Today’s in class focus has been on beginning a discussion with colleagues about our shared inquiry topics. I am struggling with this post a bit because I am unsure where to start. I would like to pursue a bit about why I have chosen this topic. I have liked what Jenny has said all along the course about needing to ask questions about WHY we are using technology or teaching what we are teaching. I suppose this extends as well to this inquiry project… Why is Bring Your Own Device important?
I have often felt frustrated by colleagues that see technology as only being evil. Ok so this is a bit of an exaggeration but there really are some that are very fearful of technology and don’t see it’s possible uses within our classrooms. In juxtaposition to this there are others of us that want to incorporate uses of technology into our practice in the most effective ways possible. I think that my first goal in all of this is to bridge this gap somewhat. Once we are all more aware of the positives ways we can incorporate technology can we decide as a staff on ways to come together and decrease the barriers to technology for both teachers and students.

I have also been trying to think of both sides of the BYOD arguments and have begun to summarize these ideas below:
Pros
-Students learn to self-monitor their use of technology and develop awareness of the appropriateness of their actions.
-Teachers not as dependant on the scheduling of computer lab time. Free to schedule ICT into activities whenever it is best suited for the activity.
-Students learn to troubleshoot and problem-solve their own devices as well as those of their peers.
-Teachers learn about the functions and workings of several different devices.

Cons
-Difficult to monitor (time consuming)
-Issues of loss or theft
-Concerns regarding safety (students texting during class,

Other things I have been thinking about in relationship to this topic are:
-Who should be part of the decision-making process regarding policy?
→ Teachers, Administrators, Students?, Parents.
-What is the purpose of the policy?
→ I think that teachers would place learning as the emphasis for policy making while administrators would want to protect the school community legally first and then learning considerations, while parents would emphasis safety first and foremost. How then do we meld these differing priorities. What are the best practice processes that exist around policy development?
Also what is best practice policy that is already developed in other districts, provinces, countries?

Ideas for Possible Outcomes
-survey staff members?
-Working group of teachers to make recommendations to District
-revamp code of conduct, mission statement, values to reflect the increased digital presence in education and daily life.