BYOD? To school? At the beginning of the year, when teacher Jamie Weir invited her high school students to bring their mobile technology into her classroom, Grade 12 student Zac Hawkins says his first thought was “This will be an easy class.” He couldn’t, he says, “bring myself to take the concept of using technology in the classroom seriously — more than likely because I’ve been taught all of my life that technology is not meant for the classroom and that school is a paper-and-pencil-only environment.”
As Zac notes in this article, which he wrote spontaneously on his “Bring Your Own Device” while at school, many teachers have been reluctant to allow technology into their classrooms, even if they have that option. Zac suggests it’s a trust issue — teachers don’t trust students and students decline to demonstrate that they’re trustworthy because they feel they are being denied access to what (to them) is a tool for everyday learning in the real world.
Please read Zac’s plea for BYOD (and teacher Jamie Weir’s comments on his essay – no red pen!) and let us know what you think.
John Norton
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What an excellent essay. Zac speaks volumes, and I wonder: how many people in education are actually ready to listen?
I’m going to share this with my Grade 8’s (with whom I do a fair amount of BYOD) before the end of the year, and see what they think – particularly what they think of the trust issues, which we’ve struggled with at times this year.
I am so inspired by your message. Though we have not reached BYOD in my school (yet!) I continue to champion its benefits with your same sense of zeal and call for trust. I truly believe that when students are shown that their teachers trust and respect them, they rise to the occasion and even exceed expectations. I will be sharing this with my fellow teachers.
As a Southwood Grad (1999), and a teacher in support of technology, I am very proud. Very well thought out and well said. As teachers, we need to listen to this kind of feedback more often. Students have great things to say, and this open dialogue is a great thing. Thank you for sharing, and I will continue to share and advocate quality technological integration.
Inspiring essay Zac! I appreciate that you took the time to write about BYOD. Learning and how we learn is changing so we need to change how we teach. It is wonderful that you were given the opportunity to use devices to support your learning and that you shared the possibilities in using them. I’m in agreement that there is fear out there in regards to devices in the classroom and that it is going to take the students advocating for BYOD in order for the change to come about. I will share your essay with as many educators as I can in hopes of inspiring them to inspire and trust students! Great work!
One thought: Teachers are not afraid of having kids make mistakes, rather we are afraid of being held accountable for their mistakes. Instead of using mistakes as learning opportunities and ways to teach citizenship (whether digital or of the human interaction/behavior type) they are used against teachers and the educational system. This was a great article and I appreciated the honesty and candor with which it was written! Nice work!
I think the layout of this article is very creative. I like the comments by the teacher. I found myself thinking the same or similar things. 😉
Zac, technology is absolutely allowed in my classroom, but I agree it is important to have the conversation about digital citizenship at the beginning of the semester. Students appreciated being able to use their devices in class. A few times, students even interrupted class to discuss what to do about cyber bullying situations that were occurring right then and there. It was powerful.
Thank you for bring up the part about losing inspiring thoughts when the right tools are out of reach. That was a powerful and convincing argument. I just wonder if the teachers you are trying to persuade would understand how these tools work for you if they are not using them themselves.
You voice is valuable. Thanks for sharing it.
JL
What a great post.I am one of few teachers who asks students to bring a device to class–most bring laptops, a few tablets and lots of phones. The first time I asked them the get out their phones to text grandparents or parents a question about memories of the Korean War–my students thought I was pulling their leg. I shared the results –great back and forth between a few parents and the class–with an 8th grade colleague. She wanted to replicate this with a topic from a book her class was reading PEACE LIKE A RIVER. She first had to get over the hurdle of wondering if we had a policy for texting as an educational experience (we didn’t then, now we do). Her class found this expansion of discussion wonderful and this experiment has become a regular feature starting new units and texts.
Early in the year my own class had a collaborative project with another class at our school; as we were explaining the project to the students I had a student (who had every personal device possible) ask how she was to work with a student she never saw during the day. I asked her to get out her phone (she thought I was going to confiscate it) I told her to either use it or drop it on the floor (she was aghast). Later she told me that the weekend before the project was due she and her partners were each in different locations texting each other all afternoon as they put together their final product. Eureka! (They also used Facebook to share files and pictures)
Dear Zac,
I think your article is brilliant and articulates what many students probably are thinking from their seats. Thanks for giving us a peak inside what reactions and ideas students might have.
I agree that if I saw someone start to write during a lecture or video that I was using, I might jump to the wrong conclusion (especially if it was a video). That’s a learned behavior on my part…something I must un-learn, I realize.
I don’t know if this will make you feel any better or not…but when I attend things as a member of the audience, often times the speaker will specifically ask that no one use an electronic device. I am offended, too!!! especially when they assume I’m only checking email and not that I’m engaged in the what they’re presenting.
Do you think we should assume this interactive kind of learning and design lessons that promote these new ways of learning? Say backchat, for example. Are there other examples or ideas that you might have?
Thanks again Zac for your article.
@Marsha – Ms Weir has us frequently using the iPads in order to engage in conversation regarding certain scenes as they happen in order to get our opinions out there as soon as possible, while they are still fresh. Much like I mentioned in the article. I’m not sure if you give many speeches but perhaps you could set up a chat room on a website such as todaymeet.com and tell your audience to discuss your ideas and use it for feedback, be a trend-setter. Someone has to do it first, might as well be you 🙂
EDIT: Ms Weir has us using the website during films in order to discuss scenes without interrupting the movie. Sorry for the ambiguity lol
BYOD in schools has become a popular (and controversial) topic in education. Besides the educational challenges, there are also many technical challenges involved in BYOD in schools, such as device management, security and more.
Interested in learning more about BYOD in education? Download this free white paper: “Chromebook and BYOD Success in Education.”
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Please note that I work for Ericom