Should BYOD Shape Education in the 21st Century?

Should BYOD Shape Education in the 21st Century?

BYOD (bring your own device) is being adopted by hundreds of schools due to its positive impact on learning. See how it’s shaping education.

Source: BYOD Is Shaping Education in the 21st Century

I think we must be very cautious about BYOD in education from an access point of view. While employees of companies may well need  a device for personal use, and then they bring that device to work, connect it to systems and use their own apps for work-related activities, students don’t need a device. Yes, many children may have a device, but they don’t need one. And for those at the low income levels, any type of device is way down the discretionary spending list. We have to be cautious about pushing elitist  expectations on children receiving government supplied meals and other supplemental support.

Would one-device-per-child be good for learning. Of course it would. Can we expect every child in America, let alone the world, to be able to afford a $500 device. No we can’t. If business wants to encourage technology and STEM learning early in education, they need to rethink their contributions to education, in terms of technology and educator salaries. LA Unified just failed at their model and is suing Apple. Let’s see some new models, not just one that pushes down the costs to families still struggling to recover from the Great Recession.