BYOD- Bring Your Own Device

by Susan Hardy

                BYOD, Bring Your Own Device, has become popular with schools, libraries, and businesses as a way for students and employees to use their own laptop or tablet at school, in the library or in the workplace.  According to Carol Kondrach, the program “is about supporting your community in the ways they want to work, teach and learn by allowing them to use the most appropriate tool for the job.” 

                Some benefits of BYOD, according to DASHLANE are “it saves money on device expenditures, leverages device familiarity, and allows more productivity.”  On the other hand, DASHLANE points out that “some challenges are the mixing of personal and company information, less control over acceptable use, lost or stolen devices, security and password management.” Other cons are whether the device is up to date with most current technology, free of viruses and compatible with network. Also, schools relying on a BYOD policy may find that the policy is not equitable, especially for large families.  Questions like who is responsible for lost/stolen devices?  Who is responsible for technical support? And, what happens if device is not charged or left at home make it clear that policy would have to be made about these issues in schools.

                One way to work around the issue of compatibility and equity is for schools and libraries to offer devices pre-loaded with the requirements to use their network. An example of this San Diego County Library’s use of Tech Connect (https://www.sdcl.org/techconnect/).  Tech Connect is a program in which 7,000 Chromebook and hotspots are available to check out and keep for as long as the data service contract is in effect.  Minors need parental consent through an Attestation form to check out a device. This service is free with a library card and availability. 

Dashlane. “BYOD Policies for Organizations (4 Examples).” Dashlane, 29 Jan. 2024, www.dashlane.com/blog/byod-policies-for-organizations.

Hoit, Author(s):  Carol Kondrach  Steve DiFilipo    Moderator(s):  Marc. “Rolling out a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Program.” EDUCAUSE Library, 5 June 2012, library.educause.edu/resources/2012/6/rolling-out-a-byod-bring-your-own-device-program.

“Tech Connect.” San Diego County Library, www.sdcl.org/techconnect/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.