Secondary School signed up for BYOD, and what about Primary?

First graders reading an interactive story at BDS Library

Being part of a K-12 institution that takes pride in having a very high profile towards ICT integration in the classroom poses different challenges for everybody around school. Teachers, wondering "what´s next?", students who feel skeptical about the true meaning of BYOD at least for now, parents trying to fall in the line, administrators trying to figure out the budget.

This of course includes me, the Headmistress in Primary, former ICT Coordinator and Systems Manager - mind you I´m still not sure whether this last statement is actually making things any easier for me or not. Our Secondary School (Middle and Senior) is finding its way in the initial phases of a BYOD programme launched this term, back in February 25th, and that is BIG news for us all.

Of course, I feel part of that development. Even if I´m not able to be hands on right now from my present position, I would like to think I´m still its god-mother or something like it (so typical, motherly comment, you´re right). In that sense, I can still see the effects of my actions -good and bad-  a few months back in terms of setting the grounds technologically  speaking (infrastructure) and also thinking about my strong vision to devote all necessary resources for teachers to the lead the change. I´m grateful I can still participate in different ways in the project, as I was recently invited to write out a draft for the mobile device policy for students and hold weekly meetings with key actors in the staff.

Back in Primary, the point is how to adapt BYOD to the early years all throughout Year 6 and yet not think of Secondary school as the crossing line, but looking beyond it. We are moving together, not in batch processing. 

For now, the plan is to use the school´s mobile labs with 10 inch Android Tablets as early as first form, while inviting the eldest students in Primary, i.e. Year 6 for now, to bring their own devices certain days of the week. Both English and Spanish teachers are getting involved, especially our Librarians who have proved to be invaluable players in the team providing the most fabulous contents for students to experiment, learn and have fun. This is probably a keypoint: digital resources. Ebooks, apps, websites, even Britannica Online, they are all essential to offer teachers alternatives while they come up with their own production. We are lucky to have an LMS already well established in all Primary, with teachers being able to design their courses, add content, mentor groups in forums and ignite class blogs in a safe environment, this last something particularly important considering the ages of Primary students, ranging from 6 to 12. So teachers are given the tablets first, to try them out, to play with them, to discuss content with @BDSLibrary, to understand how they can be integrated with the IWB in the classrooms. In a month´s time teacher training will come dealing with specific issues of key content areas like maths and  English, tablet in hand. 

I hope I can slowly see the number of tablets in students´ hands grow, safely and meaningfully, but I´d also love to see staff hugging theirs around school, at a parents´meeting, in the playground and labs, and in the classroom.

Happy Easter for all Christians in the world.

The journey to transformation

Technology is leaving its trace in very different ways for each of us who are part of the world´s education system. Some might be painstakingly trying to adjust to the inevitable,  that is 21st century culture taking grip of schools. Some of us may have already set mind to change, yet clinging to the old paradigms without realizing. Rearranging the deck chairs is how Sir Ken Robinson puts it so cunningly in his article arguing if we really need to keep on trying to adjust old structures or do we really need to be looking at a new beginning. Being part of the transition is never easy... 

So where are we precisely? Even if we agreed with Sir Ken when he argues that the majority of the ‘players’ of world class education seem content with more of the same, but only want it faster, smarter and brighter.... Look out! We should be preparing for reform, not simply redesign.

At an individual level, the path from redesign to reform is a winding trail that takes you from replacement, to enhancement and finally transformation. There´s a very graphic way to pin down your current status as a professional educator in this journey. We usually start using ICT as a replacement tool: apps and devices help us replace something we could do at a table or with paper, laminated cards, etc. It´s just providing extra motivational features. This is not a negative, on the contrary, as these tools engage children. The point is, replacement does not enhance the learning and therefore a transformation in the learning culture doesn't happen.

So enhancement comes next, when we start to use tools which allow us to 'do more' than we could do with physical resources. Technology opens up new dimensions for it´s uniqueness in terms of multimedia and global communications capabilities.

When are we really at a transformation stage? Or better still, are schools ready for that or are we content with simply rearranging the deck chairs in the Titanic, even after it had hit the iceberg, for it will take time to sink? While we still have schools run under the Industrial Revolution´s standards the key might be if we really use ICT to empower students to become self-motivated, creative individuals who can produce knowledge as well as consume it, even if it´s beyond the syllabus.

This, they way I see it, is one of the most crucial areas of staff training: to get teachers to accept that in a fast-moving, hi-tech world, they are no longer the "sage on the stage". How am I preparing my students for the workplaces they will be employed in? How am I preparing them for jobs which don't exist yet? 

In a BYOD environment, teachers will be at different stages from replacement, to enhancement or striving to transformation. All of this takes time and regular training. It´s good news that there seems to be a global consensus to recognize that the 19th Century paradigm of education is no longer fit for purpose and to forsee that all phases of education serving all sections of the population will undergo enormous changes. 

Even if we are uncertain of the future, the important question is – what to do about it NOW and get started in your own journey to transformation.