Why BYOD?

Considerations on the Bring Your Own Device Initiative for Hutchinson Middle School's 6th Grade Students

As your student enters 6th grade next year, they will be exposed to a variety of new learning opportunities. Teachers at Hutchinson Middle School have been working to incorporate the 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation into their curriculum. We at Hutchinson Public Schools feel that equal access to technology is an important factor in preparing our students for their future endeavors. We may not be able to envision the types of jobs that will be available to our students as new technologies emerge, but we can identify the skills that are needed and integrate them into classes to help our students be successful.

At Hutchinson Public Schools, we are seeking to develop 21st century learners. Parents want their child to be part of a safe and welcoming environment where they are well-equipped to pursue future career paths with confidence. Technology plays a key role in this. It is our goal to provide a safe space to teach students about the benefits of technology and how to be responsible and ethical learners in the digital age. Teachers will help students practice appropriate and professional behavior while actively participating in authentic learning experiences. These experiences will help prepare them for the inevitable use of technology they will encounter regardless of the path they choose in life.

We are currently surveying parents of 5th grade students to start a discussion on expanding our Bring Your Own Device initiative into 6th grade next year. Our 6th grade teachers have been introducing a variety of digital learning tools to students this year, and are witnessing the ways that learning can be transformed when students are engaged and excited about their learning.

What does a BYOD classroom look like? 
You may be surprised to find that students are not accessing their devices every minute of every day. It is our philosophy that devices should be used for a defined learning purpose that supports the objectives of the lesson. We feel that technology should enhance what teachers already do in the classroom, not replace it. We also feel that a blended approach to learning is best, where some classroom activities may utilize devices and some may not. Devices will be an important part of helping students to stay organized and have access to classroom materials when they need them. They will also help teachers to bring relevant and current materials into their classroom to supplement their curriculum.

Recommended Device
The type of device we recommend that families invest in would be the Chromebook. This device is fairly cost effective, averaging around $150, and has a life of about 3 years. The device does everything that we would need it to do in an educational setting by providing web access on our district’s wireless internet connection and allowing for a single sign-on utilizing the student’s school Google Apps for Education account. Accounts are managed through the district, so we are able to control and monitor what your student has access to while regulating elements such as email and blocked websites. We are also able to push out helpful applications, websites and extensions that teachers request for easy access during class. Students benefit from having a full keyboard, and parents don’t have to worry about maintaining a device with an operating system or hard drive. For more information about the Chromebook, please click here.

Benefits of Device Use in Grade 6

• Increased access to resources that support learning
• Increased organization of homework and due dates through use of Google Classroom
• More opportunities for collaboration and creativity
• More opportunities for parents to be involved in student learning
• Increased student engagement
• More access to relevant and current supplemental materials
• More opportunities for student feedback, when collected digitally, which can help teachers make informed decisions about pacing of lessons and units to ensure that all students develop a good understanding of the content
• More opportunities to discuss how to be a responsible digital citizen, including how to avoid plagiarism, how to cite sources, and how to handle cyber bullies
• Opportunities to share student work with parents digitally
• Opportunities for personalized instruction with access to information according to ability and interests of each student

Digital Learning Tools

• Google Classroom: This tool helps to provide each teacher with a dashboard for distributing documents, assignments, links, and other resources to students. It also helps students be more organized and aware of assignments and due dates, as they are easily accessible from any computer or tablet with an internet connection. This tool also helps students to collaborate on assignments, communicate with their teacher to receive feedback or ask questions, and stay organized with all materials for each class in one location.
• Quia: This tool helps teachers to provide exciting review opportunities for students. Teachers can create games in the style of battleship, who wants to be a millionaire, and jeopardy among others. This helps students learn and remember key concepts through game-based learning. They can also take digital assessments which allow for immediate and detailed feedback.
• Google Apps for Education: In the past, students have been utilizing the Microsoft Office Suite of tools for typing papers, creating slideshows, or analyzing data in spreadsheets. Google allows for these types of documents to be created from any device with an internet connection, eliminating the need for expensive software. This allows students to be able to work on homework more easily from a variety of locations either at home or at school. Students will have the opportunity to create documents, slide decks, spreadsheets, drawings, and maps through the Google Apps suite. They also will be able to save their work automatically to Google Drive. This allows them to access their work from anywhere with internet access. By storing student work in the cloud, students no longer need to purchase or carry flash drives for bringing work home.