[LINK] BYOD in schools

[Jan Whitaker]

[some interesting issues in this, such as what if the student device 
infects the school network, as well as the licensing issue mentioned 
in the article. Also, once again a subby doesn't understand the 
emphasis of the article. When I saw the headline, I remembered the AV 
club of our day. That is not what is happening at all.]


Schools put students in charge of own technical support

http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/schools-put-students-in-charge-of-own-technical-support-20120405-1wewn.html

Cynthia Karena

April 6, 2012 - 10:21AM


As companies debate the merits of allowing employees to bring their 
own smartphones and computers to work, another sector is forging 
ahead allowing a younger generation to do just that and more.

Some schools are not only allowing students to bring laptops and 
tablets to class in keeping with the trend known as BYO device or 
BYOD, they are also outsourcing technical support to the students themselves.

Hawker College in the ACT introduced BYOD for students last year. 
Principal Stephen Gwilliam says students who take up the option are 
responsible for their own technical support.
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Brett Clarke, IT education consultant.

"If you bring a device, we're not fixing it," says Gwilliam.

Students are also responsible for supporting their device at The 
Illawarra Grammar School, near Wollongong in NSW.

<http://www.tigs.nsw.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=847&Itemid=668>The 
school introduced BYOD this year, says Leanne Windsor, information 
services director.

"The school is not recommending specific brands or models. Instead, 
it is specifying the minimum requirements to which each device should 
conform. For example, supporting word processing and spread sheets."

Most students choose Apple devices, she said, and the school is using 
Apple to provide support.

There will also be a dedicated phone in the school library for 
students and teachers to ring Apple support directly. Apple will also 
soon train the school's student technology team to support its devices.

"Students will be responsible for the support of their own devices, 
and we hope that they will help others."

The Illawarra school's IT department was initially worried about 
supporting different devices, but can now focus on the infrastructure instead.

"Teachers are our biggest worry. They are scared of relinquishing 
control. But it's less work for teachers because they don't need to 
organise any equipment when students BYOD."

The school is developing an acceptable use policy, and is considering 
whether to block social media access.

"But if students are engaged in their work, then they're not 
distracted on the computers," says Windsor.

Students at Nightcliff Middle School in the Northern Territory use 
online discussion forums to solve issues with their devices when 
teachers can't help.

"It's a shift from being the expert," says Year 7 maths teacher Kim Hoe.

A technology consultant to schools, Brett Clarke says some schools 
are leapfrogging the Federal Government's  'laptop for every student' 
program, going directly to mobile devices, such as tablets.

"The challenge for schools is that mobile devices aren't designed to 
be shared devices. You create logistics problems from a technology 
point of view," Clarke says.

"It's difficult to get the software on them. The licensing is 
confusing. Licensing typically allows schools to copy software on all 
computers, but (with BYOD) there are no site-wide licences. The 
concept of deploying software site-wide doesn't exist within the App 
Store model. A user loads apps onto their own devices."

Schools have to come to grips with the idea of students being 
responsible for what goes on their device.

"If devices are managed by IT, the school can control them; but a 
personal device is managed by the person who uses it. Students can 
instantly install apps themselves. They don't need an IT department 
to take a week to do it."

Another BYOD debate within education circles is the digital divide, 
where some students may enjoy better educational opportunities 
because they can afford better devices.

"I don't agree with the argument that students on low incomes are 
disenfranchised," says Clarke. "There is the education tax rebate 
(ETR), which is aimed at low income families. Devices and internet 
access can be subsidised with a 50 per cent rebate."

And teaching to the lowest device in the room isn't an issue, says 
Sean Cunneen, director of IT consultancy XciteLogic.

"The rise of cloud-based apps means the device is not as important as 
it was five years ago when everything was done on the device. The 
trend is moving towards the cloud to collaborate and share."



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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