From the Principals Office: BYOD

From the Principal's Office: Ideas for Establishing & Revising Your School or District's BYOD Policies

Principal J. Robinson says: "A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy is a necessity in a 21st century school. I am not sure deciding whether or not to provide wireless Internet access to students is even optional anymore. With more and more of our students getting technological devices with WiFi capabilities, they come to our schools with the expectation that they are going to be connected. Add the fact that municipalities like our own hometown of Newton, North Carolina are working to set up city-wide WiFi, and lower costs of cellular hotspots, educational leaders are quickly finding it difficult keeping schools a "WiFi dead-zone."

BYOT Network-"One Teacher's Journey"

The BYOT Network is a blog complete with a Twitter feed that posts information about Bring Your Own Technology.  A good "regular" visit for stakeholders in the digital device movement.

Included is a current article by a teacher "in the trenches"... "I was petrified.  A year ago I didn’t know how to use any of these devices.  But, my students did. That’s all that mattered. My students couldn’t wait for the opportunity to use their device in class. "
http://byotnetwork.com/

New Pew Internet study looks at use of digital devices at home and at school.

• 73% of AP and NWP teachers say that they and/or their students use their mobile phones in the classroom or to complete assignments
• 45% report they or their students use e-readers and 43% use tablet computers in the classroom or to complete assignments

Some more interesting numbers:

• 92% "say the internet has a 'major impact' on their ability to access content, resources, and materials for their teaching," but 41% say that "major impact" means it requires more work for them to be an effective teacher, 69% say the “major impact” is on their ability to share ideas with other teachers, 67% say that impact is on their ability to interact with parents, and 57% say it the impact is on enabling their interaction with students. 
• 79% have their students access assignments online and 76% have students submit assignments online. 
• 62% of the teachers surveyed "feel their school does a 'good job' supporting teachers’ efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area." 
• 85% of teachers "seek out their own opportunities to learn new ways to effectively incorporate these tools into their teaching."