BYOD: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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Bring Your Own Device ("BYOD") is becoming a popular trend in school districts. There are many valid arguments both for and against implementing BYOD that even I have trouble landing on a side! But first, what is BYOD and why do some schools even consider it?

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.

The Bad

• 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.

The Ugly

• 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?

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