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As was discussed in the May 1st COETAIL Big Marker session , the American International School of Bucharest (AISB) will be implementing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program as the school board did not approve the expansion of our current 1 to 1 laptop program to grades 11 and 12 because of the cost. Everyday in my math classes, 11th and 12th grade students use software that can only be run on laptops such as Geometer’s Sketchpad, Fathom, AutoGraph, Logger Pro, and Cabri 3D. Next year the 11th and 12th graders will need to bring a laptop that is capable of running the previously mentioned software. All of the applications I use are dual platform Mac/Win but they will not run on an iPad, Andriod tablet or smartphone.
Starting a BYOD program will require major changes to our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for secondary or a separate BYOD agreement form. Our current AUP does not specify what devices will not be allowed under the BYOD program (Letting students bring Portable Sony Playstations to school might not be a good idea.) and lacks information on school liability for lost or damaged devices. AISB’s AUP also does not point out that teachers do not have the time or knowledge to provide tech support for devices students bring to the classroom and that only applications with an educational purpose should be used during class time.
As my course 2 final project I will write a BYOD agreement that can be provided as hard copy or as a online FileMaker Pro 12 form that students and parents could access through the school’s internet portal. I will have to research other schools’ BYOD’s agreements and suggestions for BYOD agreements from professional organizations like ISTE and Converge. I will write an AISB BYOD agreement which incorporates the findings from my research and ask a fellow COETAIL student for feedback. Finally I will try to learn enough about FileMaker Pro 12 to make an online version of the form where parents and students can check off that they have read each section of the form and sign off on it digitally. The BYOD agreement will be embedded below as a Google Docs file even if I do not complete the online version by the course 2 deadline.
I have already found many resources for information about starting a BYOD program. The Center for Digital Education and Convergence has a detailed guide for BYOD programs called One to One 2.0: Building on the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) Revolution. The Oak Hills School District in Ohio has a wealth of BYOD planning resources on their portal and the Forsyth School District in Georgia has posted handouts, videos and lesson plans on how to implement a BYOD program. Many of the resources I have reviewed from these sites consider a BYOD program as a supplement to school technology already available to students and not as a replacement for providing devices to students as is being planned at AISB. According to the research a properly implemented BYOD program will probably not be cheaper than expanding AISB’s current 1 to 1 laptop program but the decision has been made.
By Math 13th the BYOD agreement will be embedded below and hopefully a link to an online FileMaker Pro 12 BYOD agreement form.
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