10 Tips for Starting BYOD

• Christine Wells

1. Do your research• Spend time researching what other schools have done. Which devices do

they use/recommend?

• Find out what local schools are doing. Can you share sources or ideas? Can someone there advise you?

• Ask other schools about their digital citizenship guidelines.

2. BYOD & Digital Citizenship• The emphasis must be on the learners

bringing their OWN device.

• They will take responsibility for its care, not your school.

• They are responsible for insuring it, not your school.

• A digital citizenship contract with guidelines is essential. Teach your learners to navigate social media and the internet responsibly.

3. Make sure you have a stable infrastructure

• Your wireless internet connection should be stable and reliable. If it's not, workflow will be interrupted and frustration will follow. You will also have to resort to old school teaching methods.

• You will need a Learning Management System so that teachers are able to put their resources in a central place for learners to access.

• You will also need knowledgeable staff who are able to manage/fix the systems you have.

4. Keep parents informed and up to date

• Keep parents posted on the progress that you are making towards going BYOD. You can do this in your newsletter.

• Hold an information evening so they are able to ask questions and voice any concerns.

• Invite them to a meet the home room/form teacher event.

• Parents need to know that they are involved or at least aware of the transition to BYOD.

• Discuss digital citizenship with parents.

• You may use social media with your classes. Advise parents why you are doing this and the benefits it has.

5. Recommend a preferred device• We recommended the iPad but said other

devices were also ok. This has meant that we have had to spend time making double copies of resources so that they can be opened on all devices.

• We have also had to recommend website equivalents of apps that we use.

• One device to rule them all would have been better. You can probably work out our preference!

• We also have a rent to buy scheme and spare devices in the library that students can borrow on a short term basis.

6. Give your staff their device in plenty of time

• Make sure staff have ample time to get to know their device before teaching with it.

• We had ours 5-6 months before we started teaching with them.

• We started out by getting familiar with apps that we would use in our personal life.

7. Have regular professional development• For about 6 months our staff met weekly to learn

how to set up basic administration apps and then subject specific apps.

• We learnt a lot from each other and it was fun trying out new ideas.

• We also met each term for curriculum planning in our subject area. We had to reassess the way we taught.

• At the end of the first year we reviewed every unit and updated most of them. Our teaching had changed from when we first planned our units. We were more confident about using apps other than Pages and Keynote and wanted to include new ones that we had discovered.

8. A PLN helps a lot!• Many of our staff members joined Twitter and follow like minded

teachers. This has become our Professional Learning Network.

• This has helped us to find out about new ideas and read about the ways that other BYOD schools are doing things.

• We can also share what we are doing and encourage others in making the transition.

9. The goal is to transform learning

• At first you will probably start by digitising what you already do, this is what we also did.

• As you get more confident think about ways that apps/websites can be used creatively to demonstrate learning. For example, Mematic may sum up a character's behaviour in a novel. Pic Collage can be used to label and collate camera shots and angles.

• The goal is to transform learning not simply to do it digitally. Throw out those worksheets!!

10. Have a positive attitude

• This is essential. Learning how to do something new when what you've been doing for years is fine can be a big challenge. Some of our staff were reluctant to begin with but most are now on board and enjoying teaching with a device.

• Teaching and learning is changing and if we don't adapt, we'll be left behind.

• Many of our staff have found it the most exciting time in their career and have taken on a new lease of life with their teaching!

• The learners are far more easily engaged and most enjoy using their devices. Our results have improved and the quality of work is much better.

Finally...• This is by no means an exhaustive list but it will get you thinking and

on your way.

• We are still learning too, so this presentation will be added to and revised as time goes on.

• Good luck and Just Do It!