Educational Challenge
Today's learners are more technologically connected than at any time in history, and because of the affordability and portability of modern devices, they are bringing them everywhere they go. Should school districts harness this knowledge and use it to their advantage? If so, how can this massive undertaking be effectively managed? Or is this just another distraction keeping students off task?
Background
Every month my district's instructional technology department has a meeting to discuss issues, concerns, celebrate wins, and plan for emerging technology trends. This month's meeting involved a 3 hour discussion about the BYOD revolution, where we concluded that it is not coming, but it is already here. How should we handle this? Do we have any policies in place? Are there any curricular controls or concerns? What are other districts doing to handle and manage this influx of new equipment?
Pros and Cons
Like any initiative, there are pros and cons to this revolution. A 10/2011 Twitter survey resulted in the following list of pros and cons of BYOD in schools:
Reviewing the results of the survey above, it is interesting to note that many of the advantages listed on the left are behavioral, fundamental, and transferrable between home, school and work. Notably, the cons on the right frequently are either logistical such as #4, #7, #8 etc., can be managed with appropriate supervision in the classroom, such as #5, #10, 17, and can be overcome with professional development, such as #9, #11, and #13. Even though there are more cons listed above, most of these can be resolved with minimal cost to a school district, and the resulting benefits will last the learners a lifetime.
Notably missing from either list above is any mention of curriculum. In our district the loudest voice against a BYOD initiative is the impact it has on curriculum. Because we work in a special education environment, many parents are investing in devices for their children to be used as assistive technology. Many of these parents are also downloading educational apps and insisting that they be used in school, stating that this particular app -whatever app it may be- is the best way for their child to learn. This is really no different than a teacher sending a textbook to school and insisting that this is better than the one that is being used in class and insisting that the teacher use it.
So what can we do?
There are many ways to address this invasion. First and foremost, the most significant issue that must be addressed is the development of an acceptable use policy that is clear, concise, and fluid enough to incorporate technologies that have not yet been developed. Without this component, the policy will have to be re-written annually at minimum. This policy must include clauses to address issues such as anti-virus software requirements, responsibility in the event of theft/loss/damage, the requirement for students to connect to the school's wireless network rather than using their own 3G or 4G to ensure that they are in CIPA compliance, and consequences for violating the acceptable use policy among others. Another good idea is to create a handbook or FAQ that gives learners and parents information on how to connect to the network, how to troubleshoot connectivity issues, etc. Here is a LiveBinder of gathered resources for an educational BYOD initiative:
School districts are already successfully implementing BYOD initiatives. This video about Rockwall schools in Texas explains how they are managing their BYOD pilot program:
I don't think there's any question that this is the direction that educational technology is moving, and the best practice for school districts at this time is to be as prepared as possible to ensure the best possibility for a successful launch.
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