St. Robert school has tried many approaches to creating a better learning environment with many resources and new materials. However, none have been as successful as the new Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD for short, system started this year. All students can bring their devices to school and use them in their classes. After, a few months of school, see how devices have changed St. Robert. The Bobcats have gone from using pencils and textbooks to iPads and laptops.

Before the students could bring their own devices to school, they needed to review the policies and responsibilities. Some of the responsibilities covered how students should safely use the internet, within the school or wherever. Some of the rules that were touched in the Internet Responsibility Use Agreement were to respect your own internet identity and others.

Once all the students looked over the guidelines and  took the quiz, their parents signed sheets stating that that they agreed with the guidelines. After that, the students brought their devices to school and proved that they were ready to be certified by turning in their signed forms and put a picture of themselves as a background in case they were to lose their device so they would easily be claimed. After they completed this process, they were given a sticker proudly stating that they were BYOD certified.

Students use their devices in various ways such as note taking. Instead of writing in a notebook, students use apps on their devices to type notes. Many students believe taking notes on a device is very productive because instead of carrying their notebooks everywhere they go, they can just bring their laptops or tablets. When teachers ask their students questions, they can just open their device and Google search for the answer. Even textbooks are becoming virtual. For example, the middle school math books are now online. Students with a password can access their textbooks and complete both in class and homework on their devices. “[BYOD] changed the way that I have worked because now we can use our math online and we are learning different strategies for in the future,” eighth grade student Mallory Wittkowski explains. This has allowed students to do their homework anywhere at anytime. When on the internet, all websites are available for students to use. These websites allow students to expand on their research and learn from new sources. New resources can increase student’s understanding and take their learning to a new, deeper level.

Bringing your own device to school has impacted students in both negative and positive ways. “I like being able to [use my device] so I can do our work in school,” Mallory explains, “However, the one negative thing is that there are a lot of good information in books.” Although, there are billions of answers online, some of the best, straight forward answers are found in books. Students do continue to use offline sources to find answers and increase their understanding-even if they have devices. As the Rock, Paper, Scissor game goes, paper beats rock. St. Robert teachers give their students the freedom to use their devices whenever they want for both in class work and homework. Having the freedom to download apps and explore the internet can also have its costs. Students with devices have to face the challenges of fighting their urges to overuse their internet access powers. “It is sometimes very tempting to surf the internet,” explains seventh grade student Kate Frediani.  Especially when having fun apps and being able to go online at anytime, students may get preoccupied with the amazing power of internet that sits before them. “BYOD has affected the way I work. Sometimes, I get distracted,” BYOD certified St. Robert student Hunter Keating replies. Devices can also distract from learning in class due to the urge to type or search. However, it seems as though St. Robert students have been using their privileges wisely.

Overall, students are enjoying the ability to work online through Google Drive and other websites in all of their classes. The students have more freedoms and have created better work tactics.  So far, all St. Robert students are following the BYOD certification rules well and are appreciative of the privileges they have that allow them to access information and sources at any time.