For my interview, I chose to interview a colleague who has been in education for 25 years. He is a teacher at my school in Manchester and he was Head of Department before he was appointed to the Senior Leadership Team of the secondary school attached to the Junior School that I work in. He has been in this role for 4 years and he is responsible for the academic management of the school, ensuring that the teaching and learning component of the school is delivered to the highest possible standard. For the past two years, a focus of his has been to drive the school’s ‘Bring Your Own Device’ scheme, which was implemented this past September. This scheme was the main focus of the interview. The interview took place in my colleague’s office, from 7:30-8:00am on Thursday 18th January 2018. Below is an analysis of the interview, focusing in on three key sections.
Why BYOD?
I asked my colleague why he chose to drive and implement the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ scheme at our school and he discussed a wide variety of reasons why, despite the many challenges he faced, this is so important. First, he noted that we are helping the students to develop skills that are necessary in the modern world and that are needed to be successful in life after they leave school. Second, he reviewed the collaboration opportunities for students and believes them to much greater than when they are using traditional pen and paper methods. Further, these collaboration opportunities are beneficial for both students and teachers. He also believes that by having their own devices at school, students’ access to large resources full of information creates more individualized learning paths by allowing them to access a greater range of information; the teacher is no longer the sole possessor of knowledge. He also mentioned that everyone having a device enables communication between students, parents and teachers to be smoother and more immediate.
Challenges
The scheme itself created several challenges including cost, which devices were acceptable and having appropriate IT support. However, the number one challenge that my colleague noted was persuading teachers that there is a better way to do things than the method they are currently using. The school that we work at is quite unique. It is an academically selective independent school. The girls are required to take an exam to get in, meaning all the girls are what might be labelled at another school as more able. Therefore, the school achieves excellent exam results and prides itself not only on academic success, but also developing well rounded students. He discussed how teachers can demonstrate reluctance to try new methods by citing the ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ mentality. The students thrive academically, the girls are happy and there is a very good atmosphere around the school…so why change anything? He further explained that teachers can think the learning curve is too steep and ever changing, it creates extra work and takes too much time.
Further, due to our school being quite niche and small, my colleague said that there is lack of data from similar schools to demonstrate success, which he said would help to get teachers on board.
To mitigate these challenges we discussed how all devices must be compatible with a stylus, as all teachers are able to use resources that have already been developed as a start. Further, there is ongoing professional development to support teachers in this scheme.
Differentiation
When I asked my colleague where he sees technology in education going in the future, he responded that proper differentiation will be more accessible without creating a great deal of extra work for the teachers. He hopes that teachers will be able to facilitate individualized learning paths for students, where they can investigate their own interests in their own way. He hopes that this will help learning to ‘stop being restricted to boxes’ and students will be able to pursue their passions in a learning style that fits best with them.
Hi Kathryn,
Your school sounds very similar to the school that I worked at for the last 7 years. It was an independent school that required prospective students to take an exam prior to admittance. There were only 2 entrance years (JK and grade 1) so getting into the school outside of those years was very difficult. All of the students were high achieving and the parents had high expectations for the teachers, admin and their children.
I was the tech coordinator that began implementing our BYOD program in the primary grades (we started 4 years ago). My goal was to have students in grades 1, 2 and 3 bring their own device (and the school and I decided on iPads). In grades 4, 5 the students would use school provided chrome books and in grades 6, 7, the students would be able to choose their own device (BYOD).
I didn’t expect the resistance that I received. We held an open forum where we invited parents to discuss our new initiative. I thought that they would be supportive of a technology program that would allow their child to easily bring their devices to and from school to help with the school/home communication. I loved the idea that every night, the students could go home and share what they were learning or what they created that day. I also loved that this gave the students the opportunity to be the “expert” at home and teach their families. However, parents were very upset that they had to provide the device (even though money wasn’t the issue), that the students would be using screens at such a young age (even though they were already using screens at home), accessing wifi (they cited the dangers of wifi at a young age?), among many other concerns. You didn’t mention this as one of the challenges. Do you know if Ian had difficulties with getting support from parents?
I also had lots of challenges getting some of our more experienced teachers to support the program. They had a similar philosophy that Ian discovered (If it’s not broken, don’t fix it). After 4 years of the program, we still did not have full support from parents or teachers. It was a difficulty journey. If I had to do it again, I would do it differently, but I’m just not sure how? I know we can’t force teachers to integrate technology, but we need to find ways to get them interested and at least curious about it.
Thanks for sharing your friend’s experience with his BYOD program.
Hi Nicole,
Your work as the tech coordinator at your previous school seems challenging! You’re absolutely right about your previous school and my current workplace being being quite similar; high (sometimes unrealistic!) parental expectations are one of my biggest day to day challenges! As you mentioned, cost isn’t always the largest issue when thinking about BYOD scheme but there are many other issues that parents raise as resistance. We did have several open forums for parents to voice their concerns and I know there was a split of parents who were on board and parents who were against it. Perhaps the parental concerns may have been different as the scheme begins when students are 12 and not younger. Ian did mention that he has had several positive pieces of feedback from parents since the scheme started in September!
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. It sounds like your last job was a great learning opportunity!
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn:)
I enjoyed reading your abstract.
Differentiation is definitely an important part of our students’ learning and technology aids with that. We need to be able to give our learners an opportunity to learn from where they actually are and not where the rest of the class is. Differentiated instruction will allow students to feel successful because they are learning at their own pace. By providing these opportunities, our learners become empowered and want to learn. I agree with Ian- right now teachers feel overwhelmed when they have to provide differentiated instruction but with technology, it will be easier.
Hi Sabrina,
I am hoping that creating properly differentiated resources becomes easier with new technology as well! I am interested to see how individualized learning paths can become more common in the future.
Thanks
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
I really appreciate how your interviewee saw the urgency in teaching skills tech skills because they transfer to, and are needed outside school walls. My colleague who I interviewed also stressed the importance of collaboration and how it can be done so seamlessly with technological devices.
Because of the unique culture of your school, you are faced with a challenge that many of us aren’t tackling right now. I once heard that the scariest words in education are “because we’ve always done it this way.” I genuinely believe that as the world changes so does the way in which we prepare the students to thrive in the world once they leave our classrooms. There’s no denying that technology had become embedded in society. Therefore, teachers should modify their practice to include it, at least on some level. Does your school have a philosophy or any expectations when it comes to tech integration? Or is it left to the classroom teacher to integrate it or not?
Thanks for sharing!
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Right now, the expectations are pretty minimal with tech integration. The admin team are very supportive of whatever technology we want to include, for those who are keen and eager, but don’t have mandatory targets, for those less keen, to meet at the moment. Most teachers at least have assignments submitted online and all are trained to use OneNote to share the resources with the class. I’m not sure how some teachers would respond to forced integration but maybe that is a route that some schools take? I’d be interested to find out more about this!
Thanks
Kathryn
We have an expectation that we are integrating technology on a regular basis in the classroom. Our school provides a 1:1 iPads for lower elementary school and 1:1 laptops for upper elementary school. Therefore, it is expected that we use them in a meaningful way. Teachers who do not feel comfortable are expected to seek our support.
That being said, it is a private school in Asia and many international schools in the Asia Pacific region have developed an open-mindset to tech integration. I do know that peoples views are different around the world. In Germany for instance, many schools do not have a lot of technology at the lower levels and spend more time interacting with the natural environment by going outside on a daily basis. I can totally appreciate all viewpoints and approaches but do enjoy working in a school where we have access to a large number of resources.
Hi Kathryn,
Thank you for sharing the salient points of your interview. I was initially drawn to your post because BYOD has also been implemented relatively recently in my district as well. In the last two years, I taught upper elementary in a couple fully integrated BYOD classroom. I had come from teaching senior math and physics so I didn’t really know any different and I was easily converted to the use of devices in the classroom. I loved how easy students could collaborate with one and other and explore all areas of interest that tied to a specific theme. I got a kick out of when the whole class would collaborate on the same Google Slide and then rehearse a classwide presentation. I loved the fluidity, creativity and sometimes messiness that technology afforded us in the classroom. Things didn’t always go as smoothly as expected, but there was always learning associated with everything we did.
I will admit, I struggled with the Luddite teachers at the school. Those who still don’t know how to open a Google Doc and who consistently resist the challenges associated with adopting new technology. I didn’t understand why they were so resistant to change and taking risks. I later learned that many of them subscribe to the philosophy that you mention, “why fix something that ain’t broken?” My heart sinks when I come across teachers who refuse to innovate their practice. It’s not to say that they need to adopt more technology to be innovative but all teachers should be able to defend a certain degree of innovation each year. Perhaps a better mantra might be: “there is no better time to buy a new car than when you already own one”. In other words, there is no better time to innovate your practice than when you have your practice dialed-in completely. Thanks again!
Hi Bryn,
I like your comment about technology use and BYOD sometimes being messy! I think that this can be what scares teachers…in over our heads and not sure what the next step is! In my experience, however, these are some of the best learning moments for both teachers and students. I also believe that all teachers should be innovating their practice each year, even without thinking about technology.
Thank you
Kathryn
Dear Kathryn,
Given your detailed description, I can fully visualize the context of the school. Small private schools like the one in this case are more careful when approaching different pedagogical trends. To some degree, this may be because a client-centred mindset where the school’s image is built upon less screen time and well facilitated teaching and learning practices. One article that is helpful to Zhao & Frank’s (2003) ecological view of technology as an intrusive specie. Although it may not carry such negative connotation like intrusion, yet one can borrow this analogy and simply view technological initiatives like BYOD as a disruption to the niche culture and will require time to find a new balance.
To build upon Nicole’s thoughts, I’ve also been curious as to how my school reasons the need to buy laptop carts. At our school, BYOD initiatives didn’t start until this year for all students grade 7 to 12. Beyond early technical issues such as limited bandwidth and flammable charging stations, there were limited disruptions.
Elementary students become recipients of technological gadget hand-me-downs. This isn’t about the lack of sharing resources and facilities, the demand for access to technological tools and space simply outweigh the supplies. While teachers can ‘share’ the carts, however, when housed on different floors, it isn’t always possible for grade 2 students to take bulky Chromebook carts from one level to the next in a timely manner. As the school fuel its teachers with tech-based professional development opportunities, there are no realistic and logically sounded way to support teacher’s transformative use of technology.
Food for thought:
Rather than waiting a few years until BYOD is fully established from top down, perhaps some schools would consider an hourglass take on BYOD. I am envisioning tablet-based (i.e. with stylus) BYOD in lower elementary – Grade 2 – 4 and supply laptops or Chromebooks to grade 5-7 and then BYOD for Grade 8 – 12. Building digital capacity in elementary is crucial for higher level thinking activities in upper grades. Students then are able to fully fluent with the technology before being asked to use it for transformative means.
Zhao, Y. & Frank, K. (2003). Factors affecting technology uses in schools: An ecological perspective. American Educational Research Journal, 40(4), 807-840.
Hi Alice,
Interestingly, the Zhoa and Frank reading you mentioned was required in a previous course I’ve taken. I found the concept of technology being an intrusive species very interesting, and you’ve made a good point, it needs time to balance out in the ecosystem of our school. I like the idea of an hourglass take on BYOD and would certainly make digital skills at an older age more fluid. Thanks for your thoughts.
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn
I like the fact that your school came up with a common starting point (stylus and be able to use current resources).
I wonder if in a few years as technology changes, that these two will still be the schools common ground.
A good next step might be to present the school’s findings in an article or ProD so that other similar schools can see what works and what does not.
Christopher
Hi Kathryn,
The title of your interview drew me to it, as the colleague I interviewed had some views about BYOD that I was interested to compare to yours. When I read your peer’s rationale for promoting the BYOD “scheme” (I couldn’t help but notice the loaded language — is there a generally negative reception to this idea?), it sounded like the reasons he was giving were related to the usefulness of students having access to technology in general, not to the specific impetus that they bring their own devices from home.
These same arguments could just as easily have been leveraged to urge administration to allocate budget dollars or allow school-wide fundraising efforts to purchase devices the school can provide to students without the added variables that BYOD creates, could they not? Did your colleague provide any rationale specific to the BYOD model? From what I infer by your description, this school is small, elite, and affluent, so I’m curious to know how it is that the school has not already purchased enough devices for each classroom teacher to have at least a workable, in not a 1:1, amount?
He mentioned the issue of teacher reluctance in terms of “extra work and too much time” and my interviewee also touched repeatedly on the theme of time in order to both become comfortable using and actually use technology.
I also liked the suggestions in the comments about an hourglass approach to devices, although I believe this is untenable if the school plans to adopt a BYOD model to accomplish this. I can understand how parents would interpret it as somewhat presumptuous of a school to ask them to supply a particular kind of device, whether or not the cost of the thing was within a family’s budget or not. I think, particularly in a privately funded education model where parents are already paying tuition, that the expectation still firmly resides on the school to provide these resources and if homes opt to contribute the school has not much more to say to that than “thank you”. Perhaps the culture in my region is much different than in your community however!
Thanks for the post!