Device Management

What are ways to manage the use of devices in a classroom environment?

I have typically functioned as a 21st century educator on the BYOD model, since I teach in a school where the vast majority of students have some sort of portable device from smartphone to netbook to iPad to personal laptop. Managing a variety of devices in a classroom has quite a range of interesting challenges. I cannot say that I have a particular set of rules or guidelines that I have reiterated with my students. However, my BYOD events have typically been successful, with a couple of exceptions. I will chalk the successes up to working with students in grades 11 and 12 and to having a very specific lesson/task in mind with clear outcomes.

Here are some considerations that I have found helpful when inviting student devices into the classroom.

• Redesigning classroom setup

I have preferred a horseshoe set up since my early days as a university teaching assistant. This is a great layout for a discussion based classroom. I can also move around with ease to provide assistance or re-direction depending on what a situation requires. When devices enter the lesson, I have had students turn their desks around 180° so that their backs are to the inside of the horseshoe. While walking around the classroom, this setup allows the teacher the ability to quickly scan screens of laptops, netbooks, and propped up tablets to get a visual of what is going on at each device.

jfd;jfd;sjf;aj

• Clear guidelines for the task objective

Some rights reserved by puuikibeach

The successes that I have experienced have happened when the task, outcome, etc. was very clear and well-laid out for students. Explaining it before students are tuned in to devices is perhaps one of the most important parts of setting a successful environment that involves devices. Also, posting a short list of steps/expectations either via the LCD projector or on a blog that students can access serves dual purposes: 1) keeps students mindful of their responsibilities during the lesson and 2) frees the teacher up to provide support and answer bigger questions than “What do I do next?”

jdfjdf;djf;ajd;afj;adjfa;

• Have students used the app or tool before?

Some rights reserved by Cristiano Betta

No matter how many times I integrate technology into a unit, I always seem to forget to determine if students have any experience with the tool(s) that they will be using. Personally, I have dismissed the whole myth of the “digital native”; however, I am still caught off-guard when I learn that students have never used a Google doc, nor understand the possibilities that Evernote offers. This inevitably leads to providing “time to play.”

jfdjfdsa;fj;ajfa;

• Time to play

Some rights reserved by Emily Penguin

This is the one I always seem to forget. Many times when I introduce a new app or online tool, I realize too late that students haven’t used it before. It is necessary to plan 5 – 10 minutes for them to play. Recently I shared a Google doc with a group of students and began to use the chat feature. Since these students had never really used a Google doc, I lost their attention as they began to type in the document and watch different colored cursors appear. Then they began using the chat feature. Allowing students a few minutes to mess around provides them the opportunity to test drive the features and be better prepared to use the tool more effectively.

Integrating technology in the learning environment is a necessary part of education in the 21st century. However, a break from technology and devices is also important for successful device management. Too much of a good thing can be wonderful, but it can also lose its appeal.