BYOD

//Some notes and quotes from Sam Gliksman's Skype presentation to MCFCS representatives - 25 July 2012//
//"It's not about the technology - technology alone is not the answer" "Today's technological innovation will be tomorrow's party joke"//
 * //If you want to embrace BYOD, you need to firstly clarify your educational vision of learning in the 21st Century//
 * Youth today learn differently to adults; adults are single task focussed. Today's learners spend 50+ hours/week using digital technologies, multi-media, colour, visuals and are more likely to use a trial and error approach to, for instance, a new camera - whereas adults today are more likely to look for the instruction manual.
 * Learners today can take any course they want online - they can learn anywhere, anytime, with any device (e.g KhanAcademy, K12, iTunes).
 * With fibre optics, we can basically download the entire contents of libraries onto an iPhone.
 * Schools need to develop robust educational visions & plans for the future that enhance digital literacy skills and opportunities for students to communicate, collaborate, create and publish - not just gather and regurgitate information.
 * Whole-School communities need to be included in the vision and planning - parents need to be assured that their investment in a device is supported by effective teaching and learning practice (relevance, usability).

=What?= Technology Access Models

1 Computer Lab or Mobile Cart (e.g. COWs - computers on wheels) Can Schools with this model afford to maintain the model over time?
 * limited access
 * desktop, laptop, netbooks, ipads
 * requires booking
 * shared (everyone necessarily has access to the same things; no differentiation for individual needs)
 * school financed
 * school maintained (not the student's responsibility to look after)
 * school controlled

2 One-to-one Technology Programs
 * anytime, dedicated access
 * decide on equipment (everyone must have x or y, not a or z)
 * used at school, sometimes at home
 * School buys, parents pay
 * school maintained
 * school controlled

3 BYOD
 * anytime, anywhere, any device (poses some problems)
 * minimum standards needed
 * parent financed - school no longer paying for hardware - solely owned and looked after by student
 * personalised - student have the opportunity to innovate; students tend to be more productive

=How?= There are challenges in the BYOD model and schools need extensive planning, infrastructure investment and training for successful implementation. Some schools try to ban BYOD - in the USA, 69% of Schools - but 63% of students in those schools are still using them at school!
 * Schools need to find out how many students have actually got a device that could be used at school? In the USA about 40% in the 12-17 age group have smart phones; 11% have a tablet of some sort (this statistic is rapidly accelerating) - know your population; poll anonymously
 * Buy in from the whole school community is essential - "culture change is most effective swelling from the bottom up"
 * Schools need to communicate, develop and deliver a very clear 'responsible use policy'. This should include: where and when devices can be used, rules for taking home, browsing dos and donts, social networking policies, messaging policies, privacy and safety
 * Schools need to have contingency plans for the "digital divide" (haves and have-nots) - use the $ from strategic savings (servers, storage & software) to buy a bank of equipment as loaners
 * ensure whole school campus has robust and reliable wireless internet access & plan for future bandwidth needs including uploading!
 * check that students can access online resources created within school outside the school
 * use platform independent tools such as apps that work across most devices, and online spaces for sharing and collaborating, e.g wikis
 * utilise common features: apps, audio, video, classroom polling and quick tests, podcasting, radio boradcasts, probe attachments for measuring, digital storytelling, emailing and sharing any media using, for example, Posterous, language learning - recording speaking and reading (e.g. foreign language), creating movies (iMovie on ipad), use on field trips (photos, audio, video, data collection and analysis), data organisation tools (Diigo, Instapper, Evernote, Delicious...)

=Why?=
 * BYOD is cost effective and the current timing is right (increasing demand, shrinking budgets)
 * no repairs and maintenance
 * more engaged and motivated students
 * typically more robust and up to date and personalised
 * greater accountability
 * different learners, different needs (special needs students thrive on ipads and apps, high end users need high end laptops and software)

=Some Thorns=
 * CONTROL (what schools are used to) - control is expensive!!! It requires you to own the devices. But some companies are developing web-based BYOD environments for more control and monitoring of use.
 * SECURITY - create a separate, segmented network for students with no internal network access. Use web-based, online storage.
 * DO I KNOW YOU? login with authentic user IDs only.
 * monitoring and filtering - web filters provide internet access controls, but these can impact on access speed. Authentication enables monitoring. Insist on wireless access for BYOD - make it part of your responsible use policy - take action if students set up own network access.

=Summary= It is not about the device - it's what you do with it There is no point in preparing students for life in a school. They have to be prepared to function in a global context. This is a time of great exponential growth. 1GB in 1981 cost $300,000; 1 GB in 2012 costs 12 cents. In 2004 there was no Facebook, in 2012 one in eight people have a Facebook account. It took Apple 22 years to sell 55Million Macs, but only 2 years to sell 55Million iPads.

//Sam Gliksman's presentation can be accessed at Slideshare//