Techsavvy Tips for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

There are literally hundreds of articles about BYOD in the classroom, so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring and share my experiences with you. As a paperless educator, BYODs are the common core for my flipped ESL classrooms as they are already common use and practice in the business world both domestic and foreign.  Employees of big companies and adult learners carry their personal devices into the boardroom and the classroom.  BYODs were first shunned from big companies and businesses for the obvious lack of control and security issues, but as more and more companies are taking advantage of secured cloud storage; school systems public and private are beginning to accept the idea that students can be responsible for their own devices and conduct in the classroom. Though the most popular BYOD is the smart phone, laptops and even the handheld gaming console are also popular BYOD devices.

I first employed BYOD when I was expected to deliver quality ESL material to a large group of students with very little or no technology.  During my interview with my first ESL company, they boasted to me about their use of technology in their classrooms. They even showed me a room with a whiteboard and overhead projector; only to find out that was their ONLY room with a whiteboard and projector and you had to reserve the room a week in advance.  I also got tired of standing in long lines to use the crowded copy machine or have my printed documents disappear into thin air after I sent them to the printer.

Though I have successfully managed to flip my classroom by way of BYOD, it doesn't mean that I haven't been met with obstacles along the way.  I have been met with resistance by both administration and my own students when I first implemented using smart phones in class.  I had challenges trying to share information to all students with different devices.  Poor Internet connection always ruined my day. And you can only imagine how I felt when a student just forgot to bring their device to class.  

So if you are thinking about starting your own BYOD classroom, or already have started yours, here are a few tips I would like to share with you from my experience.

1. Slowly impliment BYOD into class. Sure, your excited  about BYOD, but not everyone else is. You'll be suprised to see how your  admin, co workers, and students will show resistance towards BYOD.   You'll definatly want to be ready to answer a bunch of questions and face criticisms. Your best bet is to create a policy for BYOD in your classroom, register your students for a Google account if they don't already have one, and create a classroom circle for your students in your Google Hangouts account for sharing.  
2. Create your own BYOD policy for your classroom. I'm very liberal with the use of BYOD in my classrooms, but establishing a policy for using BYOD, like a class syllabus, makes it clear and cut what is expected/tolerated of the students use of BYOD. If you don't already have one of your own, here is a link to a nice list of sample BYOD policies. 11 Sample Education BYOT Policies To Help You Create Your Own
3. Use cross platform sharing applications. Cross platforms are ideal for sharing links, documents, audios, videos, and messaging. Apps for phones like Viber, Tango and Whatsapp are popular with smart phones, but not compatible with many pads, notebooks, and laptops.  Your best bet is to utilize Google. Not only is its messaging system, "Hangouts" available on Apple and Android products, you do not require your student's personal phone number to register. You simply use their Gmail address.
4. Take advantage of cloud storage accounts. Once again, Google folks! Cloud storage systems like Google (Drive) and Dropbox allow your students to pull their work from any device and free themselves of hefty laptops and those easy to lose jump drives.  
5. Don't be afraid to use social media. Social media outlets like FB, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, and Glide are great tools for creative assignments and finding resources outside of the box. Use blogs as a place to display student writings.  Share or make YouTube videos to help students understand grammar points,  Have your students create a survey with their FB friends. Use Glide for a one-on-one video debate. Use Google Hangouts for a video conversation and then make it a YouTube video on your YouTube page. There are so many ways you can use Social Media in your BYOD classroom. Get creative. Here's a link to my current class blog via Blogger.  EF Atlanta B2.1
6. Be ready for things to go wrong. With technology, things WILL go wrong. Sometimes,  emails won't get delivered. Some devices just won't be compatible no matter what you do.  Internet connection will be slow. And yes, some of your students will spend more time on their own social media sites rather than their classwork. Be prepared by using alternative resources, and if worse comes to worse, there's nothing wrong with making paper copies of resources before class starts if you can foresee the problem ahead of time. 
7. Be consistent.  Start with one aspect of BYOD and stick with it.  The worst thing you can do to your class is start them out with the idea of BYOD and then two weeks later, bring them back to paper and pencil.  Pace yourself and stay consistent. You as the instructor are their key to success. No computer, smart phone, or Mobile device can replace the leadership of an instructor.

Best,

#mrford#techsavvyteacher