Friday, May 22, 2015

Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT): Transforming technical Infrastructure





BYOT is an emerging trend in which encourages to bring personal mobile technology like smartphones, tablet devices and laptops. This has been leveraged in education too where several schools has encouraged the students to get their own mobile devices.



The merits of giving a mobile device to a student have always been an arguable topic. Our initial concerns and thoughts regarding this are basically framed by our own experiences and perceptions. It is also based a lot upon how we personally use the technology.


Different research has been carried out arguing whether giving the mobile device has really helped the students learn. One of the research revealed that students perform better on standardized tests if the school does not follow the BYOT approach and has banned use of mobile devices. The research claims that the improved performance is due to the lack of distractions that were caused due to mobile devices. 

It’s not a good idea to argue with the research but being a technology freak, several questions arise in my mind regarding the banning of mobile devices in school.


After I went through this article and research, I was thinking why the school is placing so much importance on the standardized tests when the student expects knowledge in the growing and developing world than giving tests and worrying about grades. Being a student, I understand that in education, a continuous effort is made to find the right assessment that will tell whether or not a student is mastering the appropriate content and skills.

In the globally connected workforce, at some point of time we all face with challenges on the job to be creative, communicate well, and think critically. Thus, I still believe that in the conceptual age a student’s learning and skills assessment should not only be assessed by a standardized test. In today’s world there is a need to generate new ideas for solving problems and come up with innovations.

I believe, BYOT programs increases the digital divide that earlier one-to-one initiatives were meant to narrow. Students who need to borrow a device from the school should be able to do so without facing any kind of stigma. BYOT in classroom has helped students to come closer to technology and leverage it to come up with new and innovative ideas.

BYOT broadens the learning of students beyond the traditional classrooms and prepares students for the continually growing workplace.

BYOT is also cost effective for schools to bring technology to the classroom. This helps school to build a 1:1 technology program without investing in technological infrastructure setup. This makes learning more interactive and effective in classrooms.

Further Reading - 

1. The Next Revolution in School Tech

2. All about BYOD

3. Should School Embrace "Bring Your Own Device" ?

4. School move towards BYOD Policies

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