The technology that was chosen to discuss how being made available in the classroom is bring your own device, which will be referred to as BYOD from this point in the paper, such as smart phones, Chrome books, or other mobile technology, and how it effects classroom productivity. According to Lodge (2011), BYOD is a term that has been borrowed from the business world (Lodge, 2013 p. 2). This type of technology has many positive effects in the school system from saving money to investing into more expensive technology from the beginning. According to the room 241 team (2012), there are some benefits to BYOD, such as creating more participation in class and attracting larger area of student demographics, but one of the biggest draws for the school districts is they are not required to purchase devices when students bring their own (the room 241 teachers, 2012 p 7,8,9).
When a school district is not required to purchase one laptop per student, for example, the district can use this money to purchase other, more expensive items, such as Prometheus boards for several classrooms, instead (the room 241 teachers, 2012 p.9). Lodge (2013) also offers positive comments to BYOD like having less time learning a new software because they are using familiar applications and the operating system because they use it more often (Lodge, 2013 p.6). Soon after Lodge (2013) offers his kudos to BYOD, he warns school districts of financial attention needed to increase technical support issues by recommending stronger technical infrastructure to handle a variety of operating systems.
When students have multiple options on which tablet or laptop to purchase for their children, some students may bring devices that are not quite up to speed. This could cause a slight distraction in class because the teacher is not necessarily familiar with the software or specific technology (Lodge, 2012 p.7). Hopefully, the situation is resolved quickly through technical support, however, having multiple platforms could prove a difficult situation for all (Lodge, 2012 p.7). Lastly, Lodge (2012) states that students have an added distraction to social media sites at their fingertips (2017 p.7). With students having such easy access to social media sites, cyber bullying can be a major problem.
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There have been several articles published concerning BYOD, but the most surprising fact is that most have the same basic problems with BYOD as I do. For example, The Room 241 says that BYOD in the class causes distractions in class, tech savvy students still get to inappropriate sites, and cause a more noticeable divide between upper and lower income classes (2012, p.7, 8, 9). As for other ethical challenges that may present themselves inside the classroom with bringing outside devices, just from personal observations, students may have difficulty staying on tasks. In 2017, Mattison warns the online community about bringing outside devices into the workplace, stating that BYOD would bring more technical and ethical problems (Mattison, 2017 p.3).
Mattison further uses Doug Johnson, an expert in educational technology, to argue that BYOD is disruptive to the classroom. Johnson used several milestones to adulthood to prove his theory by stating that driving, voting and drinking all have an age limit because they happen once the person has matured emotionally for the desired activity. Johnson goes on to with his warning that children are being forced into a world they have not yet matured with little guidance from elders who have never ventured to this place. Mattison (2017) quotes Johnson’s questions “how can we expect them to behave ethically on the internet, with identity hidden, when we haven’t fully taught them to act ethically in real-life situations? (Mattison, 2017 p. 3)”
With so many dilemmas, it is a wonder teachers would want to take on such a project, however, with the right set of expectations, combined with positive educational technology use, this could still be a win-win for everyone. Some of the key character traits, according to Lickonia (2003) are hard work, integrity, love (not bullying, especially online) and good judgment. An online article written by Gross (2018) quotes entrepreneur John Rohn “by working hard, you get to play hard, guilt-free” which is the epitome of what should be taught in the classroom. Students who work hard should be able to play hard and not feel they have done anything wrong, however, what does hard work mean? To Lickonia (2003), hard work is the “virtues of initiative, diligence, goal-setting, and resourcefulness” (Lickonia, 2003 p. 16). Initiative is taking the lead, goal-setting makes a decision, diligence is seeing it through and resourcefulness is using what you have to get what you need.
All the hard work the students do will lead them down a path of integrity, which Lickonia (2003) describes as “adhering to moral principle, being faithful to moral conscience, keeping our word, and standing up for what we believe”(Lickonia, 2003 p.16). Having integrity, according to Lickonia (2003) is more than just telling the truth but also being able to do what you say every time (2003 p. 17). Going back to the Golden Rule, we learned so many grades ago “do unto others as you would have them do to you”, we must love others. Love is being able to be loyal to your friends, but also being kind to a stranger. Love is being just and fair (2003 p.14). Lickonia (2003) says that “love goes beyond justice” because it also forgives (2003 p.14).
Lickonia (2003) says that justice is being respectful of each person’s rights. He mentions the Golden Rule but draws attention to the inside. Lickonia says that to have justice, you must first love and respect yourself (2003 p.11). According to Shim, Mittleman, Welke, French, and Guo (2013) in a forum to discuss the success of BYOD, the group discovered that while most groups have shown significant improvement in productivity, upwards to 80% with two out of each three participating companies in the survey attributed BYOD to success, more research needs to be conducted (Shim et. al., 2013 p.3).
Other factors should be considered, such as the type of company using the survey, any regulations on the business, and how technology is being applied (Shim et. al., 2013 p.3). Although this study was conducted primarily with businesses, I found another similar study that looked at the school use of BYOD in Australia. The study found several flaws in BYOD such as most students had opted out of the program by not bringing a device at all (Adhikari, J., Mathrani, A., & Scogings, C., 2017 p. 17 pa 2 ). When these students were provided a device, there was not internet or available wifi outside of the school. With these types of issues arising, teachers are forced into a more creative teaching environment (Adhikari, J., Mathrani, A., & Scogings, C., 2017 p. 17 pa 2).
As I conclude my humble report, I would like to leave with several recommendations to build character. There will be three levels to the recommendations from the school board to the student. The school district should first decide which devices are permissible, build a secure infrastructure around these devices to prevent use of social media sites and then designate an assigned technician to service a set to schools in the district. The school district will still provide some technology for some students who may be below poverty line and in so doing, the district should design their own moral code of conduct statement which defines ethical use of technology in terms for all students to understand clearly, using the same moral vocabulary that flows through the schools.
The school should have several back up support people on site to assist teachers with basic troubleshooting. The school should also assist teachers by nurturing performance character at the school. For example, Ridgewood Middle School was able to lower the number of failing grades by implementing a zeroes aren’t permitted (ZAP) program, where administrators help students with homework assignments during their lunch (Character.org, n.d. p.4). The teachers should have small summits to find or create a moral character program. One teacher may volunteer or be elected to take the lead and create all lessons on moral character as Seider noted from Boston Prep (2012, Ch 2 p.19).
I recommend beginning with similar vocabulary throughout the school to allow students to grow from year to year using these words and expanding their meaning each year. Seider (2012) chronicled three schools in his book and one school, Boston Prep, used similar vocabulary to help build moral character (2012, Ch 1 p. 49). One more program I would recommend is having students build performance character through local projects, possibly subject related. As Seider(2012) noted of Boston Prep students having to work with a public service group to fulfill an ethical or moral problem project before leaving the school (2012, Ch. 2, pa 50).
Students could work on projects to promote having empathy for others, such as singing or crafts at an elderly home once a month. Other projects could vary by location and serve as environmental help by cleaning roadsides, parks or beaches once a month. While each employee plays an important role in making this program work, the student may have the greatest role yet because all of the other actions are made to help the student make great moral decisions when it comes to BYOD and improving creativity, increasing test scores, and becoming a better person overall. The product being offered to the students is moral and performance character. John Rohn once said, “by working hard, you get to play hard, guilt-free”(2018, p. 17).
Hard work is required to perform any job well, but with a student bringing owned technology into the classroom, there is a moral character that mostly must prevail. The students are required to use their minds in an effort to think through such character traits that teachers desire their students to have, also referred to in most schools as merit, honor, or scholarly behavior. Character comes from within. Just as our national constitution gave us some inalienable rights, we are born with some aspect of character. Some of us may have had more character nurtured or had it harvested more so than others, but it is always there, waiting to be nurtured.
References
Adhikari, J., Mathrani, A., & Scogings, C. (2017). A longitudinal journey with BYOD classrooms: issues of access, capability and outcome divides. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v21i0.1693 Character.org (n.d.). Case Study: Ridgewood Middle School. [Web page]. Retrieved from http://character.org/key-topics/what-is-character-education/case-studies/ridgewood-elementary-school/ Gross, J. (2018) Dreams are within reach: Christopher R. Kinney: having fun relaunching after 50. Retrieved from http://www.networkingtimes.com/isolates/page.phtml?article_id = 8921177 Lickona, T. (2003). The content of our character. Retrieved from http://character-education.info/articles/TheContentofOurCharacter.pdf Lodge, J. (2013 November 11). Driven to distraction: bringing your own device to school could hinder learning. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/driven-to-distraction-bringing-your-own-device-to-school-could-hinder-learning-18239 Mattison, L. (2017 January). Ethical issues with using technology in the classroom. Retrieved from https://study.com/blog/ethical-issues-with-using-technology-in-the-classroom.html McGilvery, C. (2012). Promoting responsible and ethical digital citizens. Education World. Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/responsible-student-technology-use.shtml Seider, S. (2012). Character compass: how powerful school culture can point students towards success. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Shim, J. P., Mittleman,D., Welke, R., French, A. M., Guo J. C.. (2013). Bring your own device (BYOD): current status, issues, and future directions. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8774/b2be5af8052d73cde2e8bddd48c49fcd0940.pdf The Room 241 Team. (2018 April 20). What is BYOD (bring your own device) and why should teachers care? Retrieved from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/what-is-byod-bring-your-own-device-and-why-should-teachers-care/
