Implementing a BYOD Program: Step 1 - Resources

Some schools and/or teachers have not seriously considered a move to BYOD and how it will effect them and their students. They have been waiting for the system or the leadership to make the decision and then they will investigate what it meant for their schools and classrooms. 

This can be a chicken or the egg situation. Do you wait for someone else to make the decision or do you future proof your own teaching and learning style in order to be ready for a BYOD environment when it does come. It is an interesting exercise to have teachers evaluate the learning activities they have designed and what they would look like in a BYOD environment. Some would change significantly, other would not change at all. There are obvious benefits when teachers conduct this exercise.

It is funny because some schools have hesitated in the move to BYOD because they didn't think their community were ready. My experience is that when we talk to parents they have been waiting for someone to make the decision. Their sister's kids have been BYOD for 2 yrs now and they know plenty of people who have their kids in schools that have already moved to BYOD. They are often just waiting for their school to make the decision too.

There are other consideration however. On a larger scale what are some of the infrastructure changes that would need to take place at a school level and what are the real costs of implementing BYOD. Do you have adequate wifi coverage and access points in the right areas? What is the maximum number of devices your current system can support? What are the costs to upgrade? What age groups would you implement the BYOD Program with first?

Here are some readings that have informed others in their initial investigation of the BYOD environment. Some of these are a couple of years old but they still hold there own in this conversation. The "Bring your own Devices -  A Guide for Schools" from the Alberta Education Department has been like a BYOD Bible for other institutions.

White Papers and the like...

A Guide for Schools - Alberta	BYOD Lit Review	Use of Tablet technology in the Classroom
Are we ready for BYOD?	Horizon Report 2015	Beyond the Classroom
BYOD to School - Dell	BYOX Research Project	BYOD in Education - Microsoft