I have been following the articles surrounding the new Bring your own Device initiatives. It has been compelling as schools grapple with do I move down this road, will it work, how do we keep up and is it safe? I have begun a BYOD program in my school and it is important to do this strategically not just jump in. I sometimes feel that decisions are based on fear and not knowledge and real planning. With a thorough and well thought out plan that includes feedback from district employees and students it can work. I would begin with a school and meet with parents to discuss what this will look like. Initially there will be some concern as students responsibility is questioned by parents. Will they lose it, ruin it, or forget it someplace. These are very real issues. My recommendation is to “work with it.” What can we do – perhaps brainstorm leaving devices at school for a few days locked up, or have special days where devices are brought in. Do we need to adjust what and how students carry their work and can students be a part of the process to figure out this issue. I truly believe that eventually everyone will get used to the idea and come up with their own solutions. As I took a poll most of the students do have cellphones but parents said they were to call them. None had been taken or lost. From there we need to work with teachers to create web-based environments for work. The devices used will be great on the Internet, be used for textbooks and so on but we want them to be relevant and have a purpose in class. If the device becomes very important in terms of a students education then they will be more careful and follow the AUP. It needs to be an integral part of school and not an add on for it to be treated with respect. In Digital Directions this month they highlight some of the issues schools are facing as they try and get technology into the hands of students. They are also trying to leverage what is out there rather than replicate what students already have.
I am going for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.bookshare.org/ is a site that encourages the sharing of books for our students. We use it in Monticello but I would like to take this Napster invention a step further. Should our students all have a digital reading device that all of their books reside on? I was at a tech meeting yesterday and thanks to a colleague I have a new way to look at this. There are many many books that are available that are free to down. http://www.gutenberg.org/ offers free books to students to be downloaded to these devices and there a Chemistry applications that are flash based (cannot run on the iPad) that Kindles and Nooks can accommodate. We are constantly trying to find a device that does everything when perhaps we need to focus on devices that are indeed “focused.” With a ereader there is a specific purpose that can be used in the classroom. What do you think? We can use textbook aide to offset the cost. I see a pilot brewing……………..
I have recently been in a position where it is necessary for me to research and find medical care that has taken me on a long rode of networking, medications, jargon jargon jargon and knowing people…. I have been down this journey before with my husband when he had open heart surgery.
At that time I was very concerned about how our medical system works for those in real need, might be of “average” education and resources – not to mention those living in poverty and those that are alone.
Most the doctors that happened to be the higher end specialists do not take medical insurance. It is up to you to negotiate with them to make sure you can be within a window of affordability. I was told by one of the nurses that “they don’t have to.” Those are the “top notch” specialists. Most of them are fair and reasonable but how would you know that when you enter into these agreements. Ahh but it doesn’t end there – the insurance mumbo jumbo – if you are an inpatient then this if you are outpatient and then are all of sudden needing to be admitted you have 48 hours to let the insurance co. know. So if you are really in pain or maybe unconscious you need to let your insurance company know or you pay a penalty. Alas how do you do it if you are alone. I haven’t mentioned the reason why I have the privilege of seeing a great doctor – who I know…… But then the aftercare and meds. I had to build a spreadsheet to decipher what my husbands medical needs were. Take this pill three times a day only in the morning, take this one every other day in the afternoon, take the next one only at night for 2 weeks, etc. It was so confusing. On top of it all the pharmacy gives you the generic without telling you so you can’t match up the name of the Rx the doctor gives you with what it is.
Need I go on and on. So as educators. How do we even begin to prepare our young people to work through this system. We feel it is important to fill out a job application or even taxes. My concern is those that have more get more. We perpetuate the system as we take advantage of the services we can afford and leave others out. It isn’t because they aren’t eligible it is because they can’t figure it out.
Problem solving and project based learning in the context of the core subjects does not teach us this. It is another argument to think more deeply about a social curriculum based on actual life experiences where students integrate the core subjects into advocacy, negotiation, knowing your rights, inquiry and finding the resources you need to have what is going to keep you healthy. We can’t do it by teaching about the Korean war but we can if we connect with those outside of our own society, become more global and perhaps take on an actual case of someone that was victimized by the war and weaving in reading, writing and social studies into learning about the time period and having a cause.
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