Project Design… hmmmm. I guess I have to make some decisions here.
Purpose: My school currently has a number of what we call aspire teams; one of them is a technology team. I have, however, never been aware of this team meeting regarding any specific issues or to develop any policy or vision. I would like to change this. My project is an attempt to gather a useful collection of information that can be used as a conversation starter and point of focus (or point of return if we get off on tangents). In particular, I would like to begin a conversation about internet access and policy regarding portable devices for our students. We have a large number of students that already bring their smartphones or i-pod touches to school and are accessing an open wireless connection that was installed at our school by the District. Right now we don’t have a schoolwide policy for students to follow; use of personal devices is a the discretion of the teacher. Some teachers are frustrated because they are enforcing a no device policy but feel like it is a loosing battle because so many other teachers are allowing and encouraging students to use their devices in class. I would like to see if a school wide policy is possible and if nothing else at least have a conversations about the merits and downfalls of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy.
As part of this project I would like to have links to some research and information about current policy in other places. I plan to try and outline the possible pros and cons of a BYOD policy. I will also try to develop some options for my school to look at for students who don’t have their own devices.
Design: I set up a blog in class today to serve as a parking lot for my information but now after reading Doni’s post I am wondering if perhaps I should us a LiveBinder to park everything on. I may end up just putting things into a blog for now and reorganizing into a livebinder later because I finder it usually takes a bit of time for me to learn how to use new programs, as tempting as it is.
In my opinion, our most pressing educational need in Canada and in British Columbia is to be able to sit down and discuss technology in education. This would be a series of conversations that could be topic centered, but it would allow for all views and experiences to be voiced, and then consider a way forward. At present, the BC Ministry of Education is attempting to do this, but their blogs are monitored by their own staff, and the questions and conversations seem to me to be directed toward particular outcomes, even if they don’t intent that to be the consequence of their moderation.