Taking the plunge with BYOD

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Source: SmartBlog on Education in partnership with GreyED Solutions

Students and staff enter Meriden Public Schools with their personal mobile devices in hand. The days of leaving your device at the door are gone since the adoption of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) guidelines throughout the K-12 district. This shift has transformed learning in the classrooms as well as extended the learning outside the brick and mortar walls. Teachers no longer have to address the forgotten pencil or notebook, students don’t seem to forget their device.

The launch of BYOD in the Meriden Public Schools was successful due to the planning and involvement of all constituents. The district technology committee shared a proposed pilot program with the Board of Education and a six-week pilot was run at our high schools. All students, parents and community members were invited to participate in a survey to voice their opinions. We had an overwhelming amount of participant responses and the survey results were positive. The Board of Education gave full support in the adoption of the guidelines after reviewing the positive impact of the pilot and survey results. BYOD FAQs and resources were widely shared with the community to ensure all constituents remained informed of our progress.

The time was right, we didn’t wait, we didn’t hesitate, and we took the plunge!

Barbara Haeffner is the director of curriculum and instructional technology for the Meriden Public Schools. Haeffner has presented at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), American Association of School Administrators (AASA), UCONN Executive Leadership Program and NEAG School of Education, Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) and CT Educators Computer Association (CECA). She has worked with staff and students to integrate mobile devices and digital content in the K-12 curriculum. Prior to joining the team in Meriden, Haeffner provided technology professional development to educators throughout the state of CT. In addition, she has taught at both the elementary and college level.