BYOD or “bring your own device” is a popular tool that
schools are turning to in order to cut down costs. BYOD is just that, students bring their own
personal smart device (a smart phone, a tablet) to school and utilizes it as a
tool. There are a bunch of advantages to
BYOD and disadvantages to BYOD. There
are things that need to be considered before jumping on the BYOD train but a
well thought out design could make BYOD an advantageous program.
The popularity of smart phones and tablets has lead to
different thinking about the possible learning tool they can be. Using these devices that students already
have could lead to new learning opportunities.
BYOD means that students bring their own devices to the classroom. These devices belong to them so these devices
mobility cannot be denied. “The ubiquity
of mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and portable tablets all offer a
great opportunity to expand access to learning through mobile learning
(mLearning),” (Estable). Students can
use their devices anywhere at any time to access their learning portals. This means fewer constraints on learning. Students can log in to do homework or read
lessons whenever it is convenient to them and do it wherever it is convenient
for them. That freedom is a unique
advantage of BYOD. Usually if a school
provides a device, the device must stay on campus. By having students bring their own device,
they have the freedom to take it wherever they go. Also, BYOD doesn’t require an extra cost from
the school, except it is important that school have WiFi access for BYOD to
work properly. If a school provides a
device to students, it’s a sizable money cost.
BYOD saves that money. The
student is given the independence to, “…take advantage of the anywhere,
anytime, when needed, convenience of personalized learning,” (Estable).
Of course there are disadvantages to BYOD. First off, not every app works the same on
all devices. Something can come up
perfectly on a Samsung Note but will not on an IPad. So teachers need to give pretty specific
directives on what kind of mobile devices is going to work with the
course. “It is recommended to have a
list of not only minimum specifications for student-bought devices, but to have
a list of recommended devices as well to help ensure that all students could
access the learning content from their device types,” (Estable). Also the cost to the student needs to be look
at as well. Mobile devices can be costly
and this needs to be assessed before starting a BYOD program.
There are also design elements you need to look at before
starting a BYOD program. Estable points
out that file types that are downloadable must be aware of how files will come
up on certain devices and try to use programs that download and display more consistently
than others. This means that testing of
materials is important (22). The content
must be organized in an easy way to follow.
Students will mlearn anywhere and without direction over his or her
shoulder, a well thought out and organized design will make mlearning easier
(23). Keep in mind that mobile devices
have small screens; Estable suggests using “learning nuggets,” (23) which are
small break downs of lessons that are only a few minutes in length.
BYOD leads to new possibilities but there is a lot of work
and components to keep in mind when trying to implement a BYOD program.
Check out this short film about Katy Independent School
District’s BYOD program and the advantages they have had by implementing BYOD.
Here’s some links to websites with further information about
BYOD:
http://www.edutopia.org/article/mobile-learning-resources (Image used in this blog is from this site)
Work Cited
Estable, Michelle. "A Review of Considerations for BYOD M-learning Design." Distance Learning 10.3 (2013): 21. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
