Bring Your Own Device Programs & Your Classroom

When will you host your first BYOD Day??

Empowering your students with digital access!

Studies find that Generation Y is highly reliant on wireless devices and phones. And rather than fight it, educators can use this to their advantage.
10 Reasons To Consider BYOD In Education Teeachthought.com

Math

When students have a few minutes before the bell rings, have them open Math Ninjas in order to entertain them with a math-based educational game.
Have students navigate to http://www.softschools.com/math/games/ for free games and instructions on many different math techniques and skills. Have students navigate to CK-12 after completing an in-class assignment for reinforcement or in preparation of the next lesson.

Table of Contents
1. What is BYOD? 2. Addressing Classroom Concerns 3. Helpful Apps 4. Lesson Ideas 5. Lesson Ideas cont.

English

Have students navigate to http://www.gutenberg.org/ to access hundreds of public domain books. They can search for a specific genre or period that they enjoy. Have students search historical documents and speeches to understand persuasive techniques. Have students search for their favorite historic author to understand what influences they had on their writing style, and see if they can use that style in a short story or poem.

Step into their world!

Social Studies

Incorporate the World Factbook into your lesson-plan by having students navigate to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/ during a lesson to view statistics on regions of interest.
Have students visit English language versions of regional news sources to view the latest happenings around the world. Before a field trip have students download the history channels free app that lays out visually where historical events have taken place around them.

What is BYOD???
Bring your own device, or BYOD, is a new teaching technique in which students are encouraged to bring in devices such as MP3 Players, Smartphones, or Tablet Computers. Once these devices are brought into the classroom, teachers constructively add them into the lesson plan in order to harness the processing power, enhanced research capabilities, and possibility for immediate feedback from the students.

Science

There are several reasons to incorporate BYOD policies into your classroom or even school-wide:

ITS CHEAP!!! Over 4 in 5 high school students already has one of these devices. As schools struggle to balance budgets and slash funding for new technology, BYOD offers a new avenue to bring the technology of the 21st century into our classrooms. Students are already familiar with their own devices. Students do not need the additional time to become familiar with it like school computers. That excess time can be put toward constructive time on task instruction! The students already readily accept their personal device as a non-threatening outlet. Lets keep on them at ease! BYOD offers educators the possibility to adapt the latest off-the-shelf applications for use in their classrooms. As technology develops faster and faster, the days of buying expensive classroom sets of software are long gone. Those CDs were obsolete upon delivery.

Before an in class experiment, have students practice on the Frog Dissection app in order to prepare them. Have students download one of a dozen star-gazing apps to pique their interest during a homework assignment. Have them locate their astrological sign!

Have students navigate the web in search of invasive species warnings in their area during a lecture on animal migration.

Apps for Success

Teacher Concerns...

iTunes U: Bring academic lectures into your classroom, or send them home with your students. Flip your class around! Google Earth: Escape the confines of your classroom to bring your students anywhere in the world at a moments notice. Kaywa-QR: Direct students or parents to a website or question with the flick of their wrist over a prominently places QR code. Poll Everywhere: With simple text messaging capability gather instant feedback in an organized manner from your class, for your class! Flashcards: Allow students to create helpful flash cards before a test. Remind101: Send quick reminders to students such as: Dont forget BYOD!

Exclusion: Wont students without devices may be stigmatized or excluded from the activities. Solution: Poll parents at the beginning of the year to identify gaps and have students work in group of 3 or 4 collaboratively.

Distraction: Students already have too much on their mind. Wont cell phones simply compound the problem? Solution: Establish an Acceptable Use Policy and share it with students and parents. Set consequences and enforce them! Get administrators on-board early. These devices are already in our classrooms, we better start using them constructively!

How do I use this thing?? I am a digital immigrant. How will I keep up with all of the latest devices?

Solution: In a BYOD classroom the students are the technical ex perts. They already have the know-how to troubleshoot devices and can assist each other as needed. Many applications are compatible across platforms reducing the