"Are You Ready for BYOD?" Webinar Report

 

I recently had a chance to attend the "Are you Ready for BYOD?" webinar with Digital Learning Specialist, Rachelle Wooten. The webinar was quite informative and offered a lot of great advise for anyone wanting to know the benefits of bringing your own device to the classroom. Wooten begins by explaining why BYOD is becoming so popular in the classroom. Here are some of the reasons that were mentioned:

 

• 93% of teachers believe that BYOD helps students relate real-life learning experiences.
• BYOD is student-centered. By having their own device, students already know how to use. Therefore, all teachers need to do is provide them with learning tools that they can use with their own device.
• BYOD is both inexpensive and engaging.
• BYOD allows for mobility. In other words, students can access learning resources away from the classroom; it allows them to manage their own learning.
• BYOD is personalized. It allows students to adapt the projects to their own personal needs and use apps that they like.    

 

In addition, Wooten offers a R. E. A.D.I.E.E model that basically helps teachers and other faculty prepare or "get ready" for implementing BYOD in the classroom.

 

Researching information concerning BYOD such as webinars, podcasts and Youtube videos. One can even search and ask questions on various social media sites like Twitter.

 

Exploring different technology tools that you would like to use or find useful for learning in your classroom. She lists applications such as Nearpod, Edmodo, Takk, and Padlet to name a few.

 

Assessing or asking questions before you begin. Take surveys. Ask students how many already have devices. Ask parents what they think about implementing BYOD into the classroom. Ask administrators important questions about having wi-fi access into the classroom. These are all important things to "assess" before one proceeds with BYOD.

 

Developing lesson plans and classroom management. Devices can be used to research topics, note taking, quick activities, journal responses etc. Lesson plans can also be found via Graphite. Classroom means communicating what expectations will be concerning devices.

 

Informing means to think about how you will inform parents and teachers about BYOD. Will you inform them via email, on a website, video presentation? How will you inform teachers and students about BYOD?

 

Execute or put BYOD into action after you have done all of the above. Go ahead and get started!

 

Evaluate what you've learned and what still needs to be learned. What worked and what did not? What changes need to be made?





     So as you can see, Wooten offers some pretty good advice concerning BYOD. At the end of the meeting she asked all of the attendees to do a small reflection and to ask themselves three questions: What? (What did I learn?) So what? (Why is this important?) and What now? (What will I do now that I know this information). And so I'll answer those questions to let you know some of the most important things that I took away from the webinar.

     One of the most important things that I took away from the webinar is how easy it is to do research on the topic. It's a good way to find out what others are doing and how they are making use of technology and BYOD in the classroom. Wooten mentioned that Twitter has a BYOT (bring your own topic) chat on Tuesdays. That is just a simple way to stay in the loop about BYOD. I actually plan to open a Twitter account to stay abreast of some of the important topics and discussions concerning BYOD. Classroom management was also another great take away from the webinar. Wooten mentioned that her district follows the Stoplight model. The Stoplight model is pretty simple to follow. If there is a red sign displayed that means that students will not be using devices in the classroom that day. If there is a yellow sign displayed then there is a possibility for some learning opportunities involving devices. When the green sign is displayed that means that the class will absolutely be using devices in the classroom that day. I think its extremely important that students know what the expectations are. This example is a simple way to inform students of what kind of day it will be as far as there devices are concerned.


Overall, I thought the webinar was extremely informative and helpful. I plan to attend more webinars in the future and find out as much as I can about BYOD as I'm sure I'll be making use of it in my own classroom.