End of First Quarter: BYOT Update

Published October 11, 2012

The Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative continues to gain steam in Williamson County Schools. Instructional Technology Coordinator Belinda Moss has provided an end-of-first quarter update on the program in the Q and A below.

What are the most common devices being used in the schools?

Students are bringing a variety of devices to school depending on the age of the student. Some of the most common devices include tablets, ereaders, smartphones and laptops.

If a student doesn’t have device to bring to school, what can he/she do?

Each school has a checkout system in place that will make devices available to students for instructional purposes. If a student does not have a device, forgets his device, etc., the student may borrow one for that class if the teacher’s plan is to use technology during that class time. Also, the district has made additional devices that are no longer in the district inventory available for checkout to students at the high schools.

How are students using devices in classrooms?

Students are using devices to create, communicate and collaborate to support their learning experiences. Specific examples can be found on the WCS website at http://www.wcs.edu/byot/student_uses.htm. This prezi breaks out for you what elementary and secondary students are doing. You can also learn more about specific activities at http://www.wcs.edu/instructionaltech/classroom_spotlight.htm.

What percentage of the day do students use technology devices?

There is not a set percentage of the day students use devices. Devices are used at either the direction of the student or the direction of the teacher. Students choose to use devices to support their own learning in activities such as taking notes, conducting research, capturing assignments and events and accessing digital copies of textbook resources. Teachers may also incorporate technology in the lesson where it supports the learning or accelerates the learning opportunity. For example, teachers may use a program such as Socrative to capture responses from every student to check for understanding or they might use the students’ Goggle Apps for Education account to facilitate an online discussion with the class.

I understand you spotlight a teacher each month who is ….. Who is this month’s featured teacher?

Learn about the work Kelly Duyn at Ravenwood High School is doing to go paperless. Her class is this month’s spotlight classroom at http://www.wcs.edu/instructionaltech/classroom_spotlight.htm.