ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 1: Digital issues
18
benefit too: with budgets shrinking
more every year, schools are often
unable to provide students with
up-to-date devices for use in the
classroom, so having them use
their own is a simple and cost-
effective way to obtain and maintain
equipment that’s fit for purpose.
Recent research by the British
Educational Suppliers’ Association
shows that 81% of schools would
‘consider’ using BYOD and 16%
would ‘prefer’ it to bulk-buying
equipment for the school. “We’ve
also found that no student has
ever broken their own device,” says
Brian. “And generally what they
own is better than what we could
provide.”
When using BYOD in a school
setting, then the infrastructure is
vital. Tibshelf worked closely with
its chosen ICT providers, the Stone
Group, to build a system that would
be able to support a multitude of
devices being used all at once,
that would work for both Apple and
Android platforms and that would
stop devices from bringing viruses
into the school system. “Security
was also a huge concern for us,”
says Brian. “We needed it to be
completely secure, with no chance
of it being hacked.” The students’
server is therefore separate from the
staff one, so sensitive information is
not accessible.
As well as keeping the network safe,
the ability to keep devices secure is
also vital, so the issue of storage
needs to be considered. LapSafe
Products manufactures trolleys and
lockers for just this very purpose,
and which have the added bonus
of being able to charge devices too.
“It’s important to ensure that you
provide the right kind of storage,
security and availability of lockers
as well as a number of charging
methods to support the multitude
of devices available today,” says
Mark Exley, LapSafe’s Business
Development Director.
“Not all devices are the same, and
that must be considered when
introducing BYOD into a school; you
must provide a universal solution
that is manageable, scalable and,
of course, cost effective.” The
company will work closely with a
school and its staff to establish a
BYOD storage and charging solution
that works for them. There are
clearly a myriad of positive benefits
of such a system, but what problems
has Tibshelf encountered? “Student
misuse and how to deal with it is the
biggest issue,” explains Brian. “So
we made it clear from the beginning
that the teacher has to ask students
to bring out their devices – it’s not
a given assumption in every lesson.
As a carrot, we gave permission for
students to use the Wi-Fi at break
times for personal use, but the stick
is that if they misuse the system in
class, we can instantly cut off their
access.”
Getting all of the staff on board had
to be considered as well, as some
were more reticent to implement
it into their teaching practice than
others due to concerns about
abuse of the system and its
appropriateness in a school setting.
“We didn’t enforce it,” Brian says.
“Teachers had the option to use it or
not. But my attitude is, if something
is better than what you already
have, why wouldn’t you use it?”
Another concern of BYOD is that
not all students come from the
same
economic
background,
meaning that they may not own
their own device, or could have a
cheaper version. This could lead to
both bullying from other students
and also be an educational
disadvantage. To overcome this,
Tablets for Schools recommends
that schools operate a financial
support strategy which offers loans,
lease-to-own schemes, grants or
donations.
Brian has some tips to share
with other schools who might be
thinking of bringing in BYOD. “A
good network is vital; one that is
secure and has the capability to
handle a large number of devices
on it. I would suggest getting in
experts who know the field well
rather than doing things in-house –
I can’t recommend the Stone Group
enough. You have to sell the idea of
BYOD to staff, so involve them from
the very beginning and allay any
fears they may have. Share some
ideas with them on how to use it
in their lessons. Once you’ve got
some wins and positive uses, you’ll
be able to build on these. We’re
really pleased with how it’s going
and what it can be used for in the
future.”
17 June 2015
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from Education Technology.
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