Teacher Aid

How will BYOD affect my lessons and instruction?

Your students will have consistent, one-to-one access to technology which will allow you to plan more lessons that involve student use of technology. Your lesson plans won’t be controlled by the availability of a laptop cart.

Your students will need to know that you will not be able to assist them with the use of their personal devices. They need to know how to complete assignments on their own device. If not, they will have to use a machine located in the classroom or complete the assignment at home.

Your instructions to students will need to specify a file format for assignments. For example, if students are making videos, they can use whatever software they want, but the end product must be a wmv file to turn in to you. We have provided a file formats reference page for your use.
You will need to specify how you want the assignment submitted to you.

Students will be able to submit assignments electronically to you through the Haiku dropbox. Students with their own devices should have access to storage capabilities (on their device or online) in order to save resources they create.
Another option when turning in digital assignments is to have students copy and paste text, or upload files to Google Docs. When uploading the file they will be given the option to convert the file to a Google Docs format. The student can share the document with you for access through your Google account or submit it through the Haiku dropbox for assessment. Google Docs will convert the following file types:
Spreadsheets: .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tab
Documents: .doc, .docx, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf
Presentations: .ppt, .pps, .pptx

Be prepared to provide students with examples of appropriate software to accomplish a given assignment. We have created a list of Requirements for Student-Owned Devices that align with the software currently available on the school owned devices.
When providing students with documents in a digital format, consider using a PDF format or Google Docs, so that the file can be accessible on various devices. PDF Creator is a free open-source software program that allows you to convert any file to a PDF (can be downloaded from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator)

You will need some additional procedures or practices in your classroom management plan. For example:
When we are not working on a digital assignment, your personal laptop should be put away/closed on your desk.”
“Disable the sound on your personal device.”

Make sure that your classroom is locked if students leave devices in your room when they are at lunch or attending an activity outside of the classroom.