Bring Your Own Device has changed the way that teachers and students interact with the content, “Today’s students have never experienced a world without internet and have only seen technology becoming increasingly engaging over their lives” (Swan Christian Collage, 2012, p.4). BYOD allows students to take part in the choice of which device they want to use and parents can budget for it or by 1 device that does the lot. Previous 1:1 systems boosted students learning abilities but wasn’t sustainable due to the high cost of the technology and how short the lifespan on the devices can be.
Hopefully now that today’s hardware is only following a trend of more compact and more powerful rather than completely new ideas, it will help schools to refine the skill set and focus more on software interactions.
- The BYOD Literature Review 2013 is a comprehensive report developed for the NSW Government. It will give you a good perspective on the issues involved.
- Bring your own devices in Sharples, M., Adams, A., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., McAndrew, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., & Whitelock, D. (2014). Innovating Pedagogy 2014: Open University Innovation Report 3. Milton Keynes: The Open University. p17-19
- Mobile learning: Resource roundup is a Edutopia page which lists resources that can be used in a BYOD environment. It has some articles which compare at the 1:1 model that has been adopted by many schools with the BYOD program.
- Swan Christian College. (2012, November 28). Bring Your Own Device Program BYOD Information. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from Swan Christain College: http://www.swan.wa.edu.au/upload/pages/2012092190926/booklet-28-11-12.pdf
Mr Danic 
Hi Mat,
What do you think about the way that the introduction of BYOD programs in schools is shifting the cost of technology from schools to parents, and how you think this could affect students – particularly in lower socio-economic areas?
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It’s very interesting that you mention that as I was watching a mini series called “Testing Teachers” last night on SBS and they showed some of the most worse of schools in Australia. I didn’t notice many of them using technology at all in the classroom which kinda surprised me (going off how much this course is pushing it). It was also rather confronting that some students didn’t have the internet because their parents didn’t want to use it so why should their kids?
My original thought on this topic was that parents are already probably using a laptop at home so for school fees to pay for another one it seems kind of redundant. It also bugs me when schools push for Mac and Apple products when they really aren’t the most affordable to begin with in contrast to any other Laptop or Tablet.
I really don’t think I’m ready to give a proper answer to your question though because situations do vary a lot in different areas. I don’t think throwing money at the problem will solve anything, but I do think something needs to be worked on. What would your suggestion be?
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Yeah, I also found that quite interesting in the Testing Teachers show. I would say that grants need to be available for students to have heavily subsidised laptops/tablets, with perhaps a rent-to-buy programme?
Aside from that, schools need reliable broadband connections – an issue I recently had on my teaching prac.
It’s also a matter of getting schools, parents, and the broader community behind the use of technology. If they can understand how it’s going to help their kids, then there will be much more support for it. Unfortunately, some schools – due to governments obsession with accountability – are driven by results of standardised tests which don’t encourage modern teaching methods and the integration of technology.
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Rent to buy could work if the parents can see the value in it. Good broadband is something that I almost thought could be assumed nowadays but I guess not then. I really do hope that the way we are being taught to teach will allow us to start breaking down the standardised tests and allow modern teaching methods for students.
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