BYOD Continued

 BYOD is happening at my children's schools this term . It appears that the primary school is paving the way for the high school and giving them a shove along.  The principal of the high school has realised that stage 3 students would be arriving next year expecting to use their devices and  BYOD ready .  I attended a BYOD information night last week at the primary school. It was fairly well attended but I would have expected a better turn out. It was a well prepared event with a clear policy provided. There were representatives from the DEC and Dell who contributed to discussion and answered questions. The school is using a web based approach rather than an App approach for cost reasons.

• Students will be  using the new DEC version of Google Apps ready to be rolled out soon I believe. I don't know a lot about G Apps but believe they are a cloud based collaborative space. Many questions were asked about safety and privacy but apparently they will have DEC restrictions and filtering.

• Equity issues were discussed with the  simple solution provided that  every class will have 3 extra  laptops for use for those without  one. The other solution was  sharing devices. 
• BYOD will not be compulsory so this will have huge ramifications on teaching and learning for those with and those without devices.
• Technical problems would be solved through  the use of a 'Genius Bar' . Tech savvy students and teachers would provide assistance with a hands off approach at lunchtimes.

I had a conversation with the DEC representative about the inequities between schools.  My children's school would be considered fairly affluent but the school in which I work is quite culturally different and low socioeconomic. It is not uncommon for families to have six or more children. I cannot imagine BYOD being successful . The Dec rep who knows my school  had to agree with me. What do we do about this sort of inequity? I guess we try and supply more computers at school.
I am heading off to the highschool BYOD meeting tonight to see what issues lay ahead for the teens!

Google Apps Video - He talks way to fast!