Thinking about BYOT – Bring Your Own Technology? Start with students!

Districts should also talk with students before they start something new, said Mitchell of Forsyth County Schools. Administrators need to ask the kids how they approach learning with technology, what kinds of tech tools they would like to see in school and how they would use the tools if they had them, which is what his district has done with its bring-your-own-technology (BYOT) push.

“In the past, we would come up with an initiative, and we’d get it funded, we’d plan for it, we’d roll it out,” Mitchell said. “Did we ever ask the students about it? No. So some of the newer initiatives we’re doing like this BYOT, we’re starting with that conversation with students — “what do y’all think?” — and getting that ground floor involvement with them at the onset of the project, ’cause ultimately that’s who we’re doing it for anyway.”

via School Districts Lay Foundation for Mobile Devices.

This is from an article from Converge Magazine about students bringing their own technology (BYOT) to school. It has practical suggestions from several different school districts across the U.S. for planning and implementing this strategy.

Sylvia