BYOD Revolution - Coming to a school near you

The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) revolution is upon us.  With it comes a unique set of challenges never previously faced by educators, administrators, and school and district technology departments.


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:

Bring Your Own Device/Tech

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.

Locating Funds to Bridge the iDivide

The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information gained ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The digital divide in the United States should not be confused with the Global digital divide which also refers to inequalities in access, knowledge, and skills, but designates countries as the units of analysis and examines the divide between developing and developed countries on an international scale ^[4]. - Wikipedia


We are all familiar with the concept of the digital divide, and many school districts are struggling to determine if a BYOD (bring your own device) program would be successful within the confines of the district's infrastructure, but in our haste to implement these tools in the classroom have we created an iDivide?


iPods, iPads, and iPhones are fabulous devices - I have all 3 - and can make a tremendous impact in any classroom.  Apps that students can use to improve spelling, grammar, science and math skills, give a voice to the nonverbal, help students track their caloric intake to improve their health and fitness are all wonderful uses for these devices. What if you don't have enough to go around? What can you do to get devices in the hands of those who are without?


There are many funding opportunities available to obtain iDevices for your classroom, some which are designed specifically for the purpose of locating funds for iPods and iPads.


DonorsChoose
This is a very popular website used by many teachers to fund iDevice initiatives. Teachers design their project and post it to the website, and "donors choose" the project they want to fund.


Technology Grants News
This website continually updates funding opportunities available specific to technology for the classroom.  Information changes frequently so visit often!


AACE
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education frequently has calls for proposals that are localized to specific regions.


Squidoo info on locating funding
Squidoo has a number of ideas for ways to find funds to introduce an iDevice program.


These are some very basic ideas to get started.  Many school districts have their own foundations or fundraising entities, and some local organizations such as ICE (Illinois Computing Educators) also offer mini grants to begin a technology initiative.  In addition, organizations such as ISTE provide links for educators to locate and collaborate on specific projects.


Good luck bridging the iDivide!

School Internet Filters: Is this Modern Day Book Banning?

Book Banning is alive and well in the United States
The last week of September every year is deemed "National Banned Books Week". Classic novels like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, along with staples of youth such as Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, the Harry Potter series, Blubber, and Forever are unceremoniously challenged and subsequently removed from bookshelves citing various reasons including sexuality, religion, racial slurs, profanity, violence and more.


What is filtering in education?
In 2000 Congress enacted CIPA, the Federal Children's Internet Protection Act which provides funding including E-rate monies for technology discounts to schools and public libraries. CIPA requires participants in E-rate programs to use computer filtering software to maintain compliance.  On August 11th, 2011 the FCC released a Report and and order requiring E-rate recipient schools to certify that they have updated their Internet Safety policies to incorporate provisions for educating minors about social networking and cyber-bullying awareness. (NCSL, 2011). Nowhere in the CIPA requirements does it state that schools must block content such as:

• Twitter
• Facebook and other similar social networking websites
• Google Docs and other collaborative web 2.0 sites and 
• Gmail, Yahoo mail, and other web-based email systems
• YouTube and other video-sharing sites
• Amazon, Walmart, or other shopping based websites
• Dropbox and other file-sharing websites
• Flickr and other photo-sharing websites

In fact, with the new provisions, it stands to reason that many of these sites should remain unblocked so that students can be properly educated on their appropriate use. Many school districts block these sites for reasons other than CIPA, yet cite CIPA as their reason for blocking.  Additionally, CIPA does not state anywhere that any websites must be blocked for staff, yet in most cases school staff members are bound by the same restrictive filters as students.  Reasons for blocking websites include but are not limited to: sexuality, religion, racial slurs, profanity, violence and more. Sound familiar?  I thought so.

The fact that these books were not available at my school's library didn't stop me from reading them, and the fact that these sites are blocked in my district does not prevent tech-savvy students from accessing them.  A simple YouTube search on how to get around a school's filtering system returned more than 1,100 videos, and a simple Google Search resulted in nearly 4,000,000 results, with many of them coming from unblocked sites such as wikihow and ehow.

So I ask the question again.  Are we simply reintroducing the concept of book banning albeit it with a modern twist?  Would it not be more prudent to educate students on how to read these books appropriately and understand their context, then follow up with a conversation about the book that gives students the opportunity to reflect and share? Would it not be more prudent to educate students on how to use these websites appropriately and understand their context coupled with a demonstration followed by reflection and questions and answers?

I am not proposing that we begin keeping Playboy and Penthouse on the shelves of school libraries, nor am I suggesting that we make pornographic sites available in educational institutions, but when I am unable to bring up websites like the collections housed in the Louvre because there are depictions of nudity I believe we have cut off our nose to spite our face.

References:
National Conference on State Legislatures(2011) Children and the Internet: Laws Relating to Filtering, Blocking, and Usage Policies in Schools and Libraries , [online] Available at: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13491 [Accessed: November 27th, 2011].


American Library Association (2011) Banned Books Week, [online] Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm [Accessed: November 27th, 2011].

In Appreciation of my PLE

I provide a a lot of professional development to the staff in my school district, but just like every other district that is financially handcuffed, I am not able to take advantage of many professional development opportunities myself.  There simply is not room in the budget to provide PD for a staff member who is not directly responsible for educating students, those funds must be reserved for certified staff.

Teachers often ask me how I learned everything I know and how I am able to answer so many technical questions.  Enter my PLE.  I never really understood how much I learn from in and around the web until I really sat down and put it on paper.

My PLE is broken into 3 different basic categories which can sometimes be interrelated:

• People
• Video
• Web Tools

At the heart of my PLE is Web tools.  I would be lost without the likes of Twitter, Google Reader (and of course the wonderful RSS feeds to which I subscribe), Delicious, and many, many, many message boards.  I cannot begin to tell you how many applications I learned to use via Atomic Learning, YouTube and Vimeo.  The one factor they all have in common is people. Behind these fabulous tools are brilliant people who take the time to post, blog, collaborate, video, link, and more.  To these people I say a heartfelt THANK YOU!

In addition, I am thankful for all of the people who surround me both physically and digitally that answer my never-ending stream of questions, who never make me feel inadequate if I don't completely understand a concept, and who appreciate the fact that I am excited to learn and willing to make mistakes. Colleagues at work, people in my CTER classes at UIUC, people with whom I collaborate online, and people who I have met at various conferences all have made significant contributions to my own professional development, a fact that I have often lost sight of.

Thank you for your passion, thank you for your enduring commitment, thank you for your selflessness and your willingness to accept criticism, comments, and even insults because you believe in what you do.  Thank you for evolving so that I can learn, and thank you for being there time and time again when I need someone to turn to.  I would not be nearly as effective a trainer without you.

The Evolution of Curation

Digital curation is the selection^[1], preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digitalassets^[2][3].  (Wikipedia)

We are a tech-savvy and educated society that hungers for information at an unprecedented pace.  We blog, tweet, update statuses, follow RSS feeds, post to forums, Skype, IM, text, chat, and on and on.  But are we better, smarter, wiser, more self-aware, more diverse, more environmentally friendly, or anything else as a result?

Many of us have turned to content curation as a way to manage the overwhelming volume of incoming information.  To wit, I have created a Glog with embedded links to many of the different tools currently available, and it is clear that even choosing the best tool for you can be challenging. Each has their pros and cons, some require more work than others, some will curate for you automatically once you have established parameters, while others require daily maintenance to keep your information appropriate. 

In the past, I have used Scoop.it, Paper.li, and Tweeted Times, and for evaluation purposes I sampled Pearltrees and Storify. I have differing opinions of each:

Tweeted Times

This curation tool was very easy to establish and requires little to no maintenance.  It did not even require me to create an account, I was able to log in using my existing Twitter account. I did not care for the left-to-right navigation, I found it difficult to follow.  It is my belief that this navigational method was used when developing this tool to emulate the navigation done on a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet, and the developers determined that it would be a natural progression.  Unfortunately, it is very confusing when using a laptop, desktop, or netbook.  It was not my favorite choice.

Paper.li

I preferred this tool to the previous choice and found it so easy to set up that I created 2, one for my ed tech items and one for some of my favorite sports information.  When I created the 2^nd paper using only hashtags as my method of curation, I ended up with a paper that was laced with profanity and inappropriate links. I immediately deleted this paper and learned a valuable lesson about curation and the challenges that it would present when attempting to use it with students.  Having said that, it is still my favorite tool for curation.

Scoop.it

Initially I was impressed with Scoop.it, but after having more time to spend with this tool I have found that without daily maintenance it becomes a haven for spam.  There are many posts that appear on my feed that I do not want to be there, but I do not always have time to edit and modify it. 

Pearltrees

Pearltrees is visually beautiful but I found it exceptionally confusing to develop and follow.  I had to watch several videos both on the Pearltrees homepage and on YouTube to figure out how to set it up, and even then I still had some problems.  It is simply too much work to set up and requires additional daily maintenance. I much prefer tools that are self-maintaining once you have set them up.

Storify

Storify is a fun little tool and creates a neat-looking page, however like some of the others, rather than a self-maintaining tool, you must create a new product on a regular basis. 

Teachers often ask me to provide them with resources that they can use in their respective classrooms, and using these curation tools effectively would be an excellent way to gather resources and get them in the hands of eager teachers.  At this time I will continue to stick with my good old standby, Google Reader, but I will continue to try new tools as they come along.