BYOD

BYOD

BYOD simply means, “bring your own device”.

BYOD (bring your own device) is where you allow your students and staff to use personal devices on your school wireless network. BYOD can be implemented in schools for many reasons. I know that at the school I currently work at in Seminole County has a BYOD agreement if students choose to bring their personal device from home to school. It is optional, not mandatory, and because we are a technology school, we have plenty of devices available for our use in our classrooms. Some schools that implement BYOD might simply do it because of budget cuts and with the high expense of purchasing tablets or computers, it may be easier for a school to tell students to bring in their own personal device from home. Schools must consider everything when deciding if they are going to implement BYOD.

This is the statement on my school’s BYOD agreement…

“We have implemented a Bring Your Own Device program enabling students to bring several types of wireless devices for use in the classroom. At home, students are actively using wireless devices to do homework, research projects, read, and communicate with friends, etc. The opportunities to use wireless devices are almost limitless. Students wishing to participate must follow the responsibilities stated in the Acceptable Use Policy as well as the following guidelines”. 

I know in the primary grades, seeing personal devices brought from home for educational use is not that common. But, the upper grades have a large amount of students who want to bring in their tablets and/or personal laptops but they must have a BYOD agreement signed and turned in in order to do so. On the agreement there are guidelines that students need to follow I order to bring their own device. If the student violates the agreement, it may result in the loss of them being able to bring their own personal device.

I read an article by Ashley Wainright, and she focused on the pros and cons of students bringing your own devices. She listed 20 pros and 15 cons… Below I only listed a few to discuss:

What are some pros of BYOD?

--Students are already familiar and comfortable using their own technology so they can        focus on actually learning with them than learning how to use the device.

     --It’s a cost-effective way to save schools money on technology.

     --BYOD allows more opportunities for more personalized learning where students can excel   at their own pace.

What are some cons of BYOD?

·      --All these mobile devices can overload your wireless network.

·      --Parents may not be happy with the idea of paying for mobile devices for use in school.

·      --Students may be more easily distracted while working on their own mobile devices.

·      --Students forget to bring their mobile devices.

(Wainright, 2016)

What will the future of classrooms look like for BYOD? When going through and reading the list of pros and cons, I agreed with both sides. As far as the cons go, I feel as though the biggest one that jumped out to me was about parents being unhappy about paying for them. More in depth of that, I think that there are many parents that are unable to pay for them at all. How will students who come from families who can’t provide that type of technology for them be able to participate in the program? Because our school is optional with BYOD, and we have technology provided for us already in class, we don’t have the issue of that. But I know if our school tired to become a full BYOD school, we would have a big percentage of students who would not be able to bring their own device. I am sure there are possibilities for potential grants or scholarships to where students could get a device, but then how would the parents feel who are buying the devices? There is so much to consider.

Does anyone else have the BYOD policy in place at his or her schools? How do you feel about it? What do you think the advantages and disadvantages are?

Wainwright, A. 20 Pros and Cons of implementing BYOD in schools. September 20, 2016, http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/20-Pros-and-Cons-of-implementing-BYOD-in-schools

How are we Using the World Wide Web in our Classrooms?

When I think about technology in the classroom, I think about all the different resources available to us to use, including the Internet! I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some different ways that the World Wide Web is currently used in our elementary schools. What is effective and what is not effective? Is the new trend of the classroom using technology to supplement or enhance teacher instruction? 

Some of the major programs we use in my classroom are:

I-Ready

I-Ready is built for the Common Core; I-Ready combines a valid and reliable growth measure and individualized instruction. There is a single K–12 adaptive Diagnostic for reading and mathematics that pinpoints student needs down to the sub-skill level, and ongoing progress monitoring shows whether students are on track to achieve end-of-year targets. It provides rigorous, on-grade-level instruction and practice with additional downloadable lessons to help meet individual student or small group needs.

I-Station

I-Station is an online comprehensive reading and intervention program for grades K-8 that delivers research based individualized instruction and provides teachers and parents with the information, resources, and materials needed to help students become successful readers. We use this program in our classrooms for our English Language Learners.

TumbleBooks

TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing picture books, adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book, which you can read, or have read to you.

eCampus

eCampus is Seminole County Public Schools version of Canvas. We use this as our classroom webpage. Students are able to communicate with teachers and parents can as well. Teachers can put important information, links, and assignments on their page for student access.

There are SO many more available resources to us to use, but I find that these 4, are the ones that I use most. I feel these websites are the most effective when used. I-Ready is what my students use as another source of explicit instruction based on their needs.

My students are telling me of websites that they find all the time. Kids these days are so up-to-date on the current trending websites, it is exciting to see when they find an educational website on their own that they are excited about!

Do Schools Have the Resources to Keep Up With Technology?

Technology is consuming our everyday lives.. Computers, iPads, Smart Phones.. Classrooms are a big part of that as well. Whether it is computers or iPads for student use, or Smart Boards/TVs for teacher instruction and student use, technology is everywhere. And our question is, are we able to keep up with it? Do we have the necessary recourses to keep up with all of the trends being used or being required to use in the classroom?  

This is a section quoted from the article We Don’t Have Resources to Keep Up with Technology": 2016 Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes Talks to EdSurge: 
"Technology has changed teaching. You have access to unlimited resources that are right at your fingertips. And one of the challenges we have at my school is that we can’t keep up with technology. Oftentimes, my students are walking me through programs that our IT department hasn’t even gotten yet. We purchase computers or equipment, and two years later, it’s outdated. (Madda, 2016)"

This is what stuck out to me the most and I couldn't agree more. Now and days, kids know more about new programs than us a teachers do or our technology department. While I do work at a technology magnet school, we do have technology that is outdated to the new trends in the world. Our school just got Smart Boards for each classroom, and while they are amazing, by the time we got them, 2 newer versions of the Smart Board had been created. 

There are so many resources that are currently available to us in the classroom, BUT, are all teachers properly trained to use the technology provided to them effectively? 

Another quote:
"But teaching does not look like what it did five years ago. I can take my kids on a tour of the Smithsonian from my classroom; I can Skype into another educator’s classroom and share resources or watch them teach. (Madda, 2016)" -- She is right in the fact that teaching is much more technologically advanced then it was 5 years ago. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? I think educators can argue both sides of it. 

Today in my classroom, I use technology daily. I use a Smart Board to show videos, teach lessons, have interactive instruction, and use many programs or apps for student learning. We also use laptops for students to do independent math and reading online lessons. We have iPads for student use as well. But some are outdated, some don't always work, and some don't have the updated software that is needed for certain programs. So I think what Hayes was explaining in her interview had some truth to it. Not all schools, teachers, classrooms have the proper resources to keep up with today's technology. What can we do to fix it when there is low funding? 

 
Madda, M. (2016, August 02). We don’t have resources to keep up with technology”: 2016 teacher of the year Jahana Hayes talks to EdSurge. Retrieved September 01, 2016, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-08-02-we-don-t-have-resources-to-keep-up-with-technology-2016-teacher-of-the-year-jahana-hayes-talks-to-edsurge

EME 5050

Hi EME 5050!

I started this blog a few years ago when I started teaching, but I never had the time to keep up with it! I am hoping after this class, I will continue to use it! :)