.php/en/school-leaders/115-bring-your-own-device

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