7.5.5: BYOD any device can do

I have had a two prong experience in the use of BYOD any device can do in two different contexts with two very different results.

 One experience was with teacher trainees at the National Teachers’ College where we started with a 1:1 desk tops with the trainees. The basis was that each trainee was to have a google account to enable uniformity and ease of access to the class blog. After having  created  a google account and also after having the link to the class blog, each student was free to use any device anywhere anytime to access the classroom blog and write a constructive blog post while ‘listening’ to others as well.

This was at Kaliro National Teachers’ College. I was in Kampala. I monitored their responses. I guided their learning. I encouraged collaboration and the refining each other’s posts. (From the comfort of my office)  Each student was working on their own but under one platform- the class blog. At the beginning their blog posts were messy and rambling but their writing improved progressively into writing short sharp formulaic blog posts.

The teacher trainees enjoyed this new experience in which they felt responsible for  their own learning, collaborative spirit replaced the competitive one, they listened to their own and to other students voices and in doing so built their knowledge  co- constructively. Theirs was a hands- on experience with BYOD any device can do.

At one institution of Higher Learning I had been tasked with teaching English to students from the Francophone countries. I opted to use the mobile phone in the class with each student using their own. We downloaded the Merrian Webstar dictionary which formed the basis of learning English in the classroom.

Here too the students worked a lot on their own, collaboratively navigating, comparing the words or phrases in French and English, and checked pronunciation and spelling, I was a guide, nudging the students on.

Alas! My class had to be stopped because I was not ‘teaching!’

BYOD in the classroom is possible only if the Head of the institution believes in student-centred learning and appreciates the 21^st Century learning.