BYOD


 * BYOD........is what???**

It's no secret that mobile technology has completely inundated our lives, and the lives of students of all ages. In today’s world they have multiple opportunities to observe, explore, play with, and learn from digital media—television, DVDs, MP3s, Touch/iPhones, computers, video games, cell phones, smart toys, and the like.

__**//*FACT - Children in the U.S., ages 2 - 5, spend on average 32 hours per week in front a video game, TV, VCR, or DVR* (McDonough, 2009)//**__ So for us, it's that "learn" part we're most concerned with; enabling students to understand how to harness the power of technology to learn as well as play.

Enter BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. Given the current economic state of education, educators have realized that putting mobile technology in the hands of each student won't happen by itself. However, mobile devices are as common as bicycles in families today, and BYOD allows students to bring their devices to school and be used for learning. Whether its creating a presentation, researching a social studies topic, or putting together online flashcards, teachers and students work together to make the best use of BYOD in the classroom.




 * ~ **Teacher'sName** ||~ Advantages-What enhancements does a BYOT program bring to your classroom learning environment? How does it help students? ||
 * Waterman || With greater internet access, student are able to utilize all the great internet sources of information to learning and research. ||
 * S.Mott || The energy and enthusiasm that BYOT has brought to my class is incredible. My kindergarteners and first graders are independent and skilled at accessing our Motskin Website, Edmodo, and doing webbased research, and they feel very confident in these skills. I am especially in favor of using Netbooks with this age group. Netbooks are light, compact, portable and they have an extended battery life. ||
 * Waterman || Kids are able to use social media tools, such as Blogs and Wikis, to showcase their learning in a digital way. ||
 * C. Grindle || Students take a lot more pride in the work they submit since other people have access to read and comment on. ||
 * C. Grindle || The lessons are more engaging for the students when interent tools are used since they are part of the learning process as well. ||
 * L. Hoskin || Students have additional ways to make learning fun and engaging. We live in a digital world and the students are much more comfortable and computer literate than they were a few years ago. ||
 * K. O'Brien || It allows students to move at their own pace. Students that struggle can get the extra time and help that they need while other students can move at a faster pace and remain challenged. ||
 * K. O'Brien || Teachers are able to get instant feedback. ||
 * S. Persis || When visiting classrooms, the students are highly engaged when the are using technology. When they are not, the the engagement is minimal. ||
 * S. Persis || Students want to use technology to learn. This is their world. ||
 * K. Grindle || It is another resource and outlet to enhance/enrich material that is presented in class. Students can take a topic and go more in depth with it. ||
 * K. Grindle || Some students might not have the opportunity to visit libraries other than the one here at Pine Trail. By using technology, other resources are immediately available to them. ||
 * M.DeFeo/S.Gilbert || Students are accountable for work they do on the computer. When computers are used for center time the students stay engaged and are accountable due to the many apps and programs that provide feedback such as; time logs, date completed, as well as instant grading. Having computers as a center with meaningful websites and programs has allowed me the freedom to work with small groups in my classroom because I do not experience behavior issues when the independt center (computers) are being implemented. ||

Occasionally, a child will lock himself out of his netbook- having forgotten his sign in info. previously set at home to allow the screen to be locked and only the owner can sign in. Now, at the beginning of the year I will strongly recommend children do not set a log in password or set one with simply 1st initial of first name with last name. example: smott. ||
 * ~ Teacher'sName ||~ Obstacles - What issues did you face, and how do you overcome them? What issues still remain to be solved? ||
 * Laura Hoskin || Helping K -1 students with computer issues (connecting to BYOT, screen changes, computers needing charging, etc) is a challenging task, however it is worth it once the initial set up takes place. ||
 * K. OBrien || Battery time on devices. The students had to get used to checking the battery life on their devices so that they did not lose work. ||
 * S. Persis || More inservice for teachers to learn teaching techniques on ipads, and lap tops. (Critical) ||
 * K. Grindle || More time for teachers to learn and implement these amazing programs that are being introduced to us. It doesn't become relevant unless you can actually put it to use in your classroom. ||
 * M.DeFeo/S.Gilbert || One challenge we face is the fact that 99.9% of our students do not bring in their own technology so we are limited in the number of whole group activities we can do. To date we have not overcome this issue. We have been trying to supplement this obstacle by having fundraisers in our class to purchase technological devices. So far we have added 4 netbooks to each of our classes and hope to make one more purchase at the end of this school year. Also, we partner the students together to share the technological resources and work in small groups. ||
 * S.Mott || My kindergarteners and 1st graders often need my help when their netbooks won't pick-up the BYOT WIFI after several months of showing them how to get the BYOT up a few become my more savy experts and now when the actional glitches pop up I get the help of our experts. Children helping eachother. Very inspiring.
 * S. Mott || One more thing- if a child is ever completely locked out of his/her netbook, Office Depot can unlock it for $29 ||

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