BYOD in Elementary Schools

Image Used With Permission 

Have you implemented BYOD in an elementary school setting? In the U.S., that's grades K-5, or students aged 5-11.

We're about to launch a pilot at one of the K-5 elementary schools in my school district, and I'd like to collect stories of elementary BYOD implementation, links to videos and anecdotes, training materials and ideas - essentially, anything that has to do with BYOD in the elementary classroom.

Our infrastructure is in place, so technical specs are not something I'm looking for. Oh, and of course I'm going to share back what we have and what we come up with. Here's a link to the BYOD info page from my school district. We started BYOD in grades 6-12 last year, so we have policies and such in place.

But elementary school is a different animal! So no matter what state or country you teach or work in, if you have resources to share for implementing BYOD with younger students and their teachers, please take some time to share in the comments below. Write all the details you want there, or post a link to something you already have posted online elsewhere. If possible, please leave your Twitter handle in your comment so others with questions might connect with you.

Let's collect some fabulous resources so we can all learn from one another and improve instruction for all of our students. Thanks in advance for your contributions!




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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

BYOD Equity Panel at #SXSWedu 2014

On March 5, 2014, I was privileged to moderate and participate on a panel on Bridging the Digital Divide with BYOD Equity at the SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas.

The panelists were a true joy to plan and present with. I highly suggest you follow each of them on Twitter to learn more about best practices in educational technology. My fellow panelists were:

• Jessica Herring, 7th Grade English teacher and practitioner of BYOD in the classroom at Benton Middle School outside of Little Rock, Arkansas
• Dr. Tim Clark, Coordinator of Instructional Technology for Forsyth County Schools in Georgia. Forsyth County Schools was an early trailblazer in BYOD initiatives and is looked to nationwide as a resource for how to implement BYOD and implement it well.
• Dr. Michael Mills, Assistant Professor of Teaching and Learning at the University of Central Arkansas. Michael keeps his hand in K-12 education by partnering with schools and teachers on BYOD integration projects. He also conceived of this panel and brought us all together to participate on it, for which I am truly thankful.

What I loved about this panel is it stretched the conversation about BYOD Equity beyond just devices. Of course access to devices is important when we are asking families to send technology to school with their children, but there are so many more equity issues involved. Some of the topics our panel touched on were:

• Internet access outside of school
• Support for and understanding of BYOD from school and district administrators
• Acceptance and sound implementation of BYOD by classroom teachers
• Ongoing, robust professional development for teachers
• Clear communication with families of students
• Support from the greater community in which the school or district operates

Here is an audio recording of the panel:

I am thankful that my Central Texas edtech colleague Diana Benner attended our panel and posted notes she took during the discussion to her blog. 

As I looked through Tweets later on the day of the session, this one really stood out because it was such a high compliment and made me realize it wasn't just my biased perception that the panel had gone well:

.@AquiAmigo @JessicaRae929 @BYOTNetwork @EdTechSandyK Best panel seen on BYO in 3 yrs, new thoughts are great to hear.
— Dave Saltmarsh (@Dave_Saltmarsh) March 5, 2014

I also used Storify to try collect Tweets which used our #BYODequity hashtag during the panel. Below is a slideshow of the Tweets I collected.

This conversation was just a beginning. I hope all of the documentation of the session which I am posting here can serve as a starting-place for more detailed conversations which lead to solutions for getting powerful learning technologies into the hands of students.

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

Create Short Animated Videos for Learning With the Tellagami App

Through a teacher and an educational technologist in my school district, I've recently discovered the Tellagami app for creating short animated videos. The video below is only the third Gami (the app maker's term for a finished product) which I have created. I was able to learn the app very quickly this weekend in preparation for introducing it to secondary fine arts teachers from my school district this morning. I won't take time in this post to teach you how to use Tellagami, because the app gives you a very nice tutorial the first time you launch it. There are also good instructions included on the Tellagami website. 

Check out my Gami (it's only 26 seconds!), then scroll down to learn more about what I like about the app and some ways I think it could potentially be used in teaching and learning.

What I Like About Tellagami

• The app is free  for both iOS and Android mobile devices, which makes it ideal for both 1:1 and BYOD learning environments. I created the Gami above on my Galaxy Note II Android smartphone.
• You do not need to create an account to use Tellagami.
• The app has a few choices for customizing your avatar, which helps keep a focus on the final outcome of the product.
• There are a few backgrounds to choose from in the app, but you can also doodle your own background,  select a photo stored in the photo library on your device, or take a photo while you are creating the Gami to use as a background.
• There is an option to directly record your voice or type what the avatar says and let Tellagami add the speech with a computerized voice.
• The maximum length of a Gami is 30 seconds, which lends itself to succinctness.
• There are numerous ways to save your Gami, including directly to your device as a QuickTime (iOS) or MP4 (Android) or sending a link by email without saving to your device.
• An advantage of sending by email without saving is your Gami gets uploaded to the web, and you get a link that you can Tweet or share on Facebook or in a text message. You can follow the link to get an embed code if you want to post the Gami on a website. This is the procedure I used to add the Gami above to this blog post.
• An advantage of saving the Gami to your device is you can then upload the movie file to a website of your choice such as YouTube or a blog. Here is the Gami I created as a demo during a fine arts teacher inservice this morning, saved as a a file to my iPad, and then uploaded to YouTube.

Ideas for Using Tellagami in Teaching and Learning

• Any teacher or staff member could create a Gami to add to their website or blog with a brief welcome/introduction message.
• A foreign language teacher at one of our high schools lets students speak via Gami because it is less intimidating than standing up in front of the class.
• Create a public service announcement (PSA) on a health, wellness, or safety topic.
• Create a book teaser/trailer to get peers or students interested in reading a book.
• Explain a problem, process, or procedure. This Gami uses a screen shot created with the Educreations app to explain a math procedure.
• Create a news report recounting the important facts of a current or historical event.
• A possible advanced use could include recording several 30 second Gamis and then editing them together into a longer video. This might be a way to get students to create a collaborative presentation, with each student recording a Gami for their part.

What Other Ideas Do You Have?

Have you used Tellagami before or had an idea spark from the examples above? If so, please share your ideas in the comments, and please include links to any Gamis you have posted on the web!

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

Device Implementation - #TECSIG Fall 2013 Breakout Session

Participants & Their Questions:

Sandy Kendell, EdTech Coordinator in a 4A District - We have implemented one iPad for every teacher K-12 and we are rolling out BYOD grades 6-12.

• How do you manage iPads efficiently while still giving individual users latitude with their devices?

Bruce Ellis, Director of PD TCEA, former Director in a LARGE URBAN district.

• Questions: iPad management at a distance, tweaking the conflict between using them as shared devices vs. 1:1.
• Information on implementing Android

Anonymous Inst Tech Coordinator from a Fast Growing suburban school district. Implementing 1:1 for 3rd through 12th grade students. Not committted to a device yet. Evaluating what to do PK-2. 3rd - 5th in Spring and 6th - 12th in Fall. 6-12 will take home.

• How do we go about doing this? Procedures? Would like to visit with people who've done it successfully.

Millie from a small rural CenTex district. 1:1 with Macs in HS. 4th year. 7th & 8th also one to one but don't take home. PK-6 sharing iPad carts. All teachers have Mac Books. PK- 6 teachers all have iPads too.

• Just moved in to new elementary schools. Teachers have had Windows laptops. They are getting Macbooks on Monday morning and need training! 
• Teachers will have two "computers" in the classroom. What device should it be? What do they want it to do?

Molly Valdez, San Antonio ISD. Did a Kindle Fire deployment last year. Good but kinks. Students liked the size of the Kindle.

• Anyone else using that device?

Mark Gabehart, Round Rock ISD - Forming a tablet committee to develop specs on what they want tablets to be able to do to support curriculum and teacher efforts.

• How do you go about supporting a variety of tablets in your school district?

Joel Adkins, Pleasanton ISD - Just here to help answer questions! :-) Policy is now not writing policies. Any device is supported!

Tim Holt - El Paso ISD - multiple roll outs - iPads, Chromebooks, BYOD, a stew of things happening in the district.

• How do you keep a balance in the control without losing purpose?

Tanna Fiske - @fiskeclass on Twitter - EdTech from Eanes ISD - Fully 1:1 K-12. Has done cart scenario in past as a classroom teacher. Just wants to see where everyone is.

Timn Yenca - @mryenca on Twitter - EdTech from Eanes ISD. Looking at different MDM solutions for 1:1. Anticipating Apple's MDM solution coming in Fall.

Bryan Fuqua - Robinson ISD Tech Director - All teachers have iPads, BYOD at jr. high and high school. Different carts all over the place. Exploring 1:1.

• How have others decided on what device to go with? Who all had input? Staff? Teachers? Community?

Caleb Basinger - Systems Engineer with Apple, here to help!

ANSWERS/SUGGESTIONS/IDEAS:

• Have heard New Braunfels ISD has gone 1:1 iPads and are a very good resource.
• Eanes ISD does site visits. Includes teachers panels and technical information. Try to share their successes.
• Belton ISD - 1:1 iPads and Chromebooks. They do scheduled tours
• iPad Carts vs. Small Pods of iPads in classrooms - In Sandy's opinion (a few people agreed), pods of iPads are more robustly used because teachers have consistent access.
• A shared cart often winds up being monopolized by one or two teachers
• Another option is an iPad Cart shared and dedicated to each classroom on the grade level for six weeks or another specific type of time.
• Security - Joel's district blocks porn, gambling, and murder. Keep it flexible so tech is not an obstacle to prevent teachers from being flexible in the classroom.
• Basic image on iPads, then use Apple volume purchasing for teachers to customize the apps they want on their iPads. Help teachers learn how to assess apps.
• Devices going home - not filtered by most districts. Can be pointed back to the filter on the district network by global proxy, though.
• Kindles have been difficult to globally manage. They have to be touched.
• Consider hiring contractors to help set up devices.
• In elementary classrooms - iPads seem to be the device of choice.
• Right now, it's really a browser war. Something work well in Chrome or Firefox or Explorer. Use what works for you to get the task done. - Joel Adkins
• Don't forget bandwidth! And access points!
• Educate your stakeholders on bandwidth.

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

Parent Communication in a Mobile Device Initiative - #TECSIG Fall 2013 Breakout Session

Eanes has had 67 parent meetings since starting their 1:1 initiatives 3 years ago.

http://www.eanesisd.net/leap/parents

http://www.georgetownisd.org/BYOD
http://www.kvue.com/news/Georgetown-students-use-personal-phones-tablets-in-class-as-part-of-technology-initiative-227131641.html

Parent  Concerns:

Equity - What if all students don't have devices? - Need to assure we are helping teachers plan for that.
Distraction - What about off task behavior? Be ready for it at first, make lessons shorter. Novelty will wear off.
Screen time - Studies have shown interactive screen time is very engaging - http://goo.gl/7gFct3 - kids brains are changing.

How can we help educate parents also? So we can work together as a team for kids. Ex: Modeling appropriate use of technology.

What about parents who don't have access? How do we communicate with them? This is a big challenge. No big answers here.

Parent support is essential for long term financial sustainability of programs. 

Philosophical Videos for Thinking About Place of  Tech in Our Lives - tangent that came up in this session:

• http://vimeo.com/70534716
• http://teamcoco.com/video/louis-ck-springsteen-cell-phone
• http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/09/05/219266779/our-cultural-addiction-to-phones-in-one-disconcerting-video

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

Mobile Learning in Georgetown ISD

Over the past year, the school district I work for has made tremendous strides in the realm of mobile learning. I am proud of all that our school board, administration, technology department, educational technology staff, and teachers have done and are continuing to do on a daily basis to move students' educational experience forward through integration of district-owned and student-owned mobile devices. Our Engage! initiatives are rolling right along.

And now, a peek into what's happening in GISD...

Yesterday, local ABC affiliate KVUE did a story on our grades 6-12 BYOD initiative. High school Latin teacher Mark Warren and his students were featured, as was our EdTech Coordinator Kim Garcia (my boss). They both did a great job of reperesenting the goals/purposes of the program! I think my favorite moment, though, is when one of Mark's students talks about not really getting homework anymore. See if you can catch what he says about that!





For our opening convocation earlier this year Kim put together a video montage showing what our teachers and students had accomplished in 2012-2013 with iPads that were rolling out across our district. as of the start of the 2013-2014 school year, every teacher in our district has been issued an iPad, and many campuses are bringing in small sets of iPads to use with students. Take a look at how creative our teachers were in a relatively short amount of time; the majority of teachers did not receive their iPads until mid-Spring 2013!




After posting resources and stories about other districts on this blog from time to time, it's fun to get to feature my own district and rewarding to be a part of these endeavors!



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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

What would you tell teachers new to #BYOD / #BYOT?

Photo from @AquiAmigo Presentation at SXSWEdu 2013

I've been putting this question out on Twitter, but thought perhaps I'd get more in depth responses if I ask via my blog. So, here it goes!

Here is the scenario: You have three hours of face-to-face staff development scheduled with grades 6-12 teachers who are new to BYOD. Students will be bringing their own devices to school for the first time in just a few months.

Here are my questions:

• What is the most important information to tell the teachers?
• What hands-on activities would you incorporate into the training?
• What practical ideas/tips/tricks would you share with them to set them up for success?
• What classroom management tips would you give them?
• What am I forgetting to ask/include in my questions?

I have done research on this over the last couple of years and bookmarked tons of resources, but would like to collect ideas from front-line teachers and trainers who are experienced in teaching in a BYOD/BYOT environment.

Thanks bunches in advance for any ideas and links you share in the comments below!

Posted with Blogsy

I also sent a couple of questions on this topic out to my Twitter network. Below is a slideshow of their answers to what they would include in a BYOD training for teachers and what their favorite QR code creators are.

Can BYOD Narrow the Digital Divide? #SXSWedu

Notes from SXSWedu presentation by Dr. Michael Mills
http://schedule.sxswedu.com/events/event_EDUP7149


Bit.ly/BYODResources
Bit.ly/byoddocs
Bit.ly/rubrics
Follow #BYODchat on Twitter





Nothing is the magic tool for getting our kids where they need to be. But we can use mobile devices to help.

We can no longer depend on textbooks for accurate information. A new state of matter was just discovered in December.

Engagement is key to getting kids involved and increase their learning. It's becoming more socially acceptable to talk about school outside of school because of mobile devices.

Studies have shown that low SES students test scores go up 30% when they have access to mobile devices. Mostly due to increased engagement.

Access is a basic right in our country. Because its about empowerment. Surveys show low SES schools tend to have less access to technology and teachers integrate devices like cell phones at far lower rates.

Students do not use personal devices for academic reasons unless they are prompted. Everyone needs a Yoda or Dumbledore to hone their skills and talents and learn to use the tools.

Instructional objectives must be our primary focus with ample attention toward student engagement.

A BYOD policy is a bridge for low SES students. Gives them access to knowledge that other students might experience in person. Ex: travel

If you are a crappy teacher with bad classroom management who sits at their computer checking email all day, don't do BYOD.

Let the kids be creative and innovative.

TRUST but verify! Students need boundaries but they should be elastic. Kids need teacher guidance. Think Anakin Skywalker vs. Luke Skywalker or the Karate Kid.

Use rubrics. Rubrics are easily updated as tools change. You can do rubrics just for process.

Is BYOD A Cop-Out for Schools That Should Be Providing Technology to Students?

Image Source

This morning, I read an excellent article from The Journal called Why BYOD, Not Banning Cell Phones, is the Answer. I bookmarked it, because it lays out in detail the positive aspects of BYOD and gives great strategies for helping teachers help students use personal devices in learning.

Then, I started reading the comments. And one of them drew a response out of me. A response that got so long I decided it was blog-post worthy. First, the anonymous comment:

This article is about the advantages of one-to-one contact with technology in the classrooms, not BYOD. BYOD is only one method one getting one-to-one. It is also the method which makes students responsible for bringing their it own learning resources. We don't expect students to purchase their own textbooks or desks, why devices? Schools need to step up and provide devices for students if they think they are required for 21C learning.

Granted, I have not personally gotten to experience a BYOD environment yet, but I have been doing extensive reading on it in hopes of being involved in a BYOD project in the near future. Based on my reading, as well as attending presentations and talking directly with educators involved in BYOD, I've formed some understandings. So, in regards to the anonymous poster who commented that "Schools need to step up and provide devices for  students if they think they are required for 21C learning," I would like to point out a few advantages of allowing students to use their own devices.

First, it's personalized. The student can manage their own settings and choose their own tools for accomplishing their tasks. The device is also seamlessly integrated into their life; it is not a device "for school only". The student can use it during the day to enhance his/her studies, and use the same device outside of school to do homework, keep in touch with friends, pass the time with a game or ebook, and keep school assignments and personal obligations on the same calendar. Students are also more likely to care for and respect a device they personally own as well as devices their peers own.

Second, it's real-world. More and more businesses are expecting their employees, especially ones who work from home or the field (telecommute), to provide their own devices for work. The enterprise may provide web-based applications and virtual desktop solutions so everyone has access to the same suite of tools, but the hardware is owned by the employee and is the responsibility of the employee.

Third, it is a more cost-effective use of taxpayer money in an era when states are consistently cutting back on education funding. Most schools/districts will never get to a sustainable 1:1 model due to cost of maintenance and replacement. If students can bring their own devices and the schools simply have to provide bandwidth and supplement for those who cannot provide their own equipment, the chances of classrooms moving into more connected, technology infused learning are greatly increased. Schools have always expected students to bring tools required for learning - paper, pencils, notebooks, folders, rulers, etc. while providing the content. And we have supplemented for those who could not afford their own tools. Today's tools are more sophisticated, but personal ownership of the basic tools of learning is not a new concept. 

What do you think? Are schools copping out when they make moves toward BYOD? Please add your contribution in the comments below!

A Principal, a Superintendent, and a 1:1 iPad Initiative

This is a nice interview with Principal Patrick Larkin and Superintendent Eric Conti on the 1:1 iPad initiative currently going on at Burlington High School in Massachusetts. This is definitely of value as a "why-to-do-it" resource.

I particularly love what they have to say about letting the students have their own iTunes accounts and letting them load their music and apps on the devices and the learning opportunities those decisions have created in regards to responsibility and balancing appropriate use of the devices. Another interesting point - technology integration has increased because teachers can no longer say that there is an issue with student access to technology.

I'm posting to my blog to share with you and so I do not lose track of it for future reference. Hat tip to Tom Whitby of the Educator's PLN for bringing my attention to this by posting and Tweeting the video.

Do you have similar resources bookmarked or curated somewhere on the web? Please share links in the comments so we can all learn together!

Distraction 2 Reaction: BYOT (BYOD) Success!

Notes from TCEA 2012 Presentation by Eanes ISD Tech Group and Carl Hooker, Director of Instructional Technology, Eanes ISD


Presentation posted at: edtech.eanesisd.net/tcea


Research Behind BYOT


2011 Horizon Report K12 Edition - Published every year. Compilation of research by respected educational technologists across the nation. Publicizes key trends and challenges and predictions for adoption educational technology. Key trends from 2011:

• People expect anytime anywhere access
• Resources becoming more cloud based
• Abundance of resources make it more challenging for us to function in the role of educator as we know it.
• Support of the technologies we use are becoming more cloud based than server based.

Challenges

• Current tech practices in schools do not support the demand for personalized learning.
• Digital media literacy continues to rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.
• Many activities related to learning and education take place outside walls of classroom.

Mobile devices are predicted by 2011 Horizon report to be in mainstream in one year or less.

Fun Stat: Teens text on average 3339 per month. People over 65 average 32 text messages per month.

m.socrative.com - Resource used during the presentation. Allows teacher to push questions out to students regardless of device as long as they have web access. Can be teacher paced or student paced. Shows live results. Also emails results to teacher.

Research shows 60% of low-income students carry a mobile device of some sort.

Look for awesome infographic in the Prezi (linked at the top of this post) about how people use their mobile devices based on age range.

90% of people in the U.S. have a mobile phone. Approx 5.9 billion people worldwide will have mobile phones by 2013. 1/3 of all mobile users owned a mart phone in 2010. 73% of children have books in their home. 80+% have mobile phones. (See infographics in Prezi).

By 2014 mobile internet should TAKE OVER desktop internet use. By 2014, mobile will be the DOMINANT source for the internet SURPASSING laptops & desktops.

We used to hear about the digital divide. Now we have an "App Gap". This is important to think about because teachers must teach to the lowest common denominator of tech in the classroom.

Horizon Report predicts that concerns over BYOT will be outweighed by the advantages.

Concerns About/Challenges With BYOT 

• The kids will cheat! (Like they've never done that before...) One participant in the session noted it's easier to catch kids cheating digitally because the evidence is on the device.
• Instructional time can be lost while figuring out how to get multiple types of devices connected to the same resource
• Online testing not compatible with all devices (ex: iPad)

Eanes ISD will post a copy of their BYOT policies to their website along with the presentation link. It includes usage guidelines and possible consequences. Teachers found there were FEWER discipline problems because devices were out on the desk out in the open instead of having "sneaky use" under the desk.

AWESOME IDEA: Students at the elementary level had to apply to BYOT, indicating how they would use the device for learning. Kids were issued a BYOT sticker or license. They had to be able to produce this for anyone who asked since the kids carried their devices around the school.

Other Questions to Consider: 

• Kind of phone a kid owns is often a sign of social status. 
• Equity issues. (Eanes had iPods and laptop carts in place for students without devices at school. Parents at elementary were assured students would have technology provided to them when needed. Do not let this concern hold you back...) 
• Filters (because kids could use their 3G/4G to access Internet. Be sure to address this in your policy. Some districts are renaming AUPs to RUP (Required Use Policy). Also, best filter is a teacher who is moving around the room staying involved with students.
• At what age do you start BYOT?

When teachers want students to BYOT, there are preliminary conversations about how those teachers want students to be able to use those devices. If you have tech vision committees, include students on the committee.

Remember to educate your community about BYOT, too!

Educational Uses of BYOT

Poll Everywhere - Free. Students can answer questions via text message.

eClicker - Teacher app is $4.99 through volume purchasing. Send out questions to class.

Toontastic - app that allows students to create and narrate stories

Sock Puppets - app that allows students to move virtual sock puppets and record your voice talking for the puppet. Puppets play back in a squeaky voice.

Puppet Pals - another puppet app

QR Codes - Students scan them to download assignments and presentations or go to websites.

Songify - read or speak into the app; app changes it into a song

Titan Pad - a way to collaborate on a document without using Google docs. Limited to 6 collaborators at a time.