Welcome to Week 9 – BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices)
Welcome to week nine and this weeks topic of BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) prepared
by Lisa Nevoral, Suhayl Patel, Shaun Pepper, Scott Tammik and Tom Whyte.
To view our BYOD website, please visit: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etecbyot2012/
We encourage you to participate in many of the activities and discussions questions as
possible. We believe our topic is very relevant to many K-12 schools and districts and we
would like everyone to learn about BYOD through meaningful conversation and posts.
To help launch this weeks topic and provide a real world context to our discussions,
please take a few minutes to watch the following video, which highlights the issues one
secondary school is dealing with, as it considers the possibility of implementing a BYOD
program:
Enjoy your week!
Posted in: Week 09:
lullings 3:55 am on October 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Excellent video. Great production values and flows well with the music and relevance.
Scott you are gifted. Well done all, very impressed.
On a different, and possibly more personal, note,
I would have loved if you opened the topic to outside the classroom as well. There is a BYOD movement in professional circles now which could have been relevant to the a classroom setting and offer a different perspective.
Stuart
ETEC BYOD 9:34 am on October 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you for your positive feedback Stuart.
Indeed, while the video intro provides a focused, case study style, intro to BYOD in a secondary school setting, as the full introduction to our topic notes, ‘BYOD is not only an educational phenomenon, but can also be seen in the world of business and government’.
While our course in general maintains an educational lens in its perspective, you are quite right, that BYOD is a growing movement in general – likely for cost reasons in many cases I imagine.
Peggy Lawson 5:40 pm on October 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great introduction Week 9! I’m looking forward to your topic – it’s very relevant today and you’ve already got me hooked with your very polished opening video.
Peggy
ETEC BYOD 7:39 pm on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks Peggy for the compliment on our opening video. I hope that you gain some valuable knowledge about BYOD this week.
sophiabb 7:25 pm on October 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Excellent video. Great introduction to BOYD. You’ve got me thinking about the possibilities and the challenges, such as: How do you monitor? What about students whose families cannot afford to provide technology for them? Looking forward to learning more about BOYD.
Sophia
ETEC BYOD 7:40 pm on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Sophia,
The questions you posed are all relevant in the discussion around BYOD. I hope that by the end of this week some of them will be answered.
Lisa
Jonathan 12:04 am on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Very polished video. Looks great — got that great Apple feel to it!
BYOD is a very important topic and I’m so glad your team has decided to tackle it. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve always been about bringing my own devices into the classroom just because it works better and it isn’t a “victim” to tech support. I say this in a positive manner. While I know that the techs have a lot of computers to look after there are many updates that are needed on a regular basis to keep programs/websites happy and safe. A simple Java update is a great example of how websites no longer work on school computers. Or incompatible versions of software like Garageband can make tech difficult to manipulate on computers.
This is still a problem on one’s own device, however, if I’m solely using my laptop, I understand the limitations and can work within them. I’ve also just received an iPad to be used in my classroom. It is assigned by the district and locked out by them as well. No password is given and all Apps on the iPad need to be pre approved before they can be uploaded. This exasperated the problem as the apps often update several times within a week and to wait for them to approve can be a frustrating process. It can take weeks, it’s like waiting for Apple to approve apps on the App Store!
BYOD — is a solution but it does come without support. Looking forward to the week
Kent Jamieson 8:15 am on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
That sounds so backwards Jonathan, that you are given the tool, but no freedom to use it. I guess i’m spoiled at my school, as we are given the right to download, stream, and basically experiment with any and all resources. Our Grade 7’s recently went full BYOD as a test grade and our entire Grade 3-12’s will be bringing their devices next year. I have not breached the subject with our IT guys – as I have an idea of what they must be going through to prepare – but this week will afford me that chance. I’ll try to pick their brains and learn all I can about how the Grade 7 test has gone. I look forward to learning more about this subject. Great Video Week 9!
jenbarker 8:21 pm on October 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
And in my district we are given iPads that come loaded with many apps but are also given iTunes cards should we wish to purchase more apps.
Jonathan 10:31 pm on October 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Kent – It was nice to have a forum to vent in 🙂 It is backwards. It was a struggle to implement things that year. It was interesting speaking with admin about it as they couldn’t be more supportive but were handcuffed by tech support restrictions.
I should note that I see value in what the tech group is trying to do. Protect their computers from viruses and malware from getting into their systems. On the other hand — the only way that we can innovate and bring 21st century learning teaching skills is for teachers to bring these tools into our classrooms. I’m willing to explore but I was turned away when I tried to approach it in the “right way”.
With many of the programs I chose to not “install” them, but run them off of a CD for example. Worked well.
kstackhouse 9:13 pm on November 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
We have outdated laptops and very little admin rights on the computers. I am technically not supposed to use Firefox or Safari on the laptop. There are very few iPads…or Apple products in general. There is one voice in the IT dept. that does not like Apple products and has said so. This has made it difficult to move ahead and try some of the great resources out there. We do not have a BYOD policy for students nor would I be able to bring my home laptop and connect to the internet. This has been very frustrating. While I am happy to hear about so many other teachers that are experiencing more freedoms and access to other technologies I am also worried where that will place my students when competing against others for work and school opportunities in the future.
ETEC BYOD 8:22 am on November 4, 2012 Permalink
You have raised some interesting concerns here Ken, pertaining to the equitable access of technology – concerns which are amplified by the use of BYOD. We generally consider the haves and have nots, within a single school considering BYOD, but what are the larger implications to students long term, when their school refuses to embrace technology? Our school of 2000 is also serviced by one IT staff member (shared between several schools), however luckily he is not biased to one technology or another. It’s frustrating when the needs of everyone are impeded by the preferences of one individual. Keep up the good fight Ken!
jkotler 1:51 am on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great introduction video. I like and appreciate that it was both informative and has got me thinking before I delve further, but the presentation of it is really professional.
ETEC BYOD 7:44 pm on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the compliment on our opening video. I hope that you gain some valuable knowledge about BYOD this week.
adi 8:11 am on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Very professional introduction. You raised some interesting points. The one I worry about the most is affordability for students. In Mexico it is definitely an issue.
I’m looking forward to this week.
ETEC BYOD 7:43 pm on October 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You bring up a very valid point. Not everywhere in the world may be ready or able to adopt BYOD any time soon.
I hope you gain some valuable information this week.
Mike Rae 2:11 am on October 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great video – very professional. I think that BYOD in K-12 schools is inevitable just has it has made its way into universities and work place environments. I am interested in the way these programs are being implemented. There are obvious challenges, as your video, pointed out, and I look forward to finding out strategies around inequities, IT nightmares and re-training teachers specifically.
At my school (in China), a teacher recently had his hand slapped for breaking school policy by having students use their cell phones in a photo scavenger hunt. It seemed so absurd to me, because the project was such a cool idea, but technically they were breaking the rules. Perhaps this week can give me some more ammo to argue my own schools way out of the dinosaur age.
Ranvir 2:58 pm on October 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
First off – an excellent video production. You raise very important points around the pros and cons, especially the challenge of not being able to provide a fair ground for all students. Also, monitoring student activity could be significant challenge for the school administration and could have negative implications due to lack of maturity at an adolescent age.
In universities, there is a slightly different challenge. Although students may be able to afford a device and also could probably self-monitor their on-line activities, the IT staff would limit the types of devices they would like to support as it is difficult to provide consistent user experience especially when certain software are not supported on certain devices. For instance, Flash animation or video is not supported on iOS devices.
jenbarker 8:34 pm on October 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Outstanding intro Group #9. Scott, I loved the video you created. You are in the wrong profession – you could work in the media industry! This topic is very interesting to me. We have discussed BYOD at my school are in the beginning stages of setting up the framework/policies need to support such a change. We are working on creating a student oath and getting our PAC to purchase some mobile technologies for student’s who may not be able to bring a device from home. I am excited to see if you group has any suggestions for storage of devices so that they are not stolen and what about inappropriate material that may be on the device prior to it arriving at school.
ETEC BYOD 8:14 am on November 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen. Thanks for your encouraging feedback – I wish you were in the guidance department at my high school all those years ago!
A agree, storage and theft is likely going to be a challenge moving forward for schools with BYOD. Fortunately some computer technology, such as all Apple iOS devices and laptops, have a free cloud based service to help you “find your _____”, which may help to locate lost or stolen technology. Its a small start, but a life saver when you most need it.
Power is also going to be concern I think. Most classrooms in our 60 year old school have only a handful of power outlets for example.
C. Ranson 8:34 am on November 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Group 9 wonderful video and discussion around BYOD. I teach adult education, so BYOD is the norm and there is a colloborative learning approach between faculty and student when there are technical issues or with the introduction of new apps that will make learning and communication more efficient. Some faculty still struggle with the concept of a student using their mobile device, ipads and laptops during lecture but really this is the norm, a student leaves grade 12 in June and enters college or university 2 months later and the learning evnivornment changes from devices not permitted in the classroom to being the norm of a classroom environment.
My son’s grade twelve experience last year at a private school was the institution welcomed laptops for taking lecture notes and presentations, the network was locked but students would use their iphone hotspot or other devices to access the internet and most of the teachers were not aware of this. Mobile devices were not permitted but students were using them regularly in a disclosed manner. Hopefully all schools will embrace BYOD to better engage today’s student.
ETEC BYOD 7:03 pm on November 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you for shifting my perspective of this topic, by sharing your view of the contrasting use of devices, when students transition from secondary to post-secondary classrooms.
jameschen 4:08 pm on November 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Group 9, thank you for your excellent presentation. I learned a lot about BYOD and enjoyed the process thoroughly. Your content is very focused, and the videos you made are of professional quality. The activities on the blog represent a wide variety of tools that are used to make a BYOD approach in the classroom engaging, and the discussion questions yielded deep thinking into the subject. Great job you guys!
– James