- As a third grade teacher deeply invested in technology, as a contributing member of my district's technology committee, and as a student of technology integration, I already possessed a lot of background knowledge. I had been involved in developing technology plans and policies for almost nine years. I have also been piloting different technologies for my district, including a classroom Chromebook pilot this year. Though I already knew much about technology integration and how many aspects must align for successful integration, I still learned a lot that will guide me in my own practices.
- Analyzing the ISTE NETS for Administrators and Educators was extremely powerful. It was important to see how the standards are designed to create a progression, beginning with the administration and trickling down to the student level. When administrators have a clear vision and are invested in technology integration, teachers will be better positioned to achieve their ISTE NETS and ultimately promote student achievement. The vision to me seems key; administrators need to clearly communicate their vision for technology integration so that teachers can buy into it and play an active role in making that vision a reality. All stakeholders must be a part of the process. As a technology integration specialist, I feel that I could help create that bridge for communication.
- The vision is also important when considering professional development. What professional development is relevant and timely for the teachers? For supporting the students? Administration with clear goals can set timelines for certain benchmarks and plan appropriate professional development to meet their needs. As a technology integration specialist, I would work closely with administrators and teachers to build a reasonable timeline and professional development schedule to guide them as they work toward achieving their vision.
- Finally, why is it so important to continue to perfect the technology integration craft and develop professional development to support this?
- The ultimate goal of any classroom or school-wide endeavor should be to improve student learning and prepare students for life beyond school. This population of students is unique; they are digital natives. Students today have technology embedded into their daily lives (Shrum & Levin, 2009, p. 27) and they shouldn’t have to “power down” or feel demotivated when they come to school (Prensky, 2001, p. 3). Rather, we should be capitalizing on students’ interest and experience with technology. THIS is why technology integration is so important. We are creating learning opportunities for our students that didn't exist before, yet are authentic and relevant to today's learners. We need to stay abreast of new technological developments and teach our students to be 21st century learners and 21st century citizens. As the picture above states, technology use in school should be second nature. Therefore, we must continue to perfect the technology integration craft and support teachers through consistent, timely, and relevant professional development.
- References
- Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved September 12, 2014, from
Shrum, L. and Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Upon Reflection
Sunday, February 7, 2016
BYOD: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
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| Image Source: http://twinpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/backfun.jpg |
Many schools recognize the value of a technology-rich learning environment. However, school budgets simply do not always allow for the purchase of sufficient technology for 1:1 computing. This leaves many schools in the proverbial stone age, essentially limiting our students learning potential. With "Bring Your Own Device" policies, students are permitted to bring smartphones, tablets, and laptops to school for instructional purposes. While at first glance this seems like the perfect solution to get technology into the hands of the students, there are several issues to consider.
The Good
- Technology in the hands of the students
- Students use technology that is comfortable and familiar to them.
- Not all students have access to personal devices.
- Lack of bandwidth and connectivity issues; Wi-Fi infrastructure must be sufficient to support many devices.
- Apps must work on a variety of devices.
- Lack of ability to print from personal devices
- Professional development is essential to successful BYOD implementation.
- Troubleshooting a variety of devices; inefficient use of class time
- Personal devices can be a distraction and/or disrupt learning.
- Free apps must be properly vetted to ensure that there are no inappropriate ads.
- Violation of BYOD policies
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Overall, I am not swayed by the promises of BYOD. As I mentioned, with BYOD, students get to use technology that they are familiar with in the classroom. This sounds great, and perhaps with high school students this might work, but I foresee too many problems that outweigh the potential positives. What I envision is classroom chaos. I see some students not having devices at all. Do teachers partner them with someone who has a device? Does partnering them even work for all assignments? Do teachers have some school-owned devices for these students? Even if all students have a device, some devices are better than others, especially for certain activities. Can you imagine a student typing an entire 10-page paper on a smartphone?
Overall, I am not swayed by the promises of BYOD. As I mentioned, with BYOD, students get to use technology that they are familiar with in the classroom. This sounds great, and perhaps with high school students this might work, but I foresee too many problems that outweigh the potential positives. What I envision is classroom chaos. I see some students not having devices at all. Do teachers partner them with someone who has a device? Does partnering them even work for all assignments? Do teachers have some school-owned devices for these students? Even if all students have a device, some devices are better than others, especially for certain activities. Can you imagine a student typing an entire 10-page paper on a smartphone?
Once all students are outfitted with a device, the chaos continues. I now see teachers spending a majority of their time with students figuring out how to download apps, attempting to troubleshoot devices only to learn that a certain app doesn't work with that device, or figuring out why students are having trouble connecting to the network. I see connectivity issues occurring regularly because the network is overloaded with too many devices per student.
Because of these issues and disruptions, students lose focus and begin using their devices in the classroom for personal communication. Students begin to violate the acceptable use policies and lose access to the network or have their BYOD privilege revoked, meaning now more students do not have devices to complete the required assignments. This cycle continues until teachers ultimately begin reverting back to traditional classroom instruction.
While 1:1 computing is the ideal situation, BYOD is not, and in the long run, Chromebook carts, classroom clusters of computers, and computer labs seem to be the best classroom technology configurations. With proper teacher training on district-owned devices, and IT professionals to provide support for maintenance and troubleshooting, teachers and students will be much more successful with technology implementation.
References:
Finegal, D. (2012.) Is BYOD the Answer to our Problems or the Worst Idea Ever? Retrieved from Learning and Leading with Technology: http://www.learningandleadingdigital.com/learning_leading/201202?pg=7#pg7
Nagel, D. (2012). Banning Is Not the Answer' to Mobile and Social Tools in Schools. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/Articles/2012/04/11/Banning-Is-Not-the-Answer-to-Mobile-and-Social-Tools-in-Schools.aspx?Page=3
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