To BYOD or not to BYOD?

Let me begin by stating, although I recognize and am aware of the negatives related to BYOD (bring your own device), this post is strictly written to encourage and bring to light the positives in incorporating BYOD in the classroom.

My first interaction with BYOD, was literally my first teaching position coming straight out of college. To say the least, I was not prepared. I began teaching in the middle of the year taking over a 3^rd grade position at a BYOD school. I had heard about the concept prior then beginning my teaching journey, however it was much different to know about it than to teach with it. I was privileged to have a mentor teacher who walked me through all of the current educational apps the third grade team used with the students. However, the students themselves were great with guiding and helping as well. Within a couple of weeks, I was able to familiarize myself and become knowledgeable.

Through this experience, I am able to support my opinion on how BYOD is an effective and beneficial approach to incorporate in our schools. Today’s kids are digital natives. When allowing them to bring in their own personal devices they already know how to manage, it motivates and engages the students. Students can download the apps or programs needed to connect with classroom materials and curriculum and have them at their leisure. Typically, the school or grade level team will establish the program teachers will use to connect students to access the curriculum. This reminded me of college, when taking online courses. The school I taught at, used “Edmodo” as the main program students would connect to. On Edmodo students were able to turn in assignments, post discussion comments, communicate with their peers, complete online quizzes, and more. Every student was required to download Edmodo app for free on their device. Edmodo, is one example of a great source because it does not matter the provider used. One major advice is to research your educational app choices before offering them, making sure it is accessible to all providers. Another program that has become popular is Google Classroom. A few high schools in my county have implemented the use of Google Classroom. These programs do not replace instruction, instead they are decreasing but not eliminating the use of “traditional resources.”

Another great advantage of BYOD is the increasing responsive feedback. Students are able to receive this feedback whether through the teacher or their peers. Programs such as SeeSaw and Class Dojo allow the students to stay connected and be responsible for their learning. Students are able to see how they are doing as well as receive feedback on their current assignments. It is also extremely convenient for the teacher. For example, if you are working with a small group, and the other students are working in peers or independently they can take a picture of their work and upload it on either program (depending which the teacher prefers) and the teacher can provide immediate feedback without having to the leave the small group of students to attend the others at the moment. This is a big help, knowing you can’t be at all places at all times. Another example of immediate feedback, is by taking quizzes and tests on their personal devices. I would use apps such as, Spelling City, Quizlet, Edmodo, and our adopted textbook, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to assess the students on their devices. When students completed their quizzes or tests the score would immediately appear. Students would be able to see their scores and it provided less paper grading for teachers. Students would bring their device and show the teacher their score.

Last by not least, I would like to leave you with a typical digital day back in my old classroom. How BYOD can truly enhance the learning process and help students emerge into this digital world. I will provide an example of a typical Monday.

Students would come in on Monday and use their device to scan the QR code at the door. The QR code provided them with a reflection question of the week (during the week we would read an article on current news). Students would post their opinion on the Edmodo discussion post. Throughout the week they were required to comment on another classmates post, agreeing or disagreeing. During reading or math, a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation was uploaded on Edmodo and students needed to access and open the presentation on their device to follow along. Students constantly had assignments throughout the day they needed to post on SeeSaw for feedback. This would help with quick evaluation on who needed extra support. Students would still use traditional resources to help support their learning but their assignment post would be on Edmodo or SeeSaw. When students finished an assignment before time, they were encourage to study their spelling or vocabulary words through the use of Spelling City or Quizlet app. Students would also download free educational game apps of their choice (approved by parent and teacher) that would help them in all subjects areas. This eliminated “busy work” when students finish a task earlier than others.

To conclude, BYOD has become popular over the years and implemented into more and more schools. I have personally seen the great effects it can provide for a classroom. Students are engaged and love working on their own personal device. There are always going to be some flaws, however with everything else that has started, we have to first think of all the positive effects and focus on how to improve and make it better. I am currently in a school that does not have BYOD, nor many technologies implemented. I cannot wait until the implementation of all schools using personal or government paid devices becomes the culture of schools.

Here are some examples of educational apps:

SeeSaw, Ebooks, Blogging, Dropbox, Google Drive, Edmodo, Spelling City, Google Classroom, Class Dojo, Prezi, One Note, Quizlet

[BYOD image] Retrieved from http://www.teachmag.com/archives/7706