Using Personal Computing Devices in School

I am a member of my school's technology committee. We are considering implementation of a pilot program which would allow seniors to use their own laptops, iPads, and such in school. Does anyone have any experience with this? And if so what are the advantages and pitfalls that you have experienced?

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Permalink Reply by Andy Petroski on March 18, 2012 at 10:07pm

Here are some blog posts and articles that shed some light on the pros and cons.

http://blogs.sungard.com/ps_k12/2012/02/28/to-byot-or-not-to-byot/

http://www2.lcmcisd.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?...

http://www.splendoraisd.org/parents.cfm?subpage=1474172

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Permalink Reply by Wesley Emlet on March 23, 2012 at 8:27am

I personally wish that my district would implement something like this only because of the lack of networked devices in my own classroom. I would love if I could connect to my school's wireless network with my own personal devices. My classroom has two computers that are connected to the internet and I allow my students to use my iPad simply for some of the apps I have downloaded at home for them. I have a few old labtops that I could bring in which would make my room go from two internet access points to five very quickly. It is difficult to effectively use only two computers when there is so much that I want my students to be doing online. I am curious if other schools allow their employees to connect personal devices to their networks.

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Permalink Reply by asma aamer on March 23, 2012 at 11:55pm

You are right Wesley, at times it becomes difficult to implement ICT due to school policies and limitations. It is frustrated for a teacher to tackle with continuous obstacles while using technologies in education. But there is always a way out to handle barriers. In order to embed ICT in your classroom, I would suggest that instead of experimenting in isolation, involve your management and authorities for your ideas. Its a little difficult, but you can share your basic planning with them, get yourself observed and discuss potentials of related ICT .Convince them for your suggested ICT by considering e-safety issues during online tasks. Believe me, students' learning outcomes will reveal the benefits of your prescribed strategy. Even if you are using your own personal gadgets, still you need to bring your management in confidence. Positive risks and challenges are good to set examples but it cant be done in isolation.

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Permalink Reply by asma aamer on March 23, 2012 at 11:03pm

There are great advantages of using i-pads in classrooms. students can import presentations from PC.They can add videos.Can mail presentations in PDF. Dragon Dictation allows iPad users to quickly and easily convert speech into editable text that can be copied or sent via e-mail. Great for learners who prefer talking over writing. Improves spelling too. By importing photos or taking screenshots on the iPad (click both power and home buttons) students can save an image of something they find or are working on and edit it to make a cool poster, background or image to add to a notebook or document. Lots of photo editing apps are available like Photogene. All these activities enable students to become independent learners and give autonomy to search, explore and present their projects.

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Permalink Reply by Kev on March 24, 2012 at 12:36pm

The biggest pitfall is liability. If a school gives explicit permission to bring/use something then they are giving implicit support of it and that can open you up to very angry parents. If your district admininstration is not fully supportive that is not somewhere you want to be. They'll back the parent every single time no matter how silly the complaint.