BYOD - A Trend Without Research

Mobile_Geräte.jpg Posted by IHIZ to Wikimedia Commons

BYOD: Data Driven Decision Making?

@joe_edtech

Since my very first day at Deerfield High School, I have been impressed with the determination of all the stakeholders to make the 1:1 District Chromebook program a successful and transformative experience for our students.

I'm quick to point out "District Chromebooks" because I think it is important to differentiate the two major 1:1 trends that are dominant in technology integration plans in the US. The "District Chromebook" (or iPad) plan provides teachers with a classroom standard for hardware and software, and it ensures equitable access to resources for all students regardless of their socio-economic status. All year, we have been gathering data from our teachers, families, and students on the success of our deployment so far, and some areas for potential growth. Without a doubt, we have been looking at both qualitative data (engagement, student and parent evaluation) and quantitative data (attendance rates, passing rates, standardized tests, etc). I'm not sure how we could justify the expense in dollars and time to our taxpayers and stakeholders if we didn't focus on the data.

For the last two summers, however, I spent a lot of time investigating the integration model that is really dominating the discussion at tech conferences and in the blogosphere - Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). In the BYOD model, there is no guarantee that every student will have a device, and no teacher can plan on a standard software suite for their students or anything like consistent, equitable access to digital resources. At first glance, as a teacher, I would have no idea how to plan for success in that classroom - except to plan to teach as if no student had a computing device in the classroom at all. (For a passionate argument against BYOD, read Gary Stager's Blog Post BYOD - Worst Idea of the 21st Century.)

Because it seems to be such a hot topic in education, my summer research focused on BYOD integration plans for schools. I found dozens of articles in professional and educational journals that talk about how schools have implemented BYOD, and several that quote administrators, students, and parents discussing how engaging technology in the classroom can be. However, I did not find a single article that provided any quantitative evidence that BYOD implementations increase student achievement in the classroom.

I believe in improving student learning through technology integration in the classroom, and I believe it is critical that we explicitly teach our kids to use technology in educational ways. BYOD is seen as a low cost solution for schools who would struggle to provide a device for every student. But I'm afraid that it is a fool's path that could actually wind up leaving entire school districts behind.

If you know of quantitative studies that prove the efficacy of BYOD, please, leave a link, a title, or a comment in the box below. Regardless, the conversation will continue.