BYOD - Bailee Reitz

N.A. (CC0) Via Piqsels. Retrieved from https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-zbqrt

Sundgren, M. (2017). Blurring time and place in higher education with bring your own device applications: a literature review.                                                  Education & Information Technologies, 22(6), 3081–3119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-017-9576-3

Summary

The subject of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a current debate for the 21st century classroom. Technology is an important tool for students’ ability to learn so it comes into question how we can help those students reach their highest learning potential. This article discusses the boundaries of the classroom being blurred when technology is brought out of the classroom. The debate on BYOD argues who is providing these resources, how is it managed or supervised, and in what setting is it most appropriate? In some scenarios, BYOD requires parents to provide a device to be used in the classroom managed by the teacher. The concerns with this scenario is the inconsistency of devices as the device is “outside of the education provider’s control, thus requiring special considerations for the design and delivery of learning materials, and for the type of interactions that can be required of students” (Sundgren, 3082). Since educators are unable to manage the devices in the classroom, the advantage is argued to be used in a blended class format allowing students to blur the line of time and place and pursue education anytime and anywhere. 

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       This article was written by Marcus Sundgren, a PhD student at Mid Sweden University. He focused on the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and mobile devices in higher education. This is a scholarly article with multiple citations to credible sources. 

TWiT Tech Podcast Network. (2018, September 12). Why BYOD is Bad for Schools. [Video Profile]. YouTube. 
                  Retrieved from  https://youtu.be/Tls8CFIE5R4.

Summary

           This video is about why bring your own device should be avoided in higher education for students. Bradley Chambers is interviewed in this video and brings up good questions that debate the effectiveness of BYOD. Educators are limited to what they can do with devices that are provided by the parents not to mention that not all students can afford them. Devices that are parent-owned cannot be monitored or adjusted by the teachers because they are not school property. Teachers are also only able to use internet based resources considering they are unable to make changes or program those devices either. If that is the case, devices could either be bought by the school with a technology fee to every student or bulk chrome books or iPads could be purchased as school property. 

More questions that will be addressed:

• Does the school or the parents pay for the device and who is responsible for any repairs needed if one was to be damaged?
• How are teachers expected to set limitations or filters on devices that are property of the parents? 
• How are teachers expected to monitor the usage of the device if they are not authorized to make those changes?  
• If the school pays for the devices or supplement those who cannot afford it, why don’t they charge a technology fee and provide all students with the same device owned by the school to provide stability? 
• What setting is best appropriate: in the classroom, online schooling, or a blended format? 

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           Bradley Chambers is the IT Director at Brainerd Baptist Schools, freelance writer, and podcaster focusing on the issue of Bring Your Own Device for higher education. TWiT Technology Network is a news network interviewing journalists breaking stories about technology.  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.