Mapping your e-Learning journey

What?

The e-learning planning framework is a tool to help teachers and school reflect on and evaluate their e-learning capability.  It can be used to support schools through a process of self-review and ongoing development and improvements, by identifying their current position and therefore indicating what their potential next steps may be.  There are five dimensions within the eLPF - Beyond the Classroom,  Learning and Teaching, Technologies and Infrastructure, Professional Learning and Leadership and Strategic Direction.  Running across the dimensions are five phases of 'e-maturity' that describe how technology is adopted and integrated into teaching and learning. The phases are pre-emerging, emerging, engaging, extending and empowering,  and "the phases not only describe development in technology integration, but also describe pedagogical development, from teacher-directed to collaborative, co-constructed learning" (Enabling e-Learning).

In 2010, I was extremely fortunate to be a part of the original CORE Education team who created the eLPF and can assure you it was a difficult task to create succinct but relevant indicators for each dimension, across each stage, that fit the NZ educational context but aligned to other national and international research.  We spent months researching prior to the consultation phase and Stephen Marshall's e-Learning Maturity Model-eMM played a huge part in informing our work, as did Hall & Hord's Concerns-based adoption model - CBAM and Mishra and Koehler's Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge - TPAK

What is really pleasing to see is the improvements to the original framework we produced.  The first version was lacking any real and meaningful links to whānau besides within the Beyond the Classroom dimension, mainly due to the restrictions in the size of the document, trying to keep things concise and not too lengthy.  Now, important links to whānau and the wider community are found throughout almost all dimensions.  What also was missing was the ability for whānau and students to engage and offer their perspective.  It is fantastic to see latest versions have made those improvements and the framework now offers the opportunity for students and whānau, as well as staff to complete it.    What is also exciting is when we first released the eLPF, it was in a document form only, released on Enabling e-Learning and linked to form the Virtual Learning Network (VLN).  It quickly became obvious that for this tool to be truly useful for schools, it needed a more in-depth, responsive way of administering the framework and allowing people to engage with it, collate the data and then provide an analysis of this data, as many schools were struggling with this part.

So What?
The development of the flexible and efficient eLPF online tool made the administration and analysis of the eLPF data so much easier and more valuable for schools as it provided them with an overall picture of where they were at and therefore, what their next steps might be.   I I would encourage you, if you are able to and haven't already, to look at the using the eLPF online tool at your own school.

It is also important to consider what questions may go unanswered.  What can the eLPF not offer or tell you?  Having been involved with the eLPF from its conception here in NZ and used the tool as both a facilitator of professional development, a teacher and now as a school leader I feel I can accurately identify what is still unclear for me.  The questions that I still have after using the eLPF is how accurate can you be when mapping you school position at each dimension against a phase of development?  I know for a fact, every time I have administered the eLPF, there is a huge range of responses, but to be able to position your school overall, the average tends to become the default.  How do you record this succinctly within your findings, without going into a blow by blow analysis of each staff member?

One of the biggest challenges I have seen happen often with the use of the eLPF in schools is the tendency for schools to travel backwards on their journey!  Quite often the first time schools administer the eLPF and teachers complete the online tool, the results can indicate that a school is working at the extending and empowering phases.  However, the next time the elpf is administered it shows a shift backwards, with the school now positioned at emerging or engaging.  This can raise a lot of questions for staff and leaders in particularly.  What I have found is the reason for this is that when staff start looking closely at what specifically is happening in their classrooms, what their next steps are and they start to research and plan changes necessary to better meet the needs of modern learners, teachers often find out that their original evaluation of where they thought they were was incorrect.  It often comes down to 'You don't know what you don't know', meaning that as teachers learn more about what e-capability looks like at the empowering stage, the more they realise that there is still a long way to go.  And that this is an ongoing process, often with a feeling of one step forward, two steps back.  This is precisely why the image below shows circular arrows to indicate that this is a process of inquiry, where you will often need to re-work, re-learn things multiple times.  It clearly shows that at each phase you may go around and around for sometime before finding your way forward.  It also highlights that at the beginning phases, pre-emerging and emerging, the focus for schools and staff can often be driven by the technologies but as you move through the phases, the decisions within a school about relating to the 5 dimensions become driven by curriculum learning needs rather than just about the technology.

Image retrieved from https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1650583-how-to-use-the-elpf

Now What?
Prior to me working at Cobham Intermediate, they used the eLPF online tool with staff and school leadership in 2014 to identify where they were placed.  I would like to re-administer the online tool, bringing in members from our students, BoT and parents this time to add to the wider picture of where we now are.  I want to use this information and data to help us design our new strategic plan for ICT/e-Learning at Cobham Intermediate for 2016-2018.  I also hope that by re-administering the eLPF later in this term, we will be able to see some clear areas of shift for our staff and this will give them a good sense of achievement and confidence, being able to look back and see what impact the shift to BYOD is having on the development of teacher skills and knowledge and more importantly, the impact on student engagement and achievement.


References

Enabling e-Learning (2011) . Professional Learning: e-Learning Planning Framework. Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/e-Learning-Planning-Framework 

Hall & Hord. (1987). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM): A Model for Change in Individuals.[Electronic version http://www.nas.edu/rise/backg4a.htm]

Mishra & Koehler. (2006) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). [Electronic version http://www.tpack.org/]

Marshall, S. (2010). A Quality Framework for Continuous Improvement of E-Learning: The E-Learning Maturity Model. Journal of Distance Education 24(1):143-166. http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/606/1030

My Personal Context through the lens of the CBAM

What?
I have found myself coming back on several occasions to re-read, reflect on, delete, re-write, make some additions, delete again and then add some more content to my previous blog post 'Arena of Change at Cobham'.

As I immerse myself further into the learning activities and readings related to my study for EDEM630 - Change with Digital Technologies in Education, I find myself moving away from looking at all the reasons why the shift to BYOD has occurred at our school to wanting to focus in on what is actually happening in our classrooms as a result of the move to BYOD.

To gain a deeper insight into the classroom practice, we used Hall and Hord's 'Concerns-based Adoption Model' to ascertain where our teachers were positioned in terms of adopting the innovation of BYOD at our school.

There are three main dimensions included in the CBAM:
(see http://www.sedl.org/cbam/ for more in depth information)

• Stages of Concern = Seven different stages of emotion or feelings that educators experience through the process of change or implementation of a new initiative, programme or practice
• Levels of Use = Eight behavioural stages that describe various behaviours and actions educators display as they adopt and implement the change
• Innovation Configurations = Provides specific examples of what the implementation of the programme should look like at different parts of the continuum from best/ideal practice to least desirable practice

The reality is, the successful implementation of any major change in a school will rely heavily on the teachers who need to implement it.  And teachers are human, they all have different strengths, needs, skills, knowledge, beliefs and emotions.  At Cobham, our staff all had different attitudes towards the change to whole school BYOD programme, which obviously affects how they will adopt the change.

So What? 

Without going into any personal details, within our school we have a range of teachers across the different stages of concern and levels of use.  It is fair to say that all of our staff have moved past the awareness and informational stages of concern and are scattered across the personal through to refocusing stages.  It is the levels of use however that highlight to me how well the change is being adopted and what potential impact this is having on our students learning experiences in the classroom.

In relation to the effective use of digital devices in the classroom to engage students and improve students outcomes our teachers are able to self-identify where they feel they are and why in terms of level of use against the CBAM.  Some of the feedback from teachers has been that there are many different reasons that their level of use is at a particular stage, for example, their own personal experience with digital devices, changes in staffing e.g. new teachers are starting off at orientation, minor or major uptake by students in their own class and how reliable the devices have been for the learning opportunities they are being used for e.g. some classes have large numbers of iPads or smartphones being used but often children have been struggling with using these devices for online work in their Google Drive.

As a leader for the development of ICT/e-Learning in our school, I have been reflecting upon how I can best support staff through the process of change working towards a successful BYOD programme.  As I have learned more about the CBAM, I have come to identify that there has been a major hole in how this tool has been utilised within my personal context, my school environment. I have used the framework of the stages of concerns and the levels of use to guide the beginning of our BYOD journey and it has been an extremely useful tool to identifying what teachers are feeling, how they are behaving and where we need to head.  What has been missing is the development of innovation configurations to share specific examples of what effective BYOD practice and implementation should look like at our school.  When I realised what a crucial part of the model I had left untouched so far, I realised that this was the key to why some staff may feel stuck at level 4-routine or lower.  Even though we spent a lot of time growing a shared understanding of the why, when, where and how, we did not invest any time together as a staff to develop the what.  So teachers could basically be back in their classes with all the technology available, planning in place for learning experiences that include the use of digital tools but no clear idea of what a successful BYOD programme should look like.

Now what?
I believe that through this learning experience, one of the answers to my research question "What support needs to be provided to ensure a successful BYOD programme?" has now become clear.

To gain all the full benefits of using the CBAM as a tool that will support us to "gauge staff concerns and programme use in order to give each person the necessary supports to ensure success" (SEDL, 2013), we need to develop an innovation configuration map, which describes the different ways in which staff might implement BYOD at Cobham.  "Leaders use this component with staff to develop a unique set of expected actions and behaviours for each person" (SEDL, 2013) .  This was a key element that I had not put in place, spending more time and effort working through identifying staff stages of concerns and levels of use. Upon reflection, I can see that this has potentially had an impact on the success of the change and a shift in concerns, practice, attitude and level of use for our teachers.

A next step for myself as a leader of ICT/e-learning at Cobham will be develop a innovation configuration map for our staff.  This will mean that one piece of the puzzle in terms of answering my research question will then be in place.  I now believe that one element of support that needs to be in place, is to have an innovation configuration map in place that clearly identifies expected staff actions and behaviours of effective practice within a successful BYOD programme.


References

Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (1987). Change in schools: Facilitating the process. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Introduction to the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E3rarcATqU

SEDL (2013) Concern-Based Adoption Model: CBAM. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/cbam/

Provisional essay plan

In preparation for the first assignment due in a few weeks for EDEM630, this blogpost is a provisional essay plan.

• What is my goal for writing this essay?

My goal for writing this essay is to fully articulate and make sense of different change models and how my own school context and the changes that we are moving towards or immersed in, can been influenced or understood through the change models identified.  Ideally, one of my goals is to use the knowledge I have gained from understanding these change models to lead a more effective change process at Cobham.

• What information do I need to include?

I need to include a wide range of relevant sources that will influence and support my own thinking in relation to my school context.  I will need to align these to the changes that are currently happening and are planned for in the future at Cobham.

• How will the information be organised?

I will use the assessment rubric and outline of what is required to shape the content of my assignment.

• What is the personal change context you would like to focus on?

The personal change context for my essay will be the introduction of BYOD to Cobham Intermediate and the support structures that are needed to ensure the most successful and effective BYOD programme possible.

• What is the central thesis or key question you aim to answer drawing on the research on change with digital technology in education?

My topic of research is "What support needs to be provided to ensure a successful BYOD programme?"

• What are the main themes you plan to address in the body of your essay (bullet points)?

 - What different areas of support need to be considered?

 - How has the issue of equity been addressed?

 - What have the key contributing factors been for other schools who consider their BYOD       programmes to be successful?

 - Where, who, when and how can schools access the necessary support needed to implement a successful BYOD programme?

• What conclusions do you anticipate?

I anticipate that there will be several different areas that need support to be put in place, for example, staff and student professional development, community consultation and infrastructure.  I also expect that there will be a large investment needed by schools in terms of funding and time to ensure the successful implementation of a BYOD programme.

Arena of Change at Cobham

e-Activity 2.1

• An introduction of your central topic of research, that is, your identified change with digital technology in education.
• A description of the ecology which identifies the relationships between your change and the wider ecosystem

Figure 1. The arena of change with a successful BYOD classroom programme at Cobham Intermediate at it's centre.

What?
My topic of research is "What support needs to be provided to ensure a successful BYOD programme?"

The change at our school in relation to this topic is that our school went BYOD at the start of Term 2 this year (2015).  We now allow and encourage all students to bring a device of their choice, that they own, to school to be used as a learning tool, when and where appropriate.  We also provide 5 iPad minis and 5 Chromebooks in every class to top up the amount of devices available for student use.

We believe that moving towards a 1:1 digital device, or at the very least 1:2 programme will enable access to technology anywhere, anytime within the school environment and beyond for our students and that this will enhance their learning experiences and enable learning activities that were previously not possible.

Figure 1 is the artifact that I am reflecting upon.  The 'arena of change' model above is created in relation to my own school context, Cobham Intermediate and is based on the work of N. Davis, 2015 and her arena of change with digital technologies.  I created this model using Google Drawings.

At the centre of this arena of change is our classroom environment, where the biggest change is visible-children coming to school with their own devices on a day-to-day basis.  We have all teachers and students, in ever class affected by this but to differing levels.  Some classes have a very high uptake, with almost 1:1, where others have less than 1/4 of students bring a device to class.  This, along with teacher confidence and competence, is enabling different degrees of device use in class. Less devices available has hindered some teachers from implementing activities that require or could benefit from device use.

Moving outwards within the arena, to a school level, the level of support provided by the leadership team, parents, BoT and PTA has had a direct impact on the BYOD programme as well.  The PTA, along with funds from community charities, have provided funding to purchase additional devices to cater for equity issues. Our BoT has supported the move to BYOD and developed sound policies and strategic planning around the roll out. Parents have been consulted with and communicated to throughout the whole process.  The leadership team is integral to planning and providing the necessary professional development needed for both staff and students to ensure new knowledge and skills are being developed.  This should also be in conjunction with what is happening in the BLCC - Burnside Learning Community Cluster, as many of these schools feed into our intermediate school or our kids move into theirs.  It is important to maximise the opportunities to collaborate and grow professionally as a staff internally and externally, across our wider PD networks, such as the cluster and online professional learning groups (PLGs) open to us, such as on Google +, Twitter, Facebook and the VLN, drawing on the expertise and knowledge of others with BYOD experience and skills.
"PD opportunities within and across schools often support change with ICT-related PD within the school and/or across it's networks of overlapping ecologies" (Davis et. al. 2013.)

In terms of the bureaucratic and political influences, the current Government has huge influence of what is happening within our school environment.  The Ministry of Education has fully supported and encouraged the effective use of digital technologies to support learning and the New Zealand curriculum gives us great scope for developing programmes that support the effective use of digital devices for learning.  "Schools should explore not only how ICT can supplement traditional ways of teaching but also how it can open up new and different ways of learning." (MoE, 2007, p. 36).

Teachers may have the scope to innovate in their teaching and learning programmes but are still accountable in terms of reporting against the national standards and meeting school student and E.R.O targets, which can influence when, what and why the incorporate the use of digital technologies into their classroom programme.  This has been been influenced hugely however since the government invested in the school network upgrade programme (SNUP), ultra-fast broadband in schools (UFBiS) and the Network for Learning (N4L).  Having the much needed infrastructure in place was critical in terms of the timing for when our school was finally in a position to move to BYOD.

Finally, the services available also contributed to whether we would go BYOD and of course, of successful the implementation of the BYOD programme will be.  When Cobham trialled BYOD in a small amount of classes last year, we also trialled GAFE accounts for all of the staff in the school and just the students in those classes and use of the Hapara Teacher Dashboard for managing the google account in those classes.  The success of both of these initiatives was such, it went without saying that when we rolled out BYOD across the whole school this year, all students now would move to GAFE accounts and all classes would use Hapara Teacher Dashboard to manage student work, with Rev It supporting us with the management of our network and hardware.

So What?
Seeing the ecosystem clearly identified and visible has been an affirming moment, as well as being able to articulate how the relationships between each layer has impacted on the change taking place within the classroom, or more specifically, impacting on how successful the change has, or has not been implemented and managed within our school and for our students.  Seeing the layers of change and how they interact developed my own understanding of the domino effect of change across the ecosystems-you can't get change happening in isolation, "Systems don't change because only one party takes action" (Fullan, 2014, p. 76).

Upon reflecting on how the ecologies exist and interact with each other in relation to my own school environment, it is apparent that our teachers are at the heart of the model and therefore at the 'coalface' for the change.  This is where the ultimate success of BYOD will be measured, in terms of what our teachers feedback about how the devices are being used, the uptake of BYOD and most importantly, the impact of student engagement and achievement.  This being said, the teachers would not have necessarily been able to make this whole school change without the support and direction from leadership.  Fullan (2011) comments that "...for a system to develop it must be led.  Supportive leaders become an essential component" (p. 3).  In our case, leadership has been driving this change from the outset, allowing for consultation with all key stakeholders,  professional development opportunities for staff, providing ample funding for school devices to top up availability in classes and ensure equity for all, as well as implementing a pilot programme so we could slowly introduce the change and evaluate its impact for our staff, students and whānau before making a decision about rolling this out across the whole school.  This meant that we were confident that we were making the right decision, based on what our teachers and students wanted and based on evidence gathered around an increase in engagement.  We are still investigating any direct links to an increase in student achievement results as this is harder to prove. In my opinion, the leadership support to make this change, for the right reasons and through a systematic, deliberate and well-timed approach has meant the initial stages of the change process has been successful so far.

Now What?
I would like to encourage others to view and reflect upon my arena of change.  I would love to receive some feedback as to other perspectives in relation to my model and any similarities or differences other school contexts face in relation to the implementation of BYOD at their schools.

As I become more knowledgeable about correct APA referencing and annotated bibliographies I may need to edit this post and correct any errors I may have made.

I have aspirations to share this model with the staff and leadership team at my school, or perhaps even better, work through a collaborative activity where groups, which could include staff, leadership, governance, parents, students etc could create their own change arena for our school.  Having mixed groups could broaden the perspectives brought to the table and identify different influences the others may not have considered.  We could then share the change arenas and identify the similarities and/or differences as well as the possible implications and opportunities.


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Davis, N., Eickelmann, B. and Zaka, P. (2013), Restructuring of educational systems in the digital age from a co-evolutionary perspective. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29: 438–450. doi: 10.1111/jcal.12032. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.canterbury.ac.nz/doi/10.1111/jcal.12032/epdf

Description: This article recognises the increasing range of radical restructuring resulting from the co-evolution of education and digital technologies in school systems and related activity in the global ecosystem. It explains the co-evolutionary perspective of ICT in education, sharing learning from a case study of a rural secondary school in New Zealand and explores resistance to restructuring with ICT, the co-evolution of virtual schooling in the U.S and summarises the restructuring of schooling systems in the 21st century.

Evaluation: An excellent article that uses a wide range of evidence informed research to supports its statements. It clearly articulates and defines the relevant terms and describes how the interconnected ecosystems relate to each other however I also found it to be written to a high academic level, therefore it takes careful thought and consideration to be able to process and understand the concepts. This article has been essential to supporting my topic of research as I have used the arena of change model as the basis for understanding my own school context and the various ecologies and influences surrounding and impacting on my own school perspective.




Fullan, M. (2011). Learning is the work. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13396087260.pdf

Description: This paper outlines some of the traditional forms for teacher development and the lack of success these have had in terms of making a real difference to improving teacher practice. The overall theme for the paper is how collaboration is the key to substantial and effective teacher development and that this collaboration occurs regularly and across various levels. It is in the day-to-day conversations, support systems, feedback and feed-forward and professional conversations that happen between and across staff, leaders, students and parents. This also extends outwards to between and across other schools, networks, organisations and collaborative networks. It details how innovation will come from teachers working in collaboration and leaders developing an interactive system.
Evaluation: This paper comes from a well respected and internationally known educator (one of my favourite experts to learn from). It is short and succinct, making it easy to read and process. The results are linked to Canadian and American examples but I still found the information relevant and applicable to my own experiences within the New Zealand education system. The key concept of collaboration is extremely relevant to our school context as it is a key focus across the school to develop and enhance student and staff collaboration. This also is very relevant given the move to Learning Community Clusters (LCC) and the Investing in Educational Success (IES) policy where our schools is now needing to collaborate across several schools within the Burnside LCC.





Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2014). A Rich Seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3897.Rich_Seam_web.pdf

Description: This report discusses three new forces impacting on education today and going forward into the future. The first force is 'new pedagogies' and relates to the new learning partnerships that develop between and among students and teachers when resources and digital tools become 'pervasive' The second force is 'new change leadership' which 'merges top-down, bottom-up and sideways energies to generate change faster and easier than anything seen in past efforts at reform'. The third force is 'new system economics' where the essential and powerful learning resources and tools which accelerate the first 2 forces become more affordable for all. The report gives the background to why change is happening globally, what the new pedagogies are all about, how they can be viewed in modern education and what the possibilities are if the new pedagogies model is developed in schools.

Evaluation: This report is an excellent resource for anyone in education. It comes from a well respected and internationally known educator (Fullan) who has numerous highly regarded books and papers published in relation to key educational concepts within future-focused learning like change management, leadership, collaboration, digital tools etc. The report is well structured and references a huge amount of research, both from international experts as well as New Zealand experts, which I found reassuring to know there were links to our education system. One of the most beneficial aspects of this report was the numerous school stories, including teacher quotes, statistics & data, tables of relevant information etc as I was able to directly link and substitute these examples with some of our own information in relation to my school context. I believe this report is an essential resource for education leaders and all teachers to read as it is engaging, informative and very motivating. You come away for a better sense of the immediate need for change and the possibilities the new pedagogies model could provide us with.





Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

Description: The New Zealand Curriculum document, alongside Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, is the key document which sets the direction for student learning in primary and secondary schools throughout New Zealand. It provides essential information and guidance schools need when designing and/or reviewing their school curriculum.

Evaluation: The New Zealand Curriculum document is viewed positively by many and is widely considered as flexible, practical, more child-centered and an improvement on its predecessor. Some express uncertainty due to the reduced prescription and increased professional autonomy.

Bring it on BYOD

One of the first tasks I need to complete as part of EDEM630 is to select a research topic, under the umbrella of change with digital technologies in education, to direct my own study of the literature during the course in preparation for the final research paper or case study I will have to submit.

It was a no brainer for me as to what I wanted to focus on and anyone reading back through my previous posts will notice I have already started musing out loud about this kaupapa as so much of my work and strategic planning as DP and the lead teacher of e-learning revolves around this - BYOD.

My first task is as follows:

• STATE your research topic and identify the specific digital technology (or technologies).
• WHY did you choose the topic? What interests you about it? Do you have an opinion about the issues involved?
• WHO are the information providers on this topic? Who might publish information about it? Who is affected by the topic? Do you know of organizations or institutions affiliated with the topic?
• WHAT are the major questions for this topic? Is there a debate about the topic? Are there a range of issues and viewpoints to consider?
• WHERE is your topic important: at the local, national or international level? Are there specific places affected by the topic?
• WHEN is/was your topic important? Is it a current event or an historical issue? Do you want to compare your topic by time periods?

My research topic will be: What support needs to be provided to ensure a successful BYOD programme?

I chose this topic because going whole school BYOD is a huge change currently being implemented at Cobham and it will continue to play a major role in our strategic planning going forward as well as all teaching and learning programmes, hopefully in time, play a vital role in improved student assessment and evaluation processes, not to mention opening up learning to whānau and our wider community.  This is a relatively new topic to education, increasing in interest over the last 4 or so years since the iPad/tablet was developed as the introduction of smaller, more affordable devices made the possibility of a 1:1 programme, with all students using some form of personal computer or mobile device, an absolute reality.

There are lot's of fantastic information providers available online who have lots of relevant thinking and resources to share, here are some New Zealand gems!
Virtual Learning Network (VLN) - BYOD in Schools Group
Enabling e-Learning - Learning with 1:1 digital devices
Twitter - BYOD
CORE Education Ltd - BYOD
EdTalks - BYOD, 1:1 digital devices

Besides these I would like to acknowledge that there is a wealth of information shared internationally that offers much to learn from but some of the best learning I have gleaned about this topic and leadership around e-learning has been from other educators blogging about their journey, here are just a couple of my favourite Kiwi bloggers:

• Learning, leading change - Claire Amos
• The Quo has lost it's status - Tony Grey

Making the decision for a school to go BYOD and move towards a 1:1 device programme is a big one as people have differing opinions on whether this is a good thing or not.  There are plenty of fantastic discussions online debating the pros and cons or the things worth considering before you take that leap:

• http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2013/09/five-questions-parents-should-ask-schools-about-byod.html 
• http://zinkerz.com/why-more-schools-should-go-byod/ 
• http://neatoday.org/2012/07/19/should-schools-embrace-bring-your-own-device/
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2014/01/19/the-next-revolution-in-school-tech-bring-your-own-device/
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-discussions-schools-should-have-vicki-davis

and 

• http://www.borjournals.com/a/index.php/jbmssr/article/viewFile/142/1194  *

I personally think it is a must.  Schools cannot and should not have to provide all students with a laptop or tablet but rather take advantage of the fact that most students already have one anyway and now we can use these devices to engage and ignite learning in the classroom by introducing BYOD.  I do believe though, that schools must address the issue of equity and should always make up the shortfall and provide devices for all students who are not able to purchase/provide their own.

The major questions that are driving my own thinking and seem to be the key questions considered in many debates around the topic are...

1. How do we ensure staff are prepared and feeling confident and competent enough to run a successful 1:1 digital device programme in their class?  If staff are not ready, it is likely that they may not include opportunities for students to effectively use their devices and therefore we have parents spending lots of money on learning tools that don't get used!
2. How can we track whether the 1:1 digital device programme is successful for both staff and students?
3. Is it better to mandate what type of device should be used or allow any type? What are the pros and cons of both option?
4. What can the school do to ensure equitable outcomes for all students? (e.g. access to a quality device, access to all learning opportunities provided, opportunities for engaging learning experiences utilising the devices)

I would love to hear any ideas, thoughts, feedback or links to other interesting reads or research you may know about that could help me on my way - sharing is caring!

* Singh, N. (2012, December). B.Y.O.D. Genie is out of the bottle - "Devil or Angel".  Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research.  Retrieved from http://www.borjournals.com/a/index.php/jbmssr/article/viewFile/142/1194

Description: This journal article focuses on the trend of businesses allowing their employees to 'bring their own device' to use at work and the pros and cons of this happening in the workplace.

Evaluation: The information comes from a reputable source and follows the expected model of a research article with excellent information, literature review, data and analysis.  This article was useful for my research as it clearly documented a similar methodology as to what I hope to follow with my own research and had an abundance of information that although was related to the context of a business/workplace environment, it had obvious links to the context of education.  

Lifelong learner in action!

I have a passion for learning that has been with me right throughout my life.  And because of this, I have not gone longer than 1 year without doing some kind of personal study or learning since I started kindy. Some might say I am a glutton for punishment, which is true, but the truth is I get restless easy and once I finish or achieve a goal, I am eager to begin the next.  So when I started my Masters of Education in 2010, I knew that I would keep going, (even with several new jobs, new babies and new houses to deal with) until I graduated and received the qualification I have spent thousands of dollars and I don't want to even acknowledge how many hours on!

This year I am studying part-time again as I am working full time.  All going well, come December, I will have completed my Masters of Education!  The reason I am sharing this with you, is firstly to promote lifelong learning as adults and the continuation of study through the varied institutions available.  Secondly, one of my papers that starts this term, requires me to blog about the course learning so rather than start a new blog, I will be blogging right here as it fits perfectly with the kaupapa of 'learning out loud', links directly to my work at Cobham as well as my obvious interest in educational change, the effective use of digital technologies and a shift to 'modern learning pedagogies or practice'.

Have I hooked some of you?  If so, here is where you can find out more about the two courses I am completing this year through the University of Canterbury:

EDEM682 - Transforming Education in Canterbury

EDEM630 - Change with Digital Technologies in Education

Check it out and perhaps think about taking the dive next year yourself....I know you are busy, we all are, but the challenge, the achievement and the learning experiences are worth it.  Be a role model for your kids, push yourself, make it happen and share your learning!