Did you hear that Lee County Schools are allowing you to BYOD for the 2015-2016 school year? The idea is that by allowing children to Bring their own device, it will allow your elementary kids to incorporate their electronic devices into the learning process. Our Elementary school’s PTO team recently had a meeting where they explained what our school would allow and what the rules would be.
First you and your child have to complete and sign an agreement form to bring in a device. They will allow laptops, tablets, smart phones, iPods and iPads. The children will only be able to sign in through the schools secure server and will not be able to access youtube, Facebook or other social media platforms. They will not be allowed to take pictures or videos. They won’t be allowed to share devices with one another. The kids will have to bring their devices fully charged, no charging while at school. They will have designated areas for usage, green light means yes you can use your device, red light means no you cannot.
The #1 thing to be aware of is your child is bringing their personal device at their own will and the school is not responsible for theft, lost or broken items. So before you send that big ticket item in ask yourself, is your child responsible enough to take care of this alone at school? And even if they are, if another child takes the device, the school is not responsible. So we are definitely going to think twice before participating.
The schools rightfully want to keep up to date and in the know with technology and in a few years, every elementary child will be assigned a school laptop or tablet that they can take home. If you can wait a few years this will be given to you but if not, you can participate this upcoming school year. We’ll receive more info over the summer.
