Activity 6: Contemporary issues or trends in New Zealand or internationally

Issue 1:  Bring your own device for 1:1 classrooms

There is an on-going debate in New Zealand schools and homes about the practicality of 1:1 devices in the classroom.  The desire for every child to have a device for their sole use during the school day becomes a debate as to who will purchase the device, maintain the device and have ultimate ownership of the device.  There are pros and cons to both sides of the debate.  

For those who believe the schools should purchase and own the devices, the benefits are seen to be sole control of how the devices are maintained and distributed.  It is also beneficial in that every child will have access to a device regardless of their family’s ability to purchase one.  For the classroom teacher, there is an ease of use as every child is looking at the same device with the same operating system.  The downside to schools purchasing and owning the devices is that the students are unable to take them home to use for homework.  The schools must also have a large budget with which they can purchase and maintain enough up-to-date devices.

The supporters of bring your own device would say that the children would have access to their devices after school for homework, and personal use.  Students would also have the option to purchase a device that suited them and their family.  The greatest negative to BYOD would definitely be the cost to families as they are expected to provide current, accessible devices for their children.  The negative to the school is that every child has a different device, which has different operating systems, accessibility and quality.

In our learning context we have chosen to have school-provided devices.  I would highly recommend this to any school looking at going one-to-one.  It provides a uniformity and continuity that enables teachers to quickly and efficiently get the children working on-line, without fussing about whose device is working, not charged, off the school network, etc.  If I were to ever be in a new position whereby I would have influence in this decision, I would highly recommend school purchased devices, whether they be off-sold to the parents or owned by the school.

Issue 2:  On-line work vs paper & pen

There is an on-going discussion regarding the pros and cons of implementing devices into classrooms and how this will affect students’ ability with paper and pencil skills.  As schools become more digital, so do the classrooms.  Students begin to complete more and more of their daily learning tasks on the computer.  Students are engaged, motivated, supported with spelling and auto-correct tools as well as able to access numerous other learning tools.  

For many schools this becomes an issue of debate as to which work will be done on-line and which work will be done in a notebook.  As students complete work on-line, methods of marking become the next necessary step to be addressed and agreed upon.  Working through best practices for students and teachers becomes a collaborative effort.  Agreeing on which work is done on-line and which is done in notebooks is also important.

Some people are concerned that basic handwriting skills will suffer as children work less and less with paper and pencil.  Other people claim that this generation will seldom have need for paper and pencil, as so much is becoming digital.

In our school we worked collaboratively to create a shared understanding and expectations for work and marking.  This has been added to our Curriculum Delivery Plan and is being implemented and utilised by teachers.  There has also been communication with parents regarding these changes and expectations.