Running head: BRING

YOUR OWN DEVICE

BYOD: Benefits, Issues and

Solutions
Cesar Lopez
Azusa Pacific University
EDTC 515

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

2
Abstract

The implementation of a BYOD or bring your own device program has created arguments in
favor and against this new educational trend. School districts are supporting this experiment
since it is cost effective and easy to maintain. On the other hand, BYOD creates security and
safety issues that school districts will have to deal with. The benefits of the BYOD approach to
education are great incentives for educators to find ways to respond to the issues associated with
this new technological trend.
Keywords: BYOD, equipment inequity, individuality, technology comfort

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

A new educational trend is transforming the way students use technology in class. This trend
is called bring your own device or BYOD. As the title suggests, students bring their smart
phones, tablets or laptops to class instead of using the technology provided by school districts.
85% of educational institutions are currently rolling out bring your own device in some
capacity (Bourne, 2013, para. 4). The curriculum and standards are not changed due to this
trend but it provides benefits to students, teachers and school districts.
The benefit that BYOD program that seems to be propelling this educational movement deals
with costs. School districts are not required to buy electronic devices for educational purposes in
order to implement a one to one program. Since students bring their own smart phones, tablets or
laptops, they are responsible for maintenance, upgrades, and damages that they may inflict on
their devices. Bradley (2012) indicates that BOYD programs generally shift costs to the user.
With the [student] paying for most or all the costs for the hardware, voice or data services, and
other associated expenses, [districts] save a lot of money (para. 3).
Schools are required to teach students real world applications embedded in academic lessons.
However, there is a contradiction to this statement when school districts require pupils to use
technology tools chosen by someone else. Another important benefit of BYOD is that students
are allowed to bring the technology that they use at home or in real life into their classrooms.
Students will feel confident when integrating technology into schoolwork since they are
confortable using their own electronic devices, troubleshooting issues and choosing the right tool
suitable for the task. Roberts (2013) explains that by allowing people to bring in their own
devices, employers and schools create a greater consistency between how employees and
students normally access information and learn, and the standards set within the workplace and
the classroom (para. 2).

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

The economical and practical benefits regarding the implementation of a BYOD program are
appealing because the responsibility is shifted to the learners. Moreover, BYOD allows schools
to implement a revolutionary program in little to no time. The adoption of new technology
devices is a lengthy process since it has to go through many administrative bodies and be
finalized by fining the proper budget to support it. McCrea (2012) remarks that where a schoolsupplied mobile initiative can take months to plan, finance, purchase, and implement, the BYOD
model can be rolled out within days, if necessary (para. 8).
Finally, school districts that have implemented the BYOD model have shared the educational
benefits that students can obtain. Students are taking interest in education through technology
and showing improvement in academic areas since they are able to access information and learn
accessing their own favorite electronic devices. Teachers at Katy Independent School District
have observed that not only are kids more interested in learning, their test scores are up,
especially in math. The experiment with BYOD at KISD demonstrates that while technology can
be a distraction, it can also be an amazing learning tool (Lepi, 2012, para. 7).
The practice of BYOD in schools threatens to disrupt education practices and critics have
manifested a negative opinion about embracing this new trend. The major concerns about
students bringing their own devices into the classroom are the issues of security and safety.
Schools are mandated and expected to protect minors from unwanted, inappropriate data. A
BYOD program would only add to these complications, and make it that much harder for [the]
technology department to ensure compliance with content filtering objectives and the protection
of students from inappropriate content while in school (Walsh, 2012, para.6). Students will also
bring with them issues associated with social sites creating an unsafe environment and unfit for

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

learning. Chadband (2012) holds the position that [when] students bring their own devices,
cyber bulling and other problems associated with social media may come with them (para. 15).
The program of BYOD has been challenged with the social economical question of division
of income levels and the ability for all students to be able to self provide the devices required to
perform and excel within a structured curriculum. This problem will be most evident in areas
where socio economic levels differ creating stigmas for those students who possess the discarded
or out of service devices. Roberts (2013) points out that inequality between students over
devices can be created, mirroring the issues that prompt some schools to require uniforms instead
of letting students wear their own clothes (para. 5).
The school districts will be faced with the burden of transitioning from a book, notebook and
pencil lesson plan to a technological cyber lecture, should the implementation of BYOD be put
into place. If this becomes the role model, will the school districts have the financial capacity to
afford Internet, hardware, software and security upgrade without loosing their autonomy? The
implementation of BYOD and real world applications may stimulate the student into an active
learning style. However the lack of uniformity may heavily tax teachers, administrative staff and
IT techs by taking away time to trouble shoot an array of multiple devices and brands instead of
focusing into the didactic process. As Walsh (2012) points out now the teacher starts losing
class time to tech support and troubleshooting, and the schools techs have just picked up a slew
of new and unpredictable problems (para. 4).
The benefits of technological implementation are innumerable but so are the cons. BYOD
within the classrooms open a gate to countless distractions that will hinder a constructive
learning environment. The acronym BYOD should also stand for bring your own distraction
according to Walsh (2012, para. 5). The devices that students bring also have distraction

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

components that include games, apps, social media and web sites that take away form the
educational aspect of this program.
The educators that propose BYOD programs are aware of the issues that schools may
encounter and have found solutions to them. The concerns of security and safety have been
addressed by changing the wireless capacity at their campuses in order to support all the devices
carried by students. A separate network that allows the access of important school records has
been created in Fairfax County, VA as a protection barrier. Moreover, students and parents are
required to sing a device use agreement form that specifically deals with BYOD issues.
(Flanigan, 2013, para. 9).
In order to respond to the issue of affordability and inequality of the BYOD implementation,
school administrators are finding practical and inexpensive solutions. These solutions include:
businesses advertising free Wi-Fi spots in the community, students sharing their own devices
with those who cannot afford their own and schools purchasing electronics at a discount rate.
(Flanigan, 2013, para.14).
The fear of students with smart phones, laptops and iPads trying to connect to the same school
network and saturate it has been resolved in schools working under the BYOD program. If
possible, pupils are allowed to use their own free data to connect wirelessly. Moreover, teachers
create web-based lessons and resources that students can access thanks to cloud services offered
at no cost (Myers, 2013, para.9).
The cons and pros of successfully implementing this revolutionary program depend on the
desire and efforts of administrators and educators. The general public are concerned with the
distractions that digital devices create in the classrooms. However, teachers are required to
respond to this issue by instructing and modeling students the correct use of a smart phones, iPad

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

or laptops in class. Moreover, teachers are required to create engaging lessons that will captivate
the attention of students in order to utilize classroom time efficiently.

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

8
References

Bourne, J. (2013, June 4). BYOD for education: Digging deeper into the key issues - Enterprise
Apps Tech News. Retrieved from
http://www.appstechnews.com/news/2013/jun/14/byod-education-digging-deeper-keyissues/
Bradley, T. (2012, December 20). Pros and cons of bringing your own device to work |
PCWorld. Retrieved from
http://www.pcworld.com/article/246760/pros_and_cons_of_byod_bring_your_own_devi
ce_.html
Chadband, E. (2012, July 19). Should schools embrace "Bring Your Own Device"? - NEA
Today. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2012/07/19/should-schools-embrace-bringyour-own-device/
Flanigan, R. L. (2013, February 7). Education Week: Schools set boundaries for use of students'
digital devices. Retrieved from
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2013/02/06/02byod.h06.html
Lepi, K. (2012, August 1). 10 Real-world BYOD classrooms (and whether it's worked or not) |
Edudemic. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/byod-classrooms/
McCrea, B. (2012, November 14). Pros and cons of BYOD and school supplied mobile devices - Campus Technology. Retrieved from
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/11/14/pros-and-cons-of-byod-and-schoolsupplied-mobile-devices.aspx
Myers, K. (2013, April 15). 4 Big concerns about BYOD in schools | Edudemic. Retrieved from
http://www.edudemic.com/4-big-concerns-about-byod-in-schools/

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

Roberts, A. (2013, May 24). Do BYOD programs encourage bullying? | Edutopia. Retrieved
from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/do-BYOD-programs-encourage-bullying-albertroberts
Walsh, K. (2012, July 1). 5 Reasons why BYOD is a bad idea. Retrieved from
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/07/5-reasons-why-byod-is-a-bad-idea/