BYOT

I have been contemplating the notion of "Bring Your Own Technology for a while and was recently reminded of how we discount what students might want. Sadly, in my own experience, students walk into the classroom with more technology in their back pocket than we offer them to use.  Fortunately, this is slowly becoming less true, as schools move to the notion of 1:1 computing, but with tightening budgets, moves to 1:1 seem far fetched.

I had a conversation with an 8th grader this morning who showed me a video he had created with another student. He had used an application on his phone. It was a cool application that allowed his subject to disappear and then reappear.  It was pretty cool to be honest.  The problem was, that he is a troubled student with a shortened schedule.  Midst the conversation the principal stuck his head out the door to inquire grumpily why the kid was here so early.  Why, he wanted to be there.  In his words "My mom doesn't care about me and usually doesn't wake me up.  I just happened to get up early sometimes so I wind up sitting in the office for 45 min.

Interestingly his eyes lit up when talking about using his phone or other technology in school.  We are missing the boat with this kid, and he is not alone.  I was reminded that my almost three-year-old can grab a mobile device and navigate to a desired app before we can catch her.  My seven-year-old will text and FaceTime with me.  Our six year-old taught himself to read in one month a year ago using an online reading program.  What can I say?

BYOT, Why...because schools need to embrace the digital native's desire to learn, not discount their views, teach responsibility not abolish the use, create environments that support each child, not isolate them because of their uniqueness.