Through many of our endeavors in this very class, we have learned that the students in Baldwin County have a tremendous amount of access to school-owned technology such as iPads and laptops. In Mobile County, however, school officials are asking students to bring in their own devices- such as smart phones, Kindles, etc. They have named this BYOD- Bring Your Own Device. Personally, I absolutely think this is a great idea. This program was piloted at Cranford Burns Middle School. School system technology director David Akridge and Burns Principal Joe Adams had a few things to say about this new initiative. Since 75 percent of students at the school have such devices, Akridge said, "We might as well integrate them into their learning, so they learn how to use it for a good thing." This statement is so true! So many kids have access to some sort of smart device and they are constantly glued to them. Instead of these devices being a constant annoyance for teachers, allow the students to use them to further their education.
There are two main arguments that pop into someone's brain when this BYOD initiative comes up .The first is "What about the kids who do not have access to smart devices?" The answer is simple. Mobile County will have to invest in some technology so those kids can have access as well. The second argument is "The kids are not responsible enough to take care of these devices." Principal Joe Adams addressed this issue by saying, "they're the kids' own devices, so they're going to take care of them." If you would like to read the full article on this BYOD initiative at Burns Middle School, you can do so here.
I think the BYOD initiative is a great thing for Mobile County. Instead of spending money on new resources for the huge amount of students in the Mobile County School System, the students can be responsible to provide their own- if they already own one. Officials should make it clear, however, that in no sense of the world, are parents expected to buy smart devices for their students.
This is an interesting topic! I have researched a little about BYOD and I think it's a great idea. In the time we live in most students already own a laptop, tablet or iPad. If Mobile County cannot afford to purchase the technology for the classrooms, I think the students should be able to bring them from home. Clearly there will have to be guidelines to follow but this is will keep Mobile County School's from falling behind. Great job on this post.
ReplyDeleteJennah,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your assessment of BYOD. Principal Joe Adams makes an extremely good point of the fact that students will take care of their owns devices, simply because it belongs to them. Technology is changing our classrooms for the better. It's allowing our students to further their education. Great job! I'm sure everyone will agree with you on this topic! I also found it great that you incorporated Mobile into this, making it even more relevant to the students in Mobile County!
Emma Elwell
Great job on this post. BYOD is changing the way we will teach in our area and beyond. I think it can be a great tool to use, of course there will be a need for ongoing training, to find the best and most effective ways to implement PED’S during the instructional day. M.C.P.S.S. saved some money by initiating this program, I think it is a good start.
ReplyDeleteJenna, reading your blog was very informative and presents a great opportunity for students in the schools to use the devices that they personally own to the classroom. Given the amount of tech toys these students own, only a few would be necessary to do an entire project. The more the merrier and it is a great initiative that Mobile County is finally taking to set the example for the 21st century classroom. I think the arguments you present that are against the BOYD approach is the same old mentality that keeps teachers from using a Smartboard, and like you concluded, they will just have to get over it. Students are responsible and the project based learning method works with just one of their iPads or iPhones, etc. Those who decide not to use something based on fallacious ignorance never tried it for themselves, and I think they all should be sent back to college to take EDM 310. It’s working for us and expanding our insight into the use of technology in the classroom, and something like BYOD pretty much tells them, “Even though the school budget is failing our students, we don’t need to fail them.” It was great learning about BYOD in your blog and it’s something I planned to do already, in the event I landed in a school that was tech-less. At least now I know an initiative is out there that addresses some of my concerns. Thanks for the information.
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