Changes in Classroom Technology #BYOD

This week I encountered, in a couple different ways, new initiatives in BYOD.  If you aren't in education you probably got almost through that acronym: Bring Your Own ... D?  The D stands for Devices and in the classroom it is the new technology movement.  What school districts are encouraging is students to bring their own devices (lap tops, tablets, phones, etc) to school to use in classrooms.

This is a smart way of addressing a serious problems.  You see, it isn't that schools don't realize that we need technology in classrooms.  Everyone from teachers to students to principals to school board members know that we need technology.  I mean I follow my school and my district on Facebook!  The problem isn't convincing the higher ups, the problem is getting the hardware into classrooms.  It is expensive.  Not only would you have to buy hundreds of thousands of computers but you'd have to reconfigure schools that were built before teachers had computers.  BYOD is an elegant solution to this problem.  If you can't put the computers in the classrooms, have students bring the computers (or devices) with them!

Most teachers have an instant gut reaction to this idea.  We have spent the past few years fighting against cell phones.  Trying to get students to stop texting and start listening.  Watch how this teacher deals with this age old problem:

But take a closer look at this classroom.  Why is the student texting?  The teacher is standing in front of the room lecturing to a group of pretty uninterested students.  He is fighting the technology.  Check out this engaging video about how Mabry Middle school is Flying forwards with technology instead of fighting against it:

My personal experience with BYOD is limited. I am one of the blessed few that teach from a computer lab, but I have recently come across a few amazing tools for teachers who are using BYOD.   If you Google this subject, you'll come across millions of resources such as 40 Quick Ways to Use Mobile Phones in Classrooms.  I tried a new BYOD resource, Kahoot this week.  To be honest, it was almost TOO engaging.  My students had a blast!  Finally, if I wasn't in a lab, I'd be using Nearpod.  It is an amazing tool for teachers to engage students on their own devices.

I know BYOD has its problems and I know it isn't the ideal solution but if you haven't tried to engage students with their devices, I recommend you try out one of the tools above and you will be amazed at what students can accomplish when they "plug into" your classroom.