My Take on BYOD

My Take on BYOD

I am for BYOD and would fully support it, in any classroom.  As I see it there are some very great benefits to this trend:

• Students who used mobile tech devices tend to have better reading comprehension scores than students who used print versions of the same text
• Students will learn to use technologies and develop skills that they will need later in life when they join the workforce
• Potential cost savings for districts because fewer school-owned devices are needed
• BYOD supports independent learning
• Students can purchase eBooks instead of print versions

With that being said, there are some downsides or risks that could take place:

• Students could forget their device charger at home and be without its use
• Security risks to schools’ computer networks
• Teachers may have to deal with troubleshooting tech issues instead of teaching
• Parents may not be able to afford mobile devices or may not be willing to pay for them
• Cyber-bullying could occur more often in schools

However, In my mind the benefits clearly out weight the risks.  The following is a fantastic 1-hour webinar that looks at  How to Survive and Thrive in a 1 - 1 BYOD Classroom. 

The following article have many great suggestions for planning BYOD, its implementation, and on-going considerations. 

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in Schools – Considerations

What is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)?

So you may be asking, what is BYOD?  Well BYOD or Bring Your Own Device was originally a concept for the business world that has become so mainstream that it is now being adapted for the school setting.  The article BYOD to School? published by Scholastic News is a great starting block or any educator to do some initial reading on this emerging trend in education.  

As always there are some that will refute the idea of the BYOD trend and will ask many questions like Should Schools Embrace BYOD?  Take a moment and read that article as it helps probe this topic in both directions. 

Here are some great initial statistics on BYOD.

Take a look at this video, where the BYOD trend is being used to help assist the teacher, students, and parents at a school district here in the US.