BYOD - Bring your own device.

BYOD (Bring your own device) is gaining in popularity in schools but there are challenges and concerns to be addressed including:

 

• Implementation of appropriate policies for IT and for teaching
• Potential legal issues,
• Security issues,
• Control of information,
• Hidden support costs,
• The possible need to redevelope apps for multi-platform.  

According to Tim Panagos from Wired Innovation Insights, if educational institutions do implement BYOD they are “… ultimately presented two options: adopt a BYOD program, embracing the technology trend, encouraging student participation, and expanding curriculum to include BYOD-driven topics, or to impose of a BYOD policy, setting rules to govern the presence and practice of these potentially disruptive devices.”

 

What are your thoughts on and/or experiences with BYOD?

Rapid School-Wide Online Course Development in a Busy Environment

Some schools have claimed success in going from a position of limited online resources and a staff jaded from their past experience with learning management systems (LMS) to having all courses online in a new LMS in two years. Theories abound but have you had any experience, positive or negative, in such a transformation?

Disconnected Learning - Breaking The Time And Boredom Barriers (Blended Self-Paced Learning)

Flipped Learning involves students working through material at home. Disconnected Learning uses a different paradigm; students can work more efficiently in existing class time provided they are given the correct tools. Students can disconnect from the others in the class with regard to pace of learning. The 'at home' component of study can be optional for some students.

What has been your experience with a successful tutorial based self-paced mode? What are your thoughts on some claims that some students complete months of work in weeks?

Game based learning

In Bill Gates’ vision of the classrooms of the future, students are grouped according to skill set. One cluster huddles around a computer terminal, playing an educational game or working on a simulator. Another works with a human teacher getting direct instruction, while another gets a digital lesson delivered from their teacher’s avatar.

This kind of “game-based” learning is one of the priorities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a non-profit organisation.

What are your thoughts or experiences on game based learning?

Australian Education declines from #2 to #25.

The BBC recently reported that Finland had the best education system in the world according to a table compiled the Economist Intelligence Unit for Pearson. According to the information, Finland does not go along with the evaluation-driven centralised model popular in most of the Western world. It implemented its own unique education reforms 40 years ago which has moved the country to the top of the international education system rankings according to the New York Times.

Australia has slipped from #2 in 2002 (behind Finland) to 25th in the last rankings. Should we have followed the claimed flawed US system or the Finnish system?

The status of teachers in Finland is higher than doctors and lawyers. Should the same be done in Australia? If so, how?

Teaching and Learning in Information Generation 3 (IG3)

Welcome!

Eduss Asia Pacific is starting up a blog for teaching and learning in the current information age referred to by some as IG3. If there are topics you’d like to see included in the blog, please send them through and, if appropriate, they’ll be added to the list of topics to be covered.