In the corporate sector IT managers are trying to cope with the ‘impossible’ situation that workers are insisting on coming to work, and doing their work, with their own mobile and work devices and preferred software (Bring Your Own Device or Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), creating (for the managers, they say) a tsunami of technology management, security, etc, problems. For the workers, they simply know they are more productive and happy using their own devices. The same trend is already dominant in post-secondary and will inevitably prevail in K-12 as devices become more ubiquitous, economical, robust and personalized.
Opportunity Statement
There’s no question that BYOT will ultimately be cheaper and more efficient for both formal and informal education providers, so this transition creates a set of venture opportunities surrounding the content, infrastructure and management of the provision of learning.
Prediction Source(s):
Educause – Top 10 IT Issues 2013
Online Colleges – Tech Trends for 2013
This is something I truly am passionate about. Of course, there are certain socioeconomic implications built-in to BYOD, and it does favour the haves over the havenots, I have personally used BYOD with great success in the classroom. In language schools in Vancouver, all students come equip with smartphones and tablets, so in that case it’s easy. However, as these devices become more common in middle school and even elementary school backpacks. It’s a simple way to remove the computer lab from the equation and allow students the freedom and comfort of using their own device for tech-aided projects and activities.
BYOT is already here, the question is not how to implement it, but how to manage it; it needs to be addressed (you either catch the wave or you get washed out by it).
I agree with Brendan and Sylvia, although there are socioeconomic implications, in quite a few places BYOT is already in place. At my school this year we are introducing BYOT, fortunately for the majority of the students in the school they come from well off families and our implementation of this program will be key for the year. Luckily for me, the days of booking an IT lab or taking the kids to the library to work on the computer is over (at least for the time being). There is a huge potential here for students to do research within the classroom while under the supervision of the teacher. In-class assessment with automatic grading and feedback within the classroom could be time saving. I am interested in exploring this area further.
I agree as BYOT evolves and more students are using their own, the computer lab could go the way of the dinosaur. I see students using our commons using their own devices and the computer labs being used less and less. The age of BYOT /BYOD is here and it is now time for institutions to look at ways to manage and teach to these new technologies. I see this as the wave of the future and education curriculums need to grasp it.
I think BYOT is an interesting issue to explore both in the corporate sector and in the non-profit education world. Several of my jobs involve teaching immigrants. Computer lab access is almost negligible and wifi is poor. So the possibilities of doing projects using tech students already have access to is really intriguing. The problem is what to do with students who have little access to the tech, as some of my students do. On a related angle, what about the possibility of using inexpensive resources to adapt modern technology. I recently watched a Tedtalks, where in India they took a burner phone, flashlight and lunchbox and made a projector. What if we could, instead of BYOT, MYOT for our purposes – inexpensively?
Every time the BOYD discussion starts, I get mixed feelings. Thinking about community development and countries where the gap is huge between those who have and those who don’t have, I see a semi-disaster in introducing BOYD. I totally understand and appreciate its benefits but only when you are 100% sure of the setting you are working with and that actually all the learners/ participants have their own devices, which more or less can do the same things. If one person in the whole group does not have a device and you can’t get him/ her one, then I believe you should not depend on BOYD. I am not interested in working in this topic but I couldn’t prevent myself from participating in the discussion. I hope this is o.k.