Google Hangout on Air - Equity + Access for All with BYOD - Live on February 10th!

Join us for a BYOD Google Hangout on Monday, February 10^th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  

The topic

Equity + Access for All

Guests will discuss the following

• Why ensuring equity and access is important
• How to get started
• What happens for students who don’t have devices
• Tips for parent outreach
• How you prepare infrastructure
• Handling repairs
• And more!

Our special guests include

• Tim Clark @TimClark45 or @BYOTNetwork
• Willyn Webb @Willyn Webb 
• Michael Mills @AquiAmigo

Connect with them on Twitter!

Backchannel

Join our backchannel conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #BYODEquity. See all the backchannel hashtags on our Tagboard at https://tagboard.com/byodequity 

Join the hangout at this link
https://plus.google.com/events/cp40qmnlcq6mm83b6h8o1mbh1ds 

Join our BYOD community and get contact hours from BGSU!

Did you know that you can receive up to 18 contact hours from Bowling Green State University by joining the community of connected educators interested in discovering what it means when we empower students to BYOD. As a part of the community you are invited to participate in Google Hangouts, BYOD Twitter chats, interact on the BYOD Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BYODK12 and contribute posts to this blog!

Interested? 

Register at: http://www2.bgsu.edu/colleges/edhd/pdregister.html

Look for “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Learning Community” and select the yellow button that says “Register.” You will receive information with further details, links to online communities, and requirements for contact hours after registering. 

11 Innovative Strategies for Ensuring Device Equity

An abridged version of this article originally appeared at ED Tech: Focus on K-12.

School officials wondering what to do for students who lack their own notebook computers, smartphones or tablets can acquire extra devices with a little bit of ingenuity.

When I began teaching as a librarian in Harlem in the 1990s, my district was embarking on what was then considered an innovative program: putting a pod of four computers in ­every classroom. I still recall cringing as I heard some teachers say to ­students, "If you finish your work ­early, you can go 'play' on the computer." Back then, failing to recognize these devices' powerful learning potential was all too common.

Rubberball Productions/Getty Images

I loved having the opportunity through my job to expose children to a world of possibilities through books. Access to computers and the Internet took that to a whole new level, giving students instant feedback and interactivity while empowering them to become producers — rather than simply consumers — of information. I watched many of them discover creativity they didn't realize they had. Suddenly, they were using technology to draw, illustrate, write, connect and create professional-looking work that they couldn't wait to share with their families and the school community.

How to contribute to the BGSU Blog

What's your BYOD story? Members who signed up (or plan to sign up) for the BGSU BYOD learning community (you can register here) can get up to 18 contact hours (visit this link for details) for sharing their stories on this blog. Here's how.

1) Write you post and send it to a peer to review and edit. 

2) Once you register for the BGSU BYOD learning community you will be invited via email as a blog contributor. After you accept your invitation, this blog will be listed as one of your blogs.

3) Visit www.blogger.com/home and select the pencil icon to create a new post as indicated below.

BYOD, Communities and Learning

By Pamela Livingston


Note: Pamela Livingston was a guest in our latest Google Hangout "Cultivating a Culture of Community." In this post she expands upon her advice in the Hangout.  

When invited to visit BYOD schools, I pose two overarching questions

• How are students involved in using technology here?
• How will technology grow your learning community?

These questions become extremely important with BYOD programs. They are important because if you are expecting students to supply their own device for learning, you need to ensure two things are in place.  

1. Students are fully involved and on board right away. Bring students into committees and have them part of surveys and the planning, ask their opinions as experts.  They reside in the digital world and are your most impacted stakeholders in terms of their current and future academic, career, professional and personal lives. And keep asking them, many times – formally and informally. Follow up on their ideas and suggestions. If BYOD is bought in as a strategy by the students who understand your respect and understanding of them and who realize the entire program was built with their buy-in and feedback - you will have tee’ed up your program for success.

2. Schools needs to be brought together with technology. With BYOD, schools should not be segmented into classroom silos of technology. Instead, technology should bring schools together. The school should have an overarching online community for social learning where everyone can communicate and collaborate in whole-school groups, in whole-grade groups, in whole classroom groups, and in project-based groups. This should be the same social community not a different one in each classroom, grade level, division, or school. Build and grow your online social learning community with your students so they have uniformity and connectivity as they move through your educational institution – and so that teachers can have ONE place for their professional learning communities and adult professional discussion forums year-after-year.

You can hear Pamela Livingston discuss this and more in our Google Hangout recording which you can access here.

_____________________________________________________________

Pamela Livingston is the author of ISTE's book "1-to-1 Learning : Laptop Programs That Work", Pamela has written for educational publications and presented/keynoted in the U.S.and overseas.  She previously led technology at K-12 schools. Her Web site is http://www.pamelalivingston.com/

Cultivating a Culture of Community Google Hangout

Did you miss our November 4th hangout, Cultivating a Culture of Community? No problem, you can watch it below. 

In the hangout we addressed the following topics

• Why creating a culture of community is important
• What has worked as far as getting others on board.
• Successes, challenges, and/or frustrations when trying to create a culture of community.

Watch the hangout.

   

Special Guests
Thank you to our special guests. Connect with the on Twitter!

• Michelle Luhtala ‏@mluhtala
• Pamela Livingston ‏@plivings
• Andrew P. Marcinek ‏@andycinek
• Ryan Lee ‏@ryan_rlee

Backchannel
Join our backchannel conversation on Facebook at this link or on Twitter using the hashtag #BYODBGSU. See all the backchannel hashtags on our Tagboard at http://tagboard.com/byodbgsu. 

Links

Below are links mentioned in the hangout.

Articles

• Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good
• Has Google replaced teaching?

Videos from Michelle Luhtala

• Are you using your phone for academic purposes? http://vimeo.com/77006044
• What BYOT looks like:http://vimeo.com/77006325
• Build capacity for power! Literally... power http://vimeo.com/77006692
• We trust you - http://youtu.be/yIZ48MQIp48

Mizuko Ito

• http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/hanging-out-messing-around-and-geeking-out
• http://youtu.be/HF5pxnXwMBY

Live tonight! Google Hangout on Air - Cultivating a Culture of Community

Our first Google Hangout took place on November 4th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  Visit the "Google On Air" tab at http://byodbgsu.blogspot.com/p/google-on-air.html to view the hangout.

Topic "Cultivating a Culture of Community." 

During the hangout guests discuss the following:

• Why creating a culture of community is important
• What has worked as far as getting others on board.
• Successes, challenges, and/or frustrations when trying to create a culture of community.

Our Special Guests
Thank you to our special guests. Connect with them on Twitter!

• Michelle Luhtala ‏@mluhtala
• Pamela Livingston ‏@plivings
• Andrew P. Marcinek ‏@andycinek
• Ryan Lee ‏ ‏@ryan_rlee

Backchannel

Join our backchannel conversation on Facebook at this link or on Twitter using the hashtag #BYODBGSU. See all the backchannel hashtags on our Tagboard at http://tagboard.com/byodbgsu.