BYOD: bring your own device

More and more learners are accessing data through m-devices so it is important as educators to think about how we might engage our learners using these methods that are part of their everyday lives. However, in many places m-learning devices such a mobile phones or iPads are often still banned in classrooms and can be seen as 'distractors' to learning in the classroom. In reading educator's blogs, you are likely to find a variety of opinions on m-devices in the classroom from those that ban them, to those who fully embrace them. As an educator somewhere in the middle, I'm keen to find out more about how other teachers incorporate them into their classroom teaching and the frameworks and methodology that they use for this.

Currently, there is a lot of discussion of BYOD: Bring Your Own Device, not just in education but in business too. An interesting introduction to this in teaching is the blog http://adifference.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-would-i-prepare-to-teach-byod-class.html where the preparation for teaching a byod class is discussed and tools are suggested. 

There are pros and cons of BYOD and many parents and teachers alike worry about the control and monitoring aspects of it. Would this introduction of more technology to the classroom cause disruption? What are the restrictions of students videoing teachers and uploading to sites such as youtube? Would students become targets of bullying or theft? (Guardian 2009). However, regardless of a ban on devices in the classroom, students still use them; As Gliksman (2012) points out in his presentation 'Building an effective school BYOD', an ACSD study found that in schools that ban m-devices, 63% of students use them anyway. So would it be better if we included them in our teaching?

Marcos and McLeod (2011) would answer yes: "...I can find no sound pedagogical, social or practical reason for restricting the use of  technical devices. Telling the students what devices they can use and when, is like telling them what brand of pencil they can use and when".

His conclusion from a year of including technology into the curriculum is that there is actually less distraction happening in the classroom than without technology. Students are focused on the tasks and are in charge of their own learning. Gliksman seems to agree by advocating that learners are more engaged and motivated. However, he goes on to highlight the challenges surround BYOD and the need careful consideration and planning.

These considerations might include:
         security
         access
         control and authentication
         cost and accessibility

As Caudill (2007) points out, it is also important to consider equality of access and that it is "..dangerous to assume all learners have access [to m-devices]" (p.5). In setting up a BYOD session, learners need to be the centre and their skills in using and access to a device need to be considered. Interestingly though, Nielson (2011) talks about how students are 'bridging the connectivity divide; how students in lower income families where there is no computer at home are often getting on online through their phones. Her article "7 Myths about BYOD debunked" explains that BYOD does not create or deepen the digital divide, as it still exists whether m-devices are used in schools or not. She suggests that schools should not stop those who do have devices from accessing learning through them but rather support and provide for those that don't to extend all learning.

Building an Effective School BYOD Plan

View more PowerPoint from Sam Gliksman

Caudill. J (2007) The growth of M-learning and the Growth of Mobile Computing: Parallel Development. International review of research in open and distance Learning 8.2 works/bepress.com/jason-caudill/4

Gliksman. S (2012) Building an Effective School BYOD http://www.slideshare.net/samgliksman/building-an-effective-school-byod-plan

Nielsen. L (2011) 7 Myths About BYOD Debunked http://thejournal.com/Articles/2011/11/09/7-BYOD-Myths.aspx?Page=1

Marcos. E and McLeod. S (2011) Let Them BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) www.ovenell-carter.com/let-them-byod