by Kerri Traynor, 7th Grade Science Teacher
BYOD has improved the learning for my students by encouraging them to learn how to work with others, be independent learners, and problem solvers. One of the activities my students completed by using their own devices was a Human Body Systems Voicethread. This assignment required the students to work with a partner, research information about the human body systems, and to use Voicethread to create a final product. BYOD allowed the students to share devices for researching the required information as well as to create the Voicethread. The students were also able to use their own device to view other students’ projects and make positive comments about them. The students were focused and involved every day they were working on their assignment. They were excited about coming to class and eager to work on their assignment. Permitting the students to use their devices in the classroom allows the students to learn the way they live. The BYOD initiative has encouraged the students who would not necessarily participate in class to become more engaged in lessons. Whether it is from just simply taking a picture of a power point slide during a class discussion, or looking up information for further understanding, to taking video of moving an object using a spring scale so it can be watched in slow motion to reading the amount of newtons it took to move the object. These are just a few ways BYOD has been implemented into my classroom. BYOD has allowed the students to be more responsible for their learning, which in the end makes them independent learners who can solve problems for themselves and become thinkers rather than memorizers.