It’s natural for parents and educators to be concerned about learners bringing their own devices to school, especially younger grades. With social media taking over the minds of the general public, people have become more and more addicted to their computer devices. 

Let’s look at common concerns regarding the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) concept and how they can be overcome. 

1. Learners won’t focus on their learning experiences

This is probably the most common concern that educators and parents face when it comes to the BYOD concept. Many learners have access to a smartphone from a young age, and it is said that giving your kid a phone is equivalent to giving them crack cocaine. 

This concern can be overcome by establishing and communicating clear BYOD expectations and rules. While you work with your school district to include BYOD, you must also work with the IT department to ensure learners understand why they bring their devices to school. 

2. Not all learners have a computer device 

Though 73% of teenagers own a smartphone, there’s still 27% that don’t. It helps to have a set number of devices in the classroom that can be used by the learners who don’t have access to their own devices. 

3. Learners will be able to cheat

Although learners can cheat using a device connected to the internet, bringing a device to school does not guarantee this. As an educator, you can gather all of the devices and place them in a basket until they need to be used, or you can have the learners place their devices on their table during an assessment. 

4. Many parents can’t afford computer devices for their children

This is a difficult issue to reconcile because the unfortunate truth of the world is that several families can’t afford these types of devices. If your school district is on board with BYOD, you should encourage them to develop a “BYOD fund” to help parents purchase computer devices. You can also suggest some alternative, economical computer devices that parents can more easily afford.

5. BYOD puts learner health at risk

There are one or two health risks that come with mobile technologies, like smartphone pinky or text neck. Although this is true, the use of smartphones and devices in the class should not come without its limitations – no educator should let the eyes of their students be glued to the screen for too long. 

6. BYOD requires world-class tech support

The top way to prevent any misunderstanding is to ensure that the IT support team only works on appropriate issues. In the BYOD policy, openly state what the tech support team is and is not accountable for. 

7. Network may overload

Most schools, unfortunately, do not have strong wireless networks. Those that do were designed mainly for the use of educators. The solution? Invest in an IT team that will be able to design a stable network. 

8. Some educators are opposed to BYOD

In the same way that educators teach learners, the school should teach educators how beneficial BYOD can be to them and their learners. There are several training programs out there that can give them the education and motivation they need. 

Conclusion

It is natural to be concerned about BYOD initiatives, but they are issues that can be resolved with the right approaches.