Wednesday, June 5, 2013

21st century learners in 21st century classrooms: Is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) the key?

The Peel District School Board have implemented an initiative for students to begin bringing their personal devices from home to school as part of Bring Your Own Device initiative. The boards goal is to provide all school with Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) by September 2013 so that students can use their device to access Wi-Fi as part of the learning environment. When you visit the Peel District School Board website at www.peelsb.com the first thing you see is their publications about the BYOD initiative. I encourage bloggers to take a look at their publications and blog here about it. Post your comments, concerns, or anything you would like to share about the idea to have students bring and use their personal device in the school environment. Do you think this is the right move by the board? Please share!

17 comments:

  1. Hey Kevin!

    I see merit in this idea, but as a teacher myself, I am concerned about the security aspect - which is two-fold: for the devices and on the network.

    Who becomes responsible for these $500+ devices during recess and rotary classes? Do the students have insurance if their locker is broken into?

    Similarly, how do we ensure information security for the students on our network? We have to be able to assure parents that their children's privacy? The Board's site has parent checklists available to complete which are great for starting those conversations about safety, but I would be interested to know how to prevent hackers, etc from accessing information from the students if the network (despite being password protected) is accessible for those with malicious intent.

    Great conversation-starter, Kevin!
    Thanks :)

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    1. I think that it is inevitable that technology will be part of the learning environtment and it should be. The Peel Board has taken the first step in the right direction by recognizing that technology is playing a vital role in learning and teaching. The next step/challenge is ensure that the Board implements Policies and Procedures that will faclitate effective learning for students. Granted by these posts so far, it appears that at this stage, there are more questions than answers and that's fine. Nontheless, it is my opinion that when creating an approach for technology use in classrooms and schools, all stakeholders and decision makers MUST have an accurate assessment and proper insights into the impacts and benefits for using technology. Based on your paper, some of the issues that needs addressing are;

      1) Buy in from teachers especially those who are not comfortable with using the technology. In other words, Professional development for teachers.
      2) Filling the gap- i.e the disconnect between infractural development and policies and procedures.
      3) Accessibility-includes otureach and education.
      4)Liability issues-storage, improper use and loss of devices.


      Kevin- Interesting paper

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  2. Hi I'm not a student who actually participated in BYOD but I think there's a great purpose behind BYOD because if the devices are used appropriately they will be able to expand there leaning in social studies and also writing etc.


    I think teachers should support BYOD because it will support a child's learning for example most students learn differently take me for example I don't learn by just hearing it once I need to be showed once or more. Like if a student like my friend is obsessed with technology it would be a better learning experience for him.


    This is why I would support BYOD please comment to my message I would like to see what other kids would think.

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  3. I Am In Grade 8 Now, When I Was In Grade 7 We Started to "BYOD" We Also Got Laptops, IPads, IPods, And Etc.
    It Was Really Useful, It Made Work So Much Easier.

    My Grade 7 Teacher Heidi Siwak Made The Class A Twitter Each Day We Would Write About What We Learned In Class. It Was Really Exciting. I Looked Forward To Going To Class Every Day.

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  4. I think BYOD is a great opportunity for the children as everything in this word is becoming technology based. My only concern is what about the children that come from less fortunate families? What if they can not afford to buy these products?

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  5. A great initiative for moving students to be 21st century learners! However how does the equity piece fit in? Particularly in neighbourhoods where students cannot afford their own devices, will schools provide resources so all students have the same access to technology (e.g., a cart of tablets, phones, cameras for student use?)Or with the BYOD, does the board effectively cut their funding for technology by putting that as the responsibility of parents?

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  6. I think there is such potential in BYOD. But there are challenges as well. As some others metioned, who is responsible for the devices that come to school.
    One of the concerns I have a a teacher of very young children. Young children often bring things to school without mom or dad being aware. There have been many occasions where a young one has brought mom or dad's cell phone to school... even before BYOD was implemented.
    I also worry about the rift and devide that might be created between the HAVE's and HAVE NOT's.
    With all that said, I do look forward to more PD and to see the marvelous ways to implement BYOD.
    Michelle

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  7. I support the BYOD, however I work in a commmunity where not every child has the luxury of having a device that they can bring into school. I believe that every school should continue to have enough devices available for EVERY child if we are going to be BYOD.

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  8. As a grade 5 student I think BYOD is a good idea for education. So I would get the funds for the devices, but if they lose their device the parent of the student will be upset and it might end in a big problem. Also the students could take the internet in the wrong way and use it in a bad way. For example students could use their devices to bully another student. How do we know if the student is using the device appropriately? Also not every student has a device they can bring to school. So if we take away the computer labs students will miss out in their education.

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  9. I am all for technology, however I do not support the BYOD initiative that the board is bringing out. All students cannot afford to have their own personal devices, and I feel it will cause a socio-economical divide amongst students. This could also lead to even more bullying, in terms of making fun of students who don't have devices. We can be a technology based school by having a computer lab and having laptops or ipads in each classroom. Students don't need their cell phones as a learning device. As a teacher who went to Nipissing university for teachers college, we had to purchase a laptop (from the school) to use in every one of our classes. How many students were actually using those laptops productively during classes? I can't say many. We are/were adults who have/had university degrees, and people in my classes would be taking funny pictures with their webcams, chatting on MSN, checking facebook, and other stuff that had nothing to do with what the prof was talking about. My feelings towards BYOD are not positive at all.

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  10. Gone are the days of teacher directed lessons. Our 21st century learners absorb information very differently and are quite efficient with multi-tasking. Therefore, we need to teach to their learning style. These students are born into technology so we must imbed technology in our everyday teaching in order to tap into their full potential.

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  11. I am a Grade 6 student in Brampton. I wrote a persuasive speech on why technology should be allowed in schools. I hope that it would convince you to allow kids to bring technology into schools.
    ----

    Just imagine that you built a sculpture out of modeling clay and you got an A+, you want to show you parents right away but you can’t because you have to find a camera, take a picture, then send it to your parents IF the classroom computer is available. But now imagine that you could just pull out you iPod or iPad and it’s instantly sent to your parents. Now wouldn’t you want to be able to bring electronics to school so that you can do that and more?

    I think that bringing electronics to school is a positive thing because technology can help us improve in certain skills.

    With technology we can use online dictionaries, read aloud, for research assignments and way more. We can learn many things with technology such as communication skills and expressing ourselves in different ways by showing the world our skills and knowledge. In addition listening to music can sometime help people because after a test instead of talking to your elbow partner you can pull out your iPod or phone and listen to music quietly. Wouldn’t that be better than talking, getting into trouble and then distracting the rest of the people still writing. I think so!

    Take a laptop for example, it can be a very useful resource in a classroom. Besides, think of how much paper we can save by using laptops and we can automatically upload documents from our class site. A fifth grade teacher said that, “Learning to use technology enhances self-esteem and makes students excited about coming to school.” I don’t where that teacher is but I agree with her.

    When students use technology in school work they are developing an understanding of what technology education is. Technology in classrooms provides teachers with hands on experiences with advanced activities. Teachers can share how and what they are learning and teaching with other teachers in a matter of minutes. Many future jobs will require technology so learning to use it now may help you in the future.

    Technology is an amazing and unique way of enhancing learning. When kids start to adapt to what they are capable of doing it can be extraordinary! I think that when anyone expresses them self through communication it is outstanding! I hope that you are now aware of how technology can help us in anything we put our minds to and will convince your school board to get us connected!

    ~Thank You~

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  12. I agree with several people's comments. BYOD while sit seems like a good idea in theory, in practice there are so many things to consider, such as rules for use, liability issues etc. The one thing that stands out to me the most that others have commented on is the equity piece. This is someting we need to be sensitive on if not all of our students have access to a device that they could bring in. I agree that each classroom should have Ipads or other tablets of some kind that all students could have access to and use together. I know that we do not use textbooks as often, but what if we asked students to bring in thier own textbooks? I think that would cause a big stink as far as equity goes and what is the responsibility of the parents vs. the school.

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  13. I think BYOD sounds like a great idea theoretically, however when actually putting this suggestion into practice, there are several factors to consider. Not all schools and communities can afford to purchase and bring in their own devices to school, which in hindsight wil cause an equity issue. Technology definately does need to be incorporated into the educational system and can be done so in other ways. Thus, although BYOD does sound like an ideal theory, I think students and teachers are better off making use of techonology already provided through school and board resources.

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  14. I think BYOD is a great idea that would provide 21st century students a much more efficient way of learning. This way students would be able to work at their own pace as well as show what they are capable of. It is a useful tool for both teachers and students!

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  15. I believe that it is a bold idea by the Peel Board but perhaps a little hastily implemented. I understand that the Cloud has been causing the tech team problems so it won't be ready for September!
    No Board can hope to keep pace with the cost of updating technology at the pace which it is now moving at.

    From the teacher perspective, there are issues of providing adequate PD around important concerns such as copyright issues and when researching, plagiarism. When is it plagiarising and how and when to avoid it? There are some very grey areas to make teachers and students aware of.
    One of the concerns around BYOD is regarding the socioeconomic status of the individual school's catchment area. Pressure will be put onto many parents shoulders to provide the latest technology for this supposedly free education system and some schools may have problems with providing enough equipment to compensate for the lack of student BYOD; also K-5 schools may have to provide more of its own equipment and as a parent myself, I am not sure that I would have sent my children of this age group en route to school with anything of value let alone what is going to happen inside school itself! Security is being put down to teacher responsibility alone. Enough substantiated stories of student theft of school equipment from cows have been circulating within teacher circles.

    I am generally in favour of BYOD but schools that have started to
    implement BYOD have been steadily introducing the idea one grade at a time so that a set of rules for secure, ethical and sensible use by students is understood and being followed. This is surely the way to go however when looking at the use of technology by younger grades, this is where there is still a need for traditional labs to teach them the basic skills. For example, it is quite astounding the number of older students who cannot save a file or send an email attachment! We cannot assume that skills are always aquired by osmosis.

    Students are excited by technology and what it can do but everything becomes boring unless we can ring the changes but can we keep this up, closely linked to assessment and the curriculum aspirations?

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    Replies
    1. Bringing technology into the school community using a variety of devices is a great way to differentiate instruction while empowering students to extend their higher order thinking skills. Although this transition must take into account teaching both students and staff how to be effective digital citizens who are responsible about the choices they make when using the devices, especially when communicating and sharing comments, ideas, attitudes and judgements. A transition plan will have to focus on 'equity of access' and 'code of behaviour' in the understanding of how to use the technology effectively as a tool for learning and teaching. Overall, I believe it will empower students to become collaborative inquirers while developing skills and knowledge. Specific training for staff in their implementation of making meaningful connections in developing and delivering curriculum expectations and program. Moving toward a 21st Century Learning through the use of a variety of technolgy devices has proven to be beneficial for all learners!

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