Can you summarize your experience with using Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)?
I was the technology coordinator at Queen Margaret's School when a Grade 7/8 BYOL (bring your own laptop) program was implemented in the 2013-2014 school year. As the tech coordinator I was responsible for the creation of the major documentation with respect to the program as well as outlining and executing the professional development required for the program. I worked with a team of people including the deputy head of school, the IT manager, another junior school technology coordinator and the junior school principal.
What were the reasons behind implementing BYOD?
We felt that there were a number of major advantages to BYOD.
First, advantages of laptops in the classroom were:
1. Easy access to information
2. A variety of possible ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic was available with better access to multimedia tools.
3. Internal, formative assessment can be improved with the computer systems available to teachers and students.
4. The collaborative opportunities available through Google Drive or other such collaborative web tools could be better utilized with access to devices.
5. General time savings will occur because of the transition time of going to, logging in and dealing with the laboratory computers.
Advantages of BYOD were twofold:
1. The cost savings of not having to purchase a laptop for every student was huge. Distributing the cost to parents was much easier for the school to manage.
2. Because students will be utilizing their own devices in "the real world" we felt that providing them with the opportunity to manage their device and use it for their learning was a valuable experience.
What training for provided for teachers and students with the devices?
Teachers were given two full days of PD as well as one Tuesday morning each month for additional team-discussion time. The initial PD was spent outlining basic expectations for the students and working through common applications (Google Drive, bubbl.us, Fantastical, Edmodo, etc) that would be used in the classroom. Ongoing Tuesday meetings were used to deal with issues that arose.
Students received initial training on connecting to the wireless and setting up and utilizing their Google Drive accounts. Additionally, Edmodo was introduced and some time was spent practicing its general use. Ongoing assistance with respect to new applications were provided as teachers needed this. I was the primary "trainer" as some time was carved into my schedule to provide me with the ability to go into classes and provide assistance.
What was your approach to dealing with equipment inequalities?
We set up a minimum system specifications document. Essentially, computers had to come with and be able to run Windows 7 as well as connect to a WiFi network.
Do you think this was a good approach?
In hindsight I would have preferred upping the requirements - because of the many variations of PC available and the video requirements of various internet applications there was some general issues around performance. Perhaps our largest issue was the time differential required between the fastest and slowest computers when they were asked to "use" a machine during class. It could take some students up to 4 minutes to open, "wake up", connect and get on the internet compared to seconds for some of the faster machines. This created substantial delay in class instructions while teachers waited for computers to be ready to use, or substantial issues with students not being able to keep up with instructions because their computer was not ready.
How were economic differences between your students addressed?
Because of the small number of students (35, ish), an information session was held for all current families that would be entering the new grade to discuss the changes in the program. New families were simply told that if they wanted to come to QMS they needed to purchase a laptop for their child. Families were made aware of the new requirement and no issues arose with respect to financial challenges.
I felt that by providing families with the information ahead of time there was ample time to purchase an appropriate laptop for their child. Some laptops were "handed down", others purchased new, but all families were able to make the financial commitment to their child's education in addition to the tuition they were already paying.
How much tech support did you have to do as the instructor?
As a systems engineer and tech coordinator I was able to provide a lot of technical support.
Most of it was in the form of wifi connectivity or setting up a various app, however, some was surrounding the best way to utilize an app or how to send a teacher some sort of document. Other teachers didn't provide much tech support - either they sent them to me, or to an external contractor.
What other technical supports were available for you and your students?
The school (and the manager of IT), made it very clear that technical support was the responsibility of the parents. While I did provide some technical support for students if it was "quick", generally speaking anything serious had to be sent out to Staples or some other computer repair shop in order to fix larger issues.
Did you find students were distracted with the technology and how did you deal with that?
Yes, just like with any distraction type object in class (book, game, toy, etc), students were certainly able to be distracted. The best approach, adopted by all teachers, was simply to be present and moving around the class. We got pretty good at catching students who switched tabs or minimized things, and there were various consequences possible for those students. Generally speaking if the lesson was engaging and the teacher was present the students behaved themselves well.
Did you structure your classes differently to keep students focused on task? What did that look like day to day?
We certainly had to utilize the computers for specific tasks - there wasn't a whole lot of "do this research and report back in an hour" it was more directed. Complete this activity, research this specific thing and put it here, etc. In math class it was more about following videos and instructions in order to solve a more complex problem or diagramming their work to share with me.
There were some basic rules around laptops like "2 fingers" which meant that they had to have the screen down with either two finger width or completely closed. They were only used when required - they didn't start class by pulling them out, for example.
Overall it was about how the lesson properly utilized the device and ensuring that it was being used for a good, pedagogical reason. It was generally managed like anything else in the classroom - you used it as long as you could behave with it.
How do you ensure content is appropriate in the class?
Teachers moved around a lot and generally speaking students can't keep a secret. Thus, if it wasn't something appropriate, there would be more than one student looking at a single machine. The biggest deterrent, however, was simply having teachers present and moving around the room.
Do you have any closing thoughts on BYOD?
It's a worthwhile policy to put in place, with the correct support. It's incredibly important that teachers understand what a BYOD program can and cannot do. It's valuable to get good feedback with respect to what works and what doesn't and adopt as required. Some groups may require more supports, others are able to run with the laptops and use them properly. Depending on the class the use cases also change a lot - mathematics BYOD would look quite different than English BYOD because of the different focus, activities, applications, etc.
If possible, however, I would encourage a school to provide a 1:1 program with school-sponsored devices. I have two major reasons - teachers are able to feel comfortable with the same software on all devices, and students/teachers are guaranteed to have the same type of machine. Thus, things that take 2 minutes on one machine will, generally speaking, take 2 minutes on all machines and timing can be done appropriately.
As I said, it's a valuable policy to have even if a teacher doesn't fully utilize it, to be able to pull out a device and access the massive amount of information available is invaluable in a classroom setting.
I was the technology coordinator at Queen Margaret's School when a Grade 7/8 BYOL (bring your own laptop) program was implemented in the 2013-2014 school year. As the tech coordinator I was responsible for the creation of the major documentation with respect to the program as well as outlining and executing the professional development required for the program. I worked with a team of people including the deputy head of school, the IT manager, another junior school technology coordinator and the junior school principal.
What were the reasons behind implementing BYOD?
We felt that there were a number of major advantages to BYOD.
First, advantages of laptops in the classroom were:
1. Easy access to information
2. A variety of possible ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic was available with better access to multimedia tools.
3. Internal, formative assessment can be improved with the computer systems available to teachers and students.
4. The collaborative opportunities available through Google Drive or other such collaborative web tools could be better utilized with access to devices.
5. General time savings will occur because of the transition time of going to, logging in and dealing with the laboratory computers.
Advantages of BYOD were twofold:
1. The cost savings of not having to purchase a laptop for every student was huge. Distributing the cost to parents was much easier for the school to manage.
2. Because students will be utilizing their own devices in "the real world" we felt that providing them with the opportunity to manage their device and use it for their learning was a valuable experience.
What training for provided for teachers and students with the devices?
Teachers were given two full days of PD as well as one Tuesday morning each month for additional team-discussion time. The initial PD was spent outlining basic expectations for the students and working through common applications (Google Drive, bubbl.us, Fantastical, Edmodo, etc) that would be used in the classroom. Ongoing Tuesday meetings were used to deal with issues that arose.
Students received initial training on connecting to the wireless and setting up and utilizing their Google Drive accounts. Additionally, Edmodo was introduced and some time was spent practicing its general use. Ongoing assistance with respect to new applications were provided as teachers needed this. I was the primary "trainer" as some time was carved into my schedule to provide me with the ability to go into classes and provide assistance.
What was your approach to dealing with equipment inequalities?
We set up a minimum system specifications document. Essentially, computers had to come with and be able to run Windows 7 as well as connect to a WiFi network.
Do you think this was a good approach?
In hindsight I would have preferred upping the requirements - because of the many variations of PC available and the video requirements of various internet applications there was some general issues around performance. Perhaps our largest issue was the time differential required between the fastest and slowest computers when they were asked to "use" a machine during class. It could take some students up to 4 minutes to open, "wake up", connect and get on the internet compared to seconds for some of the faster machines. This created substantial delay in class instructions while teachers waited for computers to be ready to use, or substantial issues with students not being able to keep up with instructions because their computer was not ready.
How were economic differences between your students addressed?
Because of the small number of students (35, ish), an information session was held for all current families that would be entering the new grade to discuss the changes in the program. New families were simply told that if they wanted to come to QMS they needed to purchase a laptop for their child. Families were made aware of the new requirement and no issues arose with respect to financial challenges.
I felt that by providing families with the information ahead of time there was ample time to purchase an appropriate laptop for their child. Some laptops were "handed down", others purchased new, but all families were able to make the financial commitment to their child's education in addition to the tuition they were already paying.
How much tech support did you have to do as the instructor?
As a systems engineer and tech coordinator I was able to provide a lot of technical support.
Most of it was in the form of wifi connectivity or setting up a various app, however, some was surrounding the best way to utilize an app or how to send a teacher some sort of document. Other teachers didn't provide much tech support - either they sent them to me, or to an external contractor.
What other technical supports were available for you and your students?
The school (and the manager of IT), made it very clear that technical support was the responsibility of the parents. While I did provide some technical support for students if it was "quick", generally speaking anything serious had to be sent out to Staples or some other computer repair shop in order to fix larger issues.
Did you find students were distracted with the technology and how did you deal with that?
Yes, just like with any distraction type object in class (book, game, toy, etc), students were certainly able to be distracted. The best approach, adopted by all teachers, was simply to be present and moving around the class. We got pretty good at catching students who switched tabs or minimized things, and there were various consequences possible for those students. Generally speaking if the lesson was engaging and the teacher was present the students behaved themselves well.
Did you structure your classes differently to keep students focused on task? What did that look like day to day?
We certainly had to utilize the computers for specific tasks - there wasn't a whole lot of "do this research and report back in an hour" it was more directed. Complete this activity, research this specific thing and put it here, etc. In math class it was more about following videos and instructions in order to solve a more complex problem or diagramming their work to share with me.
There were some basic rules around laptops like "2 fingers" which meant that they had to have the screen down with either two finger width or completely closed. They were only used when required - they didn't start class by pulling them out, for example.
Overall it was about how the lesson properly utilized the device and ensuring that it was being used for a good, pedagogical reason. It was generally managed like anything else in the classroom - you used it as long as you could behave with it.
How do you ensure content is appropriate in the class?
Teachers moved around a lot and generally speaking students can't keep a secret. Thus, if it wasn't something appropriate, there would be more than one student looking at a single machine. The biggest deterrent, however, was simply having teachers present and moving around the room.
Do you have any closing thoughts on BYOD?
It's a worthwhile policy to put in place, with the correct support. It's incredibly important that teachers understand what a BYOD program can and cannot do. It's valuable to get good feedback with respect to what works and what doesn't and adopt as required. Some groups may require more supports, others are able to run with the laptops and use them properly. Depending on the class the use cases also change a lot - mathematics BYOD would look quite different than English BYOD because of the different focus, activities, applications, etc.
If possible, however, I would encourage a school to provide a 1:1 program with school-sponsored devices. I have two major reasons - teachers are able to feel comfortable with the same software on all devices, and students/teachers are guaranteed to have the same type of machine. Thus, things that take 2 minutes on one machine will, generally speaking, take 2 minutes on all machines and timing can be done appropriately.
As I said, it's a valuable policy to have even if a teacher doesn't fully utilize it, to be able to pull out a device and access the massive amount of information available is invaluable in a classroom setting.
Can you summarize your experience with using Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)?
I was the technology coordinator at Queen Margaret's School when a Grade 7/8 BYOL (bring your own laptop) program was implemented in the 2013-2014 school year. As the tech coordinator I was responsible for the creation of the major documentation with respect to the program as well as outlining and executing the professional development required for the program. I worked with a team of people including the deputy head of school, the IT manager, another junior school technology coordinator and the junior school principal.
What were the reasons behind implementing BYOD?
We felt that there were a number of major advantages to BYOD.
First, advantages of laptops in the classroom were:
1. Easy access to information
2. A variety of possible ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic was available with better access to multimedia tools.
3. Internal, formative assessment can be improved with the computer systems available to teachers and students.
4. The collaborative opportunities available through Google Drive or other such collaborative web tools could be better utilized with access to devices.
5. General time savings will occur because of the transition time of going to, logging in and dealing with the laboratory computers.
Advantages of BYOD were twofold:
1. The cost savings of not having to purchase a laptop for every student was huge. Distributing the cost to parents was much easier for the school to manage.
2. Because students will be utilizing their own devices in "the real world" we felt that providing them with the opportunity to manage their device and use it for their learning was a valuable experience.
What training for provided for teachers and students with the devices?
Teachers were given two full days of PD as well as one Tuesday morning each month for additional team-discussion time. The initial PD was spent outlining basic expectations for the students and working through common applications (Google Drive, bubbl.us, Fantastical, Edmodo, etc) that would be used in the classroom. Ongoing Tuesday meetings were used to deal with issues that arose.
Students received initial training on connecting to the wireless and setting up and utilizing their Google Drive accounts. Additionally, Edmodo was introduced and some time was spent practicing its general use. Ongoing assistance with respect to new applications were provided as teachers needed this. I was the primary "trainer" as some time was carved into my schedule to provide me with the ability to go into classes and provide assistance.
What was your approach to dealing with equipment inequalities?
We set up a minimum system specifications document. Essentially, computers had to come with and be able to run Windows 7 as well as connect to a WiFi network.
Do you think this was a good approach?
In hindsight I would have preferred upping the requirements - because of the many variations of PC available and the video requirements of various internet applications there was some general issues around performance. Perhaps our largest issue was the time differential required between the fastest and slowest computers when they were asked to "use" a machine during class. It could take some students up to 4 minutes to open, "wake up", connect and get on the internet compared to seconds for some of the faster machines. This created substantial delay in class instructions while teachers waited for computers to be ready to use, or substantial issues with students not being able to keep up with instructions because their computer was not ready.
How were economic differences between your students addressed?
Because of the small number of students (35, ish), an information session was held for all current families that would be entering the new grade to discuss the changes in the program. New families were simply told that if they wanted to come to QMS they needed to purchase a laptop for their child. Families were made aware of the new requirement and no issues arose with respect to financial challenges.
I felt that by providing families with the information ahead of time there was ample time to purchase an appropriate laptop for their child. Some laptops were "handed down", others purchased new, but all families were able to make the financial commitment to their child's education in addition to the tuition they were already paying.
How much tech support did you have to do as the instructor?
As a systems engineer and tech coordinator I was able to provide a lot of technical support.
Most of it was in the form of wifi connectivity or setting up a various app, however, some was surrounding the best way to utilize an app or how to send a teacher some sort of document. Other teachers didn't provide much tech support - either they sent them to me, or to an external contractor.
What other technical supports were available for you and your students?
The school (and the manager of IT), made it very clear that technical support was the responsibility of the parents. While I did provide some technical support for students if it was "quick", generally speaking anything serious had to be sent out to Staples or some other computer repair shop in order to fix larger issues.
Did you find students were distracted with the technology and how did you deal with that?
Yes, just like with any distraction type object in class (book, game, toy, etc), students were certainly able to be distracted. The best approach, adopted by all teachers, was simply to be present and moving around the class. We got pretty good at catching students who switched tabs or minimized things, and there were various consequences possible for those students. Generally speaking if the lesson was engaging and the teacher was present the students behaved themselves well.
Did you structure your classes differently to keep students focused on task? What did that look like day to day?
We certainly had to utilize the computers for specific tasks - there wasn't a whole lot of "do this research and report back in an hour" it was more directed. Complete this activity, research this specific thing and put it here, etc. In math class it was more about following videos and instructions in order to solve a more complex problem or diagramming their work to share with me.
There were some basic rules around laptops like "2 fingers" which meant that they had to have the screen down with either two finger width or completely closed. They were only used when required - they didn't start class by pulling them out, for example.
Overall it was about how the lesson properly utilized the device and ensuring that it was being used for a good, pedagogical reason. It was generally managed like anything else in the classroom - you used it as long as you could behave with it.
How do you ensure content is appropriate in the class?
Teachers moved around a lot and generally speaking students can't keep a secret. Thus, if it wasn't something appropriate, there would be more than one student looking at a single machine. The biggest deterrent, however, was simply having teachers present and moving around the room.
Do you have any closing thoughts on BYOD?
It's a worthwhile policy to put in place, with the correct support. It's incredibly important that teachers understand what a BYOD program can and cannot do. It's valuable to get good feedback with respect to what works and what doesn't and adopt as required. Some groups may require more supports, others are able to run with the laptops and use them properly. Depending on the class the use cases also change a lot - mathematics BYOD would look quite different than English BYOD because of the different focus, activities, applications, etc.
If possible, however, I would encourage a school to provide a 1:1 program with school-sponsored devices. I have two major reasons - teachers are able to feel comfortable with the same software on all devices, and students/teachers are guaranteed to have the same type of machine. Thus, things that take 2 minutes on one machine will, generally speaking, take 2 minutes on all machines and timing can be done appropriately.
As I said, it's a valuable policy to have even if a teacher doesn't fully utilize it, to be able to pull out a device and access the massive amount of information available is invaluable in a classroom setting.
I was the technology coordinator at Queen Margaret's School when a Grade 7/8 BYOL (bring your own laptop) program was implemented in the 2013-2014 school year. As the tech coordinator I was responsible for the creation of the major documentation with respect to the program as well as outlining and executing the professional development required for the program. I worked with a team of people including the deputy head of school, the IT manager, another junior school technology coordinator and the junior school principal.
What were the reasons behind implementing BYOD?
We felt that there were a number of major advantages to BYOD.
First, advantages of laptops in the classroom were:
1. Easy access to information
2. A variety of possible ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic was available with better access to multimedia tools.
3. Internal, formative assessment can be improved with the computer systems available to teachers and students.
4. The collaborative opportunities available through Google Drive or other such collaborative web tools could be better utilized with access to devices.
5. General time savings will occur because of the transition time of going to, logging in and dealing with the laboratory computers.
Advantages of BYOD were twofold:
1. The cost savings of not having to purchase a laptop for every student was huge. Distributing the cost to parents was much easier for the school to manage.
2. Because students will be utilizing their own devices in "the real world" we felt that providing them with the opportunity to manage their device and use it for their learning was a valuable experience.
What training for provided for teachers and students with the devices?
Teachers were given two full days of PD as well as one Tuesday morning each month for additional team-discussion time. The initial PD was spent outlining basic expectations for the students and working through common applications (Google Drive, bubbl.us, Fantastical, Edmodo, etc) that would be used in the classroom. Ongoing Tuesday meetings were used to deal with issues that arose.
Students received initial training on connecting to the wireless and setting up and utilizing their Google Drive accounts. Additionally, Edmodo was introduced and some time was spent practicing its general use. Ongoing assistance with respect to new applications were provided as teachers needed this. I was the primary "trainer" as some time was carved into my schedule to provide me with the ability to go into classes and provide assistance.
What was your approach to dealing with equipment inequalities?
We set up a minimum system specifications document. Essentially, computers had to come with and be able to run Windows 7 as well as connect to a WiFi network.
Do you think this was a good approach?
In hindsight I would have preferred upping the requirements - because of the many variations of PC available and the video requirements of various internet applications there was some general issues around performance. Perhaps our largest issue was the time differential required between the fastest and slowest computers when they were asked to "use" a machine during class. It could take some students up to 4 minutes to open, "wake up", connect and get on the internet compared to seconds for some of the faster machines. This created substantial delay in class instructions while teachers waited for computers to be ready to use, or substantial issues with students not being able to keep up with instructions because their computer was not ready.
How were economic differences between your students addressed?
Because of the small number of students (35, ish), an information session was held for all current families that would be entering the new grade to discuss the changes in the program. New families were simply told that if they wanted to come to QMS they needed to purchase a laptop for their child. Families were made aware of the new requirement and no issues arose with respect to financial challenges.
I felt that by providing families with the information ahead of time there was ample time to purchase an appropriate laptop for their child. Some laptops were "handed down", others purchased new, but all families were able to make the financial commitment to their child's education in addition to the tuition they were already paying.
How much tech support did you have to do as the instructor?
As a systems engineer and tech coordinator I was able to provide a lot of technical support.
Most of it was in the form of wifi connectivity or setting up a various app, however, some was surrounding the best way to utilize an app or how to send a teacher some sort of document. Other teachers didn't provide much tech support - either they sent them to me, or to an external contractor.
What other technical supports were available for you and your students?
The school (and the manager of IT), made it very clear that technical support was the responsibility of the parents. While I did provide some technical support for students if it was "quick", generally speaking anything serious had to be sent out to Staples or some other computer repair shop in order to fix larger issues.
Did you find students were distracted with the technology and how did you deal with that?
Yes, just like with any distraction type object in class (book, game, toy, etc), students were certainly able to be distracted. The best approach, adopted by all teachers, was simply to be present and moving around the class. We got pretty good at catching students who switched tabs or minimized things, and there were various consequences possible for those students. Generally speaking if the lesson was engaging and the teacher was present the students behaved themselves well.
Did you structure your classes differently to keep students focused on task? What did that look like day to day?
We certainly had to utilize the computers for specific tasks - there wasn't a whole lot of "do this research and report back in an hour" it was more directed. Complete this activity, research this specific thing and put it here, etc. In math class it was more about following videos and instructions in order to solve a more complex problem or diagramming their work to share with me.
There were some basic rules around laptops like "2 fingers" which meant that they had to have the screen down with either two finger width or completely closed. They were only used when required - they didn't start class by pulling them out, for example.
Overall it was about how the lesson properly utilized the device and ensuring that it was being used for a good, pedagogical reason. It was generally managed like anything else in the classroom - you used it as long as you could behave with it.
How do you ensure content is appropriate in the class?
Teachers moved around a lot and generally speaking students can't keep a secret. Thus, if it wasn't something appropriate, there would be more than one student looking at a single machine. The biggest deterrent, however, was simply having teachers present and moving around the room.
Do you have any closing thoughts on BYOD?
It's a worthwhile policy to put in place, with the correct support. It's incredibly important that teachers understand what a BYOD program can and cannot do. It's valuable to get good feedback with respect to what works and what doesn't and adopt as required. Some groups may require more supports, others are able to run with the laptops and use them properly. Depending on the class the use cases also change a lot - mathematics BYOD would look quite different than English BYOD because of the different focus, activities, applications, etc.
If possible, however, I would encourage a school to provide a 1:1 program with school-sponsored devices. I have two major reasons - teachers are able to feel comfortable with the same software on all devices, and students/teachers are guaranteed to have the same type of machine. Thus, things that take 2 minutes on one machine will, generally speaking, take 2 minutes on all machines and timing can be done appropriately.
As I said, it's a valuable policy to have even if a teacher doesn't fully utilize it, to be able to pull out a device and access the massive amount of information available is invaluable in a classroom setting.