9 Strategies for Managing BYOD in the Classroom (2016)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While BYOD can offer an opportunity for 1-to-1 programs in districts that might not otherwise be able to afford them, the downsides are not inconsequential. How are BYOD schools managing? BRING-YOUR-OWN-DEVICE (BYOD) initiatives can introduce challenges for schools, including network capacity limitations, equity issues for students who can't afford their own device and support issues for teachers dealing with a variety of operating systems and device capabilities in the classroom. Here are nine strategies employed by school districts to manage their BYOD programs in a way that ensures that student-owned devices contribute to, rather than detract from, classroom engagement. 1. Provide Training for Teachers Introducing a plethora of student-owned devices to the classroom has the potential to cause chaos, it's critical to provide teachers with adequate training before launching a BYOD initiative. Before implementing its BYOD program, four instructional technologists at Lamar County School District in Purvis, MS, trained teachers how to use technology more effectively in the classroom. Ross Randall, director of technology at Lamar County Schools, said the training included that help teachers utilize the students' devices. For example, teachers learned how to use tools like PollEvery-where for soliciting whole-class responses and Google Classroom for communicating with students and connecting the class. Give the teachers resources and training for them to be able to incorporate those student devices into their class, Randall said. Just like any other technology that you integrate into a school, you want the teachers to be comfortable with using it. Calhoun County Schools in Anniston, AL, outsourced its BYOD professional development to Chalkable's i21Zone. Jenel Travis, director of technology at Calhoun County Schools, said i21Zone's trainers came into the school for two full days. trainers modeled their BYOD teaching methods in the classroom and collaborated with cadres of teachers to develop lesson plans. The professional development is a huge component of BYOD, Travis said. 2. Provide a Buying Guide for Parents While some school districts allow students to bring virtually any mobile device into the classroom, others place some requirements on devices students are allowed to bring to school. At Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, FL, students can bring only devices that meet the same specifications the district uses when purchasing devices for online assessments, so that way students can practice in the same environment they'll be assessed in, said Mariel Milano, director of digital curriculum and instructional design. To assist parents who want to purchase a device for their child, the district provides a BYOD buying guide that outlines minimum system requirements for laptops, hybrid tablets and tablets. I think it helps the teachers, if they want to plan a lesson where students are teaching each other concepts by recording a video, teachers know that every device in that classroom has a webcam and microphone. They might not all work the same way, but they have the same general functionality, Milano said. That allows teachers to find BYOD much less daunting. 3. Provide School-Issued Devices for Students Who Don't Have Their Own There are always some students who don't have their own device to bring to school, many districts provide devices for those students to use for classroom activities. Our district strategy has been to provide enough devices at every campus that every student has access to instruction and the materials that are needed to fulfill the classwork requirements, said Frankie Jackson, chief technology officer at Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, TX. Calhoun County Schools has a similar approach. …