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While walking into Park Center Senior High School recently, I passed three girls. One was jumping off a bench and the others were trying to capture her action on camera. After watching them fully engaged and enjoying their creativity, I walked over to ask them what they were doing. Their response was that they were taking pictures for photography class. I continued the conversation working toward my actual goal- to learn about the devices they were using. One showed me a camera from the class and the other held up her phone, telling me that they were able to use their phones in school, so she was using hers to take photos for class. That is one small example of the power of BYOD.
BYOD or BYOT- it doesn't matter what people call the concept of students bringing their own devices to school; nearly everyone has strong opinions about it. Online opinions range from Eric Sheninger's "BYOT: An Idea Whose Time Has Come" to Gary Stager's "BYOD- Worst Idea of the 21st Century?" And that range can be found in almost every conversation about it.
What is BYOD? Wikipedia describes it simply as a "business policy of employees bringing personally owned mobile devices to their place of work ..." and it is something that both business and education are dealing with at this time. An internet search for BYOT, or Bring Your Own Technology, returns more results related to education. But behind the simple words stands a world of opportunity for students and learning.
RATIONALES: COSTS ... AND BENEFITS!
There are many reasons that schools decide to move toward BYOD. The primary reason whenever anyone begins the discussion is cost. True 1:1 programs in which the school provides a continual stream of technology for every student can simply be unsustainable and unmanageable. Another cost incentive that is mentioned is that it takes pressure off the tech support structure as students are responsible for their own devices. But schools that begin the journey soon find that the monetary reason becomes a minor factor as the impact on learning becomes evident
PROJECT COPERNICUS
Project Copernicus, a BYOD initiative in Osseo Area Schools, a suburban Minneapolis school system with about 21,000 students in 25 schools, began in August...