Pitfalls of Mobile Devices in Today's Classroom

Over the last year or so I have become an advocate for using mobile devices in the classroom.  Mobile devices like the smarthphone, iPad, & iPod touch have helped educational technology spread in classrooms due to their enormous popularity, lower prices, and size for mobility.

However, over the last few days I've become aware of some problems with mobile devices, that all teachers should be cognizant of and try to avoid.

Mobile devices were originally designed and created for 1 purpose...Content Consumption!  Although many of these devices are now acquiring more apps, like iMovie that allow for creation and productivity, the entire platform of mobile was built on consumption.  Let's go back to the Bloom's Taxonomy.  Where would you put digital consumption?  (Pretty hard question, wouldn't you say?)

While I will continue to be an advocate for mobile devices in the classroom, I am now making a more concerted effort to help teachers find ways in which students can do more creating.  Whether that creation happens with the mobile device or traditional computer doesn't matter, so long as the student gets the opportunity to learn how to use technology to create and be productive.

A quick example I have are QR codes.  They've infiltrated many schools in the last 2 years, and most teachers love the lessons they have done with them.  But lets ask this question..."If all your students do with a QR code is scan it with their phone, what have they learned to create?"  Lets be more open to students helping us create more elements of our lessons and consequently new skills that teach our youth the power of creation vs consumpiton.

A generation of consumers who don't know how to be producers is a dangerous imbalance in any economy.  Let's make it a goal to let students do more creating with technology.  Creating websites, blogs, documents, presentations, movies, music, art, newscasts, podcasts, timelines, web 2.0 things, etc.  Creation requires knowledge, ingenuity, creativity, and discipline.  Those are the higher order skills that we are striving for as 21st century educators.

Changing the World

Today I have a guest post from blogger Marina Salsbury, who discusses a new $99 tablet designed specifically for education.  Guest posts are always welcome.  Please drop me a line if you are interested.


As technology continues to grow and further develop, its reaches and depths are also expanding. Currently, technology is involved in all aspects of society and is seeping into new arenas as well. With this development has come the advent of new technologies to be utilized in new ways and different places.

One area that has benefited from the advancement of technology is education. Research shows that technology offers education several advantageous opportunities. Any variety of technology benefits education by further involving students in learning, engaging students in group work activities, and increasing student-to-student as well as student-to-teacher involvement. Technology also enhances resource availability as well as offers new learning opportunities, potentially decreases educational costs, and expands the teaching and learning horizon.

According to Online MBA, designing a product today must make life easier by responding to needs that customers didn't know they had. Marvell has the answer for all this by asking, “What is the most beneficial, cost-effective, usable piece of technology on the educational market today?” The company has recently introduced its newest piece of technology, the Moby tablet, and is launching a campaign to restructure and the intersection between technology and education. At $99, the Moby, in conjunction with the Mobylize initiative, is aimed at offering a quality product at a feasible price to align the focus of education in line with today’s changing societal progress.

In its attempt to create and offer this quality product, Marvell designed the Moby with a variety of useful features. The Moby contains a Marvell Armada 600-series microprocessor. This piece ensures expedient and reliable internal processing and operates at one of the highest level of processing. The design also offers a video chip equipped to achieve 1080p video as well as some 3-dimensional graphics. The system itself is capable of processing on either the Microsoft Windows or Google Android operating system. The Moby also offers the option of a 10-inch or 7-inch screen size to offer variability in the method of presentation.

While the Moby serves a range of purposes, it's designed to serve as an educational piece. The Mobylize phenomenon is a specific mission of the Marvell company to enable and empower teachers and students by expanding the current horizons of tablet computing. To do so, the Moby is configured to facilitate different varieties of learning interactions. For example, by linking the tablet to different devices, the system will be able to facilitate guided instruction activities in which the teacher leads and the students follow. Such learning might include a manipulative digital experiment or web-based lesson. The Moby can also facilitate collaborative learning by allowing students to work together via interconnected tab interfaces or group work activities. The Moby's offerings are also age-specific to garner optimal interaction for all students. To include parents in the learning process, this tablet also offers a parental organization piece that allows the parent to track the student’s grades, homework assignments, activities, and other important involvement. For the teacher, the Moby has features that permit specific lesson structuring, grade recording, noting calendar events, and other important organizational features. The educator features place all the teacher’s important information and abilities all in one easily-transportable place. The Moby is literally taking the classroom to a whole new virtual world.

In the words of Mobylize, “By improving technology adoption in America's classrooms, we can give students the power to learn, create, connect and collaborate in entirely new ways”.The Moby will ensure that the initial step is taken and, in turn, will change the world (of education at least).

Mythology eBook project...

A few weeks ago I shared an ePub project that I was working on where students wrote their on children's books.  Today, I wanted to share the latest project I worked on with a few 7th grade ILA teachers.

For this project the students were learning about writing styles and had write their own Greek Mythology-like myth.

1. Students wrote, revised, and edited their myths in Google docs
2. Students drew pictures that depicted their myth
3. For homework students were required to scan their drawings to convert to .jpg format
1. The next steps used Pages on the Macbooks
4. Students created a title on their document & assigned the paragraph style as "Title"
5. Students inserted a picture to use as their book's cover
6. Students put their names below the pictures (leaving the paragraph style as "Title"
7. Students inserted a page break below the author name
8. Students inserted a Table of Contents
1. In the inspector the Table of Content Included only Title and Heading 1
9. Students inserted a page break below the TOC
10. Students created chapter 1 & assigned the paragraph style as "Heading 1"
11. Students pasted the body of the text from the their Google doc into the pages document below Chapter 1 & assigned the paragraph style as "Body"
12. Students inserted a page break below the body of chapter 1
1. Students repeated steps 10, 11, & 12 for each chapter
2. The students ran with this and started creating chapters for 'About the Author', dedication,  prologue & epilogue.  It was great to see them get so excited!
13. Students saved the pages document.
14. Then they exported the document as an ePub, and saved it to their desktops.
15. Then they emailed the epub file to themselves or whatever device they were using.
1. Many found errors by reading it on their own devices.  Then went back to the macbook and edited the document further to later export the epub again.
16. The ePub files were loaded onto one iPad and then shared over the projector.  Students who wanted were able to read their stories to their peers.
17. Students were encouraged to email the epub file to parents and grandparents as well.

Results:

Students: The students came alive when they got to see their book on the iPad.  They began asking questions about how they could write their own eBooks at home, if they could share their books, and if they could sell their books.  (although I will add that some students did not like having to draw their own pictures. They could've used sketchup or other software to create images for their books)

Parents:  The teachers involved with this project sent home emails to the parents explaining what the project was about.  After the books were completed many parents replied to the teachers explaining how much they and their students loved this activity.  They went on to tell about how they found typos or gramatical errors together while reading their eBooks at home.

Teachers: The teachers expressed how much they loved the engagement from the students.  They were blown away by the amount of parental involvement in the revising and editing process.  (I think this was facilitated by the ease of having the students email the file right to their parents in class.

We will definitely be doing more projects like this!

Classroom Management Models of BYOD

4 Models of BYOD

From Ed Tech Magazine by Jen LaMaster : You can find this full article here. 

Ready-To-Use & Personal Goals models:
If you are practicing BYOD at your school, it is important to be familiar with all 4 of the models above.  However, the most used models should be the Ready-To-Use model & the Personal Goals model.  These models encourage students to use their devices to perform many tasks related to your classroom and learning in general.  The more information, resources, and homework the students have on their device, the more likely they are to value and protect their right to use the device in the classroom.  Resulting in less classroom management and discipline problems.

Guided Model:
It has been my experience that many teachers only use the Guided Model.  The only time students are allowed to bring devices is for this project, or that activity.  Devices are otherwise banned in class on all other days.  This model is counterproductive.  1st - Students are not in the habit of bringing a device with them to class.  2nd - Students aren't conditioned to using their device in your class or for learning in general.  3rd - There are many missed opportunities to show students how the tools they already have can help them in their studies.  4th - This policy, like the old method of banning devices, encourages students to hide their devices from the teacher.  With the RTU and Personal Goals methods above, devices are left in the open.  It's easy for the instructor to see how they are being used.  Mischief is easier to spot.

Local Use Only Model:
This model is perfect for silent reading times.  Students are allowed to access books that are saved on their device.  However, more and more apps and other tasks on phones and devices require internet.  Also, with the exception of quiet reading time, it would be challenging for the teacher to monitor and enforce this model.


Want more?  I highly recommend "7 Myths About BYOD Debunked."

K12 Students Need Email...

Email, Who doesn't use email at work these days?  Very few jobs.  Problem is, who trains people to use email properly &  professionally?

Students in K12 schools need more access to email!  It has become one of the most used, if not the most used, form of communication in the workplace.  It is a skill that today's students will need to master if they are to be effective communicators in their future careers.  We've all been on the receiving end of emails messages that range from unprofessional to vague, to unclear, to perhaps even threatening.  Unless you're this person's supervisor, it's difficult to help them see the problems with their email etiquette.  What are you going to do, reply back to Bob and say "Hey Bob, your emails are so vague they leave the rest of us wondering if their are any lights on upstairs."

The student/teacher relationship, however, lends itself very well to training youth the proper skills, practices, and etiquette for using email efficiently and effectively.  If students were required to communicate with teachers via email they would be able to practice many of the skills below:

• How to create a distribution list & when to use it
• When/Why use "Reply All"
• When/Why use CC & BC
• When/How ineffective email can be and how to avoid miscommunication and other common problems
• Knowledge of attachments and file types
• How/When to sound formal or professional
• How to keep email organized
• How to to differentiate between texting and email
• Using email with mobile devices
• How to keep your email secure

It's not necessary for elementary school-aged kids to have email, but students should be fairly proficient and comfortable with the tool before they get into high school.  I tried to find estimates on how many schools/districts provide their students with email accounts, but was unable to find any reliable data.  However, it has been my experience that the majority of public education institutions still do not provide students with an official email address.

There are many ways for schools and districts to provide email to their students:

• Google Apps for EDU (free) 
• Microsoft Live @ EDU
• Gaggle.net - Has some great filters built-in that filter language, attachments, topics, etc.

I consider email to be one of the most basic 21st Century Skills that today's students need to know, and yet many of our students don't use it at school.  It's time to bring this skill deficiency to table and address it.  Let's use email with our students and train them in an environment where they can make mistakes with consequences that won't cost them their jobs, or more.

McAllen ISD

This video came accross my email today.  This is one of the best promo videos I've seen for technology in education.  It is worth the 8 minutes.

Lenovo Thinkpad: Android tablet review for schools

I was fortunate enough to get a hold of a Lenovo Thinkpad 10 inch tablet this week.  (Thanks to GovConnection).

Basic Specs:

Image: http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tablet/thinkpad/

Lenovo Thinkpad 10.1 inch 16gb

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• 1GHz Tegra 2 
• 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) IPS display
• battery good for up to 8.7 hours of use, 
• 1GB of RAM, 16/32/64GB of storage, 
• 3-in-1 card reader, 
• A-GPS, 
• accelerometer,
• ambient light sensor,
• front (2MP) / rear (5MP) cameras, 
• a mini HDMI port (1080p capable!) 
• and Lenovo's own app launcher / app market.

Overall impressions:

• Screen - good resolution and is very snappy and responsive (unlike other Android devices I've had my hands on.)
• Camera - Pretty good, struggles in low-light
• Speed - The dual core processor makes this tablet pretty snappy.
• Internet speed - Good, about the same or a touch slower than my iPad.  (This is hard to judge due to wifi speed and variability)
• Mail App - Mail has one app for exchange and one for gmail.  I like having both accounts in one app (like my iPad).  The Mail app doesn't have a default file view for office & pdf docs.  A separate app must be installed and set as default for viewing these docs.  (This is a big drawback for me, especially when using this with students, I want something that just works. But perhaps not a big deal for everyone)
• On-Screen keyboard - The keyboard when compared to an iPad keyboard doesn't come close to measuring up.  The auto-prediction/correction is pathetic at best.  I missed little features like double tapping the space-bar to auto insert a period and capitalize the first letter in the next sentence.  This was probably the most frustrating aspect of using the device.
• Apps - There are some great apps on Android.  I didn't notice any problems with any apps scaling to size the 10.1 inch widescreen.  
• Google Docs App - I was somewhat disappointed with this app.  It works, but not any better than the web version you can get on any iPad or iPhone
• Stylus - This tablet comes with a stylus and I really liked it.  The tablet was snappier and more responsive to the stylus rather than my finger.  When i really needed pin point accuracy on the screen, this made it much easier.
• USB port (full size) - For many people this will be a a great feature, as long as you have an app installed that will open the files on your flash drive.
• 3 in 1 card reader - Also very cool.  Can easily pop out SD card from camera or any device and upload files onto the tablet.
• Physical buttons - One of my favorite features on Android phones is the physical menu button.  The only buttons besides the volume and power/sleep buttons were: screen rotation lock, instant browser launch, back & home.

Image: http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tablet/thinkpad/

The big question here 'Is this a good device for a teacher or student?'  I think the jury is still out on that one.  If the school is going to purchase these devices, there is some work to do.  There needs to be an easy solution for managing multiple devices at once.  Preferably and over-the-air syncing solution, that doesn't require a month of training to use.  Also, since our district is using Google Apps, multiple sign-in of Google accounts on one device is not very desirable. If this device were for an individual student to be purchased and managed by the student, however, I believe this device or one like it would be a good solution if the price were right.  In my opinion, if the price difference between a tablet like this and an iPad were within $100, I'd still have to recommend the iPad.  Although, this and other Android tablets can be good competitors, the standard, for now, is still the iPad.  The most compelling reasons to get an android table will be price and/or a hatred toward Apple.

Amazon's newest tools for BYOD

A few weeks ago I got on my soap box and petitioned the tech industry for more devices in the sub $300 category.

Well Amazon has attempted to answer with 3 devices.  They won't ship until November 15th, but you can pre-order today.  I hope to get my hands on one soon to test and see how these devices can help students.

The Kindle Fire Tablet - $199 - Android tablet with great specs, minus cameras.



The Kindle Touch - $99 - Kindle touch screen reader



The Original Kindle - $79

Group Messaging for Teachers

Let's face it, effective communication from teacher to students or parents is harder than underwater BB stacking.  Here are a few new group messaging services that are starting to catch on for teachers.

Remind 101 - Remind 101 is a tech startup and was featured on TechCrunch this week.

Remind101 from remind101 on Vimeo.

Remind 101 even comes with pre-made handouts to give to students/parents instructing them how to use it's features.

Cel.ly - Cel.ly is a very similar, free, text messaging service that was featured on this Learn it in 5 video below:




Follow My Teacher - FMT is like a social classroom network with text messaging and email notifications built in.

Classroom social networks can easily facilitate communication between teachers, students, and parents. My 2 favorite are:

• Edmodo.com
• Schoology.com

Two other popular group messaging services that are not used by teachers but provide similar services are:

• groupme.com
• beluga.com

RSS the Secret Ingredient to a Successful Classroom Website

These days just about everyone has a website of some sort.  But in education things move fast and furious for 9 months.  This also means that information on our sites and blogs changes rapidly as well.  Students can have 6-9 teachers at any given time.  Parents could have multiple children (mine had 5!) meaning the number of teachers/sites to monitor could be 20 or more!  Teachers (at the secondary level) could have 150 students or more.  Trying to manage effective modes of communication for all parties involved can become a headache in a hurry.  It is for this reason that all teachers, parents, and students should understand a simple internet technology called:

RSS stands for, according to wikipedia, Really Simple Syndication.  Sometimes also referred to as a 'feed' RSS automatically syndicates and delivers new posts or information to all those who have subscribed.  In other words, if my blog or website has RSS, anyone who needs or finds my site content interesting can have all posts or changes automatically delivered whenever new content is available.  It's the equivalent of having the newspaper delivered to your front door, except this is free and the content is exactly what you have asked for.


Site Owners (teachers): The owner of the site should choose a site with RSS or create a page within the site that uses RSS.

• Blogs - All blogs that I know of, have RSS built in.  No need to do anything.

• Google Sites - Google Sites do not have RSS built in.  However, you can create, what Google calls, an "Announcements" page.  Announcement pages do have feeds built in to them.  (To subscribe to an Announcement page in Google Sites, open the announcements page and follow the images below:

Subscribers (students & parents): Each subscriber needs to create a way to have the RSS feeds delivered to them.


Programs that receive feeds are often called aggregators.  There are lots of programs that aggregate RSS feeds, but here are a couple of my favorites:

• Web-Based aggregators
• Google Reader - With Google Reader, once you have created a free account, you click on "Add Subscription" and paste the address of the webpage that has RSS.  You can even organize your subscriptions into folders (very handy for parents with multiple students).  And since it's in the cloud you can get your feeds on any internet connected computer/device.  (Click here for a cheat sheet).

• Aggregator Apps
• Flipboard (iPad) Flipboard will allow you to connect your Google reader account and pull all your reader feeds in directly (I recommend this way).  Flipboard can also search the web for any other website or blog and pull those feeds in directly.

Teachers - Do your part by making sure you have a way to allow students and parents to easily follow your website or blog by using sites with RSS feeds.


Students - Encourage your teachers to use sites/pages with RSS.  Use the resources in this blog post to help.  Then be sure to use RSS to follow your teacher's site and stay up on everything in your class.


Parents - Encourage your teachers to use sites/pages with RSS.  Use the resources in this blog post to help. Then sit down with your child and set up your feed reader programs together.


What the heck?  You could even follow this blog :)


Have questions, concerns or suggestions?  Please leave a comment below.

BYOD: Devices...

One of my biggest complaints about the technology market, currently, is that there aren't enough competitors in the small mobile device category.  As a parent of young kids, I would like to see more devices that can compete with the iPod Touch.  More devices that have many of the features of a smart phone, but don't come with a data plan and 2 year contract.  I would love to buy my child a device that he or she can practice being productive and creative with.  Why can't technology manufacturers create a similar product?  It would be perfect for students ages 7-13!  But then again, maybe Apple might sue me for suggesting such a thing...but I digress.  Such a device would become a staple of the BYOD classroom.

This what Education is asking for:

• A solidly built mobile device 
• with reliable OS
• Wifi - only
• Native mail & Calendar client apps
• Able to run apps from an app market
• Ultra portable (8inches or less)
• < $250
• +8hr battery life
• GPS and/or digital compass
• Camera for video & QR codes
• Min. 8gb of storage
• Bluetooth for BT enabled keyboards

Today I saw a couple announcements that are starting to get close to what I'm hoping for.


1.  Lenovo IdeaPad A1 - a 7inch Android tablet priced at $199 for the 8gb model.  (Engadget announced Thursday September 1).

2.  Samsung Galaxy S - Announced in January as the Galaxy Player, the Galaxy S is a wifi only iPod touch-type device running Android selling for $240.  I've been waiting this device for months now and still after today's announcement on Engadget this device is still not scheduled to be release in the U.S.  

What would you like to see?

(Images from Engadget)

In the mean time here are the devices I recommend:


Update 8/2/11:

TechCrunch announced today that Amazon's newest version of the Kindle, Kindle tablet, will be a 7inch Android tablet for $250.  No pictures yet, but maybe someone is listening.  ;)

BYOD: Teacher Paradigms

For too many years we, as teachers, have viewed cell phones and all other devices as a disruption to the learning process.  Between our no tolerance of devices, school policies, and need for control classroom management, we have been conditioned to look down upon and even confiscate these devices.

However, over the last 3 years these devices have evolved into tools.  Today they are used to communicate in a variety of ways, to increase productivity, to aid in organization, and yes, even to play.

Now, almost over night, we introduce BYOD, Bring Your Own Device.  I have done the best I can prepare my teachers, and many of them have done a great job at preparing themselves.  However, I have seen that many, including myself, didn't fully comprehend what we were getting ourselves into.

So here are a few of the problems that I feel we are still struggling to overcome...

• Less than 20% of teachers participated in the online BYOD training over the summer.  BYOD is a game changer in education.  Effective use of BYOD requires change on every teacher's part.

• Many teachers feel that BYOD means the teacher has no control.  (The truth is that the BYOD policy gives the teacher more freedom and control over their classes than before.)

• Teachers who do not allow their students to use their own devices are still losing the battle of keeping them out of learning.  While teachers who have embraced BYOD are surging onward with their curriculum in new and exciting ways.

• Instead of encouraging the students to get their devices out in the open and on the desks, whether they are using them or not, many continue uphold policies that encourage students to hide their devices.  Hiding devices encourages their use in negative ways.  Keeping devices out in the open encourages their productive uses.

I would love to hear from some of you about your experiences with BYOD.  What are some struggles you've come accross?  What are some of your successes?

BYOD: Best Student Apps 4 Back 2 School

This time of year is easy to find lists recommending the best apps for students. So I figured I ought to throw my hat into the ring as well. Please share your suggestions as well by leaving a comment.

1. Google Search -IOS-free; Android standard
   
   
   
   One feature they didn't talk about in the video is search by voice. It's so much faster than typing in on a small iPhone screen.
   
   
2. Evernote - Free - (web, Mac, PC, IOS, Android, etc.) This is best note taking app bar none. It's features include handwriting & text recognition, even within a picture. A student could snap a photo of the whiteboard or a PPT. Then all your notes are searchable by any keyword in the note or photo. (see my post on Evernote for cooks & home ec.)
   
   
   
   
3. gFlash+ - Free (IOS, Android & Blackberry) - Flashcard app allows you to convert Google docs into flashcards. Also compatible with Quizlet.
   
   
   
   
4. Dictionary.com - Free (web, IOS, Android, Blackberry) - Every teacher wishes their students always had a dictionary with them. (Winner of the 2009 Best Apps Ever Award)
   
   
   
   
5. Dropbox - Free (web, IOS, Android, Blackberry) - Store your files in the cloud and then retrieve them on any internet connected device. (Note: the files are not stored on the device itself, so if you lose an internet connection, you will not be able to get your files)
   
   
   
   
6. eReader - Kindle - iBooks - Google Books
   Kindle - Free (every platform) - With the cross platform ability of Kindle you can't go wrong.
   iBooks - Free (IOS) - Allows storage of ebooks & .PDF docs; ebooks can also contain video.
   Google Books - Free (IOS, Android, Web)
   
   
7. Grammar Guide - $.99 - Having a grammar reference tool is an essential for many classes.
   
8. The Chemical Touch - $.99 (IOS) - Interactive periodic table of elements
   
9. Homework: Myhomework & ihomework:
   
   Myhomework - Free (IOS & Android) - Great homework app "tracks your classes, homework, and projects so you never forget an assignment."
   
   ihomework - $1.99 (IOS & Mac) - Manage your courses, homework, grades, deadlines and more.
   
   
10. iFormulas - Free (IOS) - Formulas for Algebra, Calculus, Chemistry, Geometry, & Trigonometry.
    
    
11. History: Maps of the World - Free (IOS) - Collection of high resolution historical maps.

Thanks to all my colleagues on Facebook for lending a hand with the apps above.

With the hundreds of thousands of apps out there, this list is opinion. However, you can make it better...

• If you are a teacher, please leave a comment below with the subject that you teach and the apps that you recommend for your students.
• If you are student please add your favorites as well by leaving a comment.

BYOD - A Student Encounter

Today I made it to one of my campuses just in time to grab a sandwich from the PTA. After being bombarded by questions (school starts in 72 hours & it's crunch time), from various faculty that were awaiting my return to that campus, I was left alone to eat in the cafeteria.

About that time, a student who had come to help her mom with the PTA lunch for teachers, asked if she could eat her lunch at the table with me. This is a very polite young lady that I can remember helping throughout last school year, but can't for the life of me remember her name. After a few superficial conversation exchanges I decided to ask her about her plans for the new BYOD policy.

I asked her if she was excited to be able to bring her own tech devices. She responded in the affirmative although it seemed that she was holding her excitement from me in an effort to be polite and mature for her age.

I inquired about which devices she was planning on bringing. She said she was planning on bringing her phone (iPhone) and probably a laptop. I asked what kind of laptop she had but she didn't know the brand, just that it was a Windows machine.

Her next statement, however, was a little unexpected. She asked me if I thought the wifi would have enough speed to handle everyone's devices. Man! isn't that the question that this whole idea relies upon. Honestly, I don't know, but I have trust that our network guys have planned and worked as hard as they have in order that it will work.

At the end of our conversation I was getting ready to leave when she asked if she could introduce me to her mom. Her mother asked what we had been talking about. I told her that we had been discussing the BYOD policy for this next year. Interestingly, she wasn't as aware of the policy as I had expected most parents would be. She asked me what it was all about and I gave her the quick 30 second general scheme of things. I also explained how our Google Apps would help the new policy by giving the students even more tools to help them stay organized and communicate with their peers and teachers. She was ecstatic and told me what a wonderful idea that was for the district to pursue. She was so excited that she asked me what device would be best for her daughter to bring with her to class.

What a fantastic question! So good, in fact, that I didn't have a decent answer. How pathetic am I? I live and breathe tech blogs, news and reviews. I love knowing what the critics say about each new gadget and gizmo that is released. But I can't answer this mother that is requesting my meager advice about which tool would be best for her daughter to have. I guess coming from my background where every penny is pinched and saved, I have to say that the laptop is still king for a student. Especially now that there are so many good options like a Chromebook, netbooks, and now ultra-portables. But, there aren't many bad choices. This new age of mobile computing is exactly what education has been needing for many years now.

OK, back on track...After knowing about the BYOD policy for 2 minutes, this mother was ready to buy her daughter whatever would be best to help her in school. I think most parents, if they realized how effective and useful these devices can be in the classroom, would buy some type of device for their own children. The classroom is a great place for students to learn how to use and communicate with the tools of our day.

Lesson learned today...Students and parents are just as eager to try a BYOD as teachers and administrators...Actually, more so.

BYOD - Questions & Concerns

Today I had the opportunity to team teach with the campus principal as we addressed BYOD for the first time with our campus.

I guess you could say that I have a hero complex because I desperately want to have all the answers. Truth is...this is going to be a topic with which many answers may only come after years of learning and experience ahead.

Below are some of the biggest questions and concerns that I have heard of or fielded myself in the last few months. I'll include my answers, but if you have better answers or explanations please share by leaving a comment:

1. Q. If all students have to be using the school's filtered wifi and not their 3g/4g network, how do patrol that?

A. When students only used paper and pencil how did you know if they were using it to pass notes or to take notes? It should be no different than before the students used the devices. The main question is this, is the student on task?

A. The physical way to tell if they are using wifi is to look at the top of their screen to see if they are showing the wifi as turned on. You will be looking for a wifi symbol like this: If you only see bar like these and no wifi symbol it is a sure thing that they are not using wifi.

2. Q. What about students taking video of me and posting it to the internet?

A. The district's BYOD policy strictly prohibits students from posting recorded video in class to the internet. We must, however, understand that this is the world in which we live? Cameras are everywhere, always be mindful of your actions.

3. Q. What about less fortunate students who cannot afford a device like their friends have.

A. BYOD is not a 1:1 policy. BYOD is not about everyone doing the same thing in the same way. It allows for individuals to use the tools and techniques that are at their disposal.

A. If you do need everyone to have a device, it is much easier for the campus to provide 5-10 devices for students who do not have their own, rather than the district or campus to have to supply all 25-30.

A. If students are harassing or taunting students due to their device or lack thereof, then those students should be disciplined.

4. Q. How do I manage my classroom with BYOD?

A. One way is to have students always place their devices on top of their desk. This way they are out in the open and not hidden. If they are trying to hide something, that's when you need to investigate.

A. Allow your students to use their devices for class business as much as possible. Use this as a bargaining chip. "If you are off task one more time today, I will be confiscating your device, and think about everything you have on there for this and other classes. You might miss those things when the teacher asks you to turn something in next period."

A. Read the blog post "Branding BYOD: On/Off" by Jason Ohler.

5. Q. What if I hear a student's device chime from a notification or even ring?

A. Has your phone ever gone off in a professional development, a meeting, etc? We as adults are just a guilty.

A. Do what you can to communicate the expectation of silencing all devices. However, be patient and forgiving. You've probably forgotten a time or two also.

BYOD - Getting on the Same Page

BYOD is a paradigm shift of astronomical proportions. Well, maybe not that big, but in education it's big enough to effect more than I ever anticipated. One of the biggest changes that poses perhaps the highest hurdle on the course is that of getting all the teachers on one campus to get on board and fall in line.

Although our district policy is very well written and clearly defines student expectations and rules, each campus must take time to communicate the policy with it's teachers. For 10 years or more schools have been dealing with the intrusion of mobile devices by banning them which, for students, translates into 'hiding them.' Teachers have been, therefore, conditioned to taking them away from the students on every occasion possible. Some schools even hold the phones and wait for parents to come in and pay the ransom just to get the phone back from the school. Policy is fine and dandy, but ultimately how it's interpreted in the classroom as it relates to very specific problems is a task that must be proactively lead by the campus administrators.

So how do we break teachers of the knee jerk reaction, taking away the device if it is seen or heard? How do we help teachers and students understand that if you take away the device, for many of us we will be taking away our notes, calendars, textbooks, projects, dictionary, encyclopedia and more? How do we get to the point where we accept that these devices, just as it is with paper and pencil, will not always be on task? Perhaps most important, how do we get all teachers to allow students to learn in their own natural and comfortable manner?

Throughout the ages stones have been used for both building edifices as well as tearing them down. Every tool can be used to be productive or destructive, but if our children never get the chance to learn how to be productive with these tools they are likely to default to the easier and more menacing and destructive uses of today's technology.

BYOD - Infrastructure

Another key piece of our new BYOD policy was our infrastructure. We couldn't tell students to bring any device they want and not have an internet connection for them. Not to mention telling students and parents they would have to use and pay for their data on their own wireless carrier was just out of the question.

Fortunately our district's technology coordinator has uncanny foresight and convinced the board to approve the purchase of an enterprise quality wifi network for each campus, capable of multiple SSIDs. I'm sure our team of network and IT guys helped her find a quality system that would meet our needs. (For more info on our wireless network visit http://www.xirrus.com/products/). Her sales pitch included a two year, multi-phase plan which placed campuses on a list prioritized by their curriculum and equipment needs. That was nearly 2 years ago. Today all of our campuses are pretty well covered for wifi.

Wifi Partitioning

Disclaimer: I am not a network guy nor do I play one on TV. The following is my best effort to explain what has been told to me.

Our wifi has been partitioned into 4 separate pipes. I have listed them below in their order of priority on the network:

1. Official District devices (laptop labs, etc.)
2. District mobile devices (iPods, tablets, Phones, etc)
3. Teacher owned devices
4. Students

As far as I understand the first pipe has priority and is able to expand to take over the lower levels as demand increases. This way all official school business and learning have priority on our bandwidth. In other words we aren't being bogged down by students downloading videos or music. As of right now all of these pipes receive the same level of internet filtering, (yes we do block YouTube). Also, our networks guys setup the wifi to require our students login to the wifi with the same credentials they use to login to any other computer on our district network.

All public schools are required to filter the internet for students. So to handle that we wrote into our BYOD policy a requirement mandating that the student use the district's provided wifi rather than their own mobile 3g or 4g network. While it is true that it may be hard to police this, it really comes down to classroom management. Where before this policy everyone was hiding their devices, now if they are hiding their device they should stick out and that is the student you need to monitoring. (More on classroom management to come. In the mean time check out "Branding BYOD: On/Off" by Jason Ohler.)

BYOD - Bring your own Device...

It's actually here...the 2011-12 school year is in full swing in my office! I feel like time is a freight train and I'm desperately hanging on the back trying to slow it down. But I digress.

This year our district is embarking on an experiment that we are calling BYOD: Bring Your Own Device. We are by no means the first to try such a policy, but we may be ahead of the pack. This is sure to be a learning experience for all of us.

In order to document our learning for any others behind us I will begin a new set of tags titled BYOD, this being the first. I'll try to share all the ways in which we researched, prepared, struggled, and adapted along this journey.

To kick this new section off I'll share some of our district's resources:

1. We decided to enroll in Google Apps for Education. (This was one major piece to the technology puzzle that really makes our BYOD policy possible)
2. We began midway through last school year by surveying parents, students, teachers, and administrators about their own mobile devices and their willingness to use them in the classroom. Check out the survey and it's results here: http://www.friscoisd.org/ly/departments/technology/ConnectingWithParents.htm
3. We looked to other districts that have tried this before us. Among them we found Forsyth County Schools in Georgia. They have a collection of great resources you can find @ http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/byot (I can't say enough about how much their videos helped us and gave us direction.)
4. We looked for resources on classroom management. Here is one of best articles we have found "Branding BYOD: On/Off" by Jason Ohler.

I look forward to sharing more and more I my eyes are opened and I begin to see just what we've gotten ourselves into. However, whether we stumble or soar I'm grateful to be moving forward!