State Bridge Crossing Elementary Tries Out BYOT

The teachers at State Bridge Crossing were excited to have Holly Berg, their new Instructional Technology Support Teacher (ITST), to help them locate and use technology effectively within their classrooms, but together they quickly identified that a major obstacle was just having enough technological devices for students to use.  Each classroom has at least 3 desktop computers, and in the upper grades as many as 5, but that still meant that there was 1 computer for every 6 children. At that point, the only real solution was BYOT, or Bring Your Own Technology. Students are able to bring in a device from home, connect to the county student wifi, and access and create digital content with a tool they are already familiar with.

The school began discussing what BYOT could look like at an elementary level. They researched other schools to see what plans they had in place, focusing on neighboring school system Forsyth County that has a BYOT policy for all grades for the county.  The grade level chairs from grades 2nd -5th , Jennifer Pennington, Allison Cohen, Marie Sclich, and Erin Nusnbaum,  took a BYOT tour in Forsyth County where they were able to see students of all ages, including kindergarten, using devices in a variety of ways.

This tour gave them the confidence to move forward. They created a BYOT policy and agreement letter that was sent home to parents. They selected 8 free apps/tools that they asked parents to download to their devices, creating a “digital toolbox” that can be used for multiple subjects across multiple grade levels. They also held a Parent Information Session to help parents understand what BYOT would look like and to give them a forum to ask any questions and share any concerns.

Though still in its beginning phase, SBC’s BYOT program has been largely successful! Many students are bringing in devices from home, reducing the number of students sharing desktop computers to as little as 1 computer per 2 students. Teachers are having students create photo collages to share answers, video screen cast explaining how to solve problems, using QRs to check their math work, and posting comments online so that everyone can participate in discussions. Both the teachers and the students are excited to see how BYOT will continue to change teaching and learning!