Wow! What a Twitter chat. There was so much going on with this topic that I had to be selective about which threads to follow. It was a learning experience for me. First of all, I hosted this week, along with Douglas and Tricia, and I think our questions were rich and open ended and incited lots of discussion, but at times they were too broad and we might have benefited from asking questions that didn’t have multiple parts. I also, just for my own knowledge, really wanted to know with what point of reference teachers were approaching this issue, and what their thoughts were on the question so far. I only got 7 results, but I was surprised that none of the respondents came from districts with a district-wide policy. I was surprised that the majority of teachers had loose, teacher-by-teacher policies that weren’t schoolwide. I don’t know how I could deal with that! The chat really helped me to get a better picture of device use in schools across the state, and I was also glad to get the parent perspective from many of my peers, since I do not have children and am always eager to hear that side of an argument.
I obviously entered this week with strong beliefs about BYOD and BYOD policies, and the week’s research and chat only made that stronger. I heard objections during the chat, but, as someone who has experienced BYOD in my schools, I am already familiar with easy solutions to the objections mentioned. There were a variety of comments on my blog post this week, and I especially liked Gerald’s comment about cost and parent willingness to provide a device if it was a little bit cheaper. I didn’t mention in my post because it was getting a little bit long, but Heick, 2015 asserts that “Very acceptable Android devices can be had for less than $100, and used for half that...This is where schools, local organizations, and communities can step in.” I know it’s not the $15 a month plan that Gerald wanted, but I think we’re getting there. I also think that an iPod touch or a Kindle Fire could do many of the same things we need, and they don’t required a data package. Or a child could use an old smartphone and just not activate it with a cell provider. I know Laura had concerns about her community simply not using devices until they reach school, and honestly, I think that’s amazing! My village kiddos, in a village of 100-ish, without running water or cell service, all had iPods that can do about as much as an iPhone. So even there I was fighting with my students to keep those things put away. In conclusion, I read the essential question this week to mean, “should students be allowed to bring their devices,” but it seems that many read it as, “should schools have a policy around student device use.” I find the ambiguity of the question intriguing, and now that I see it’s possible double meaning, I guess my answer is yes to both; yes, students should be allowed to use their devices in school, and absolutely yes, schools should have very specific policies for their use.
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August 2016
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