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BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

   


By Angela Naranjo 

  BYOD or “Bring your own device,” refers to allowing individuals to bring their own devices or use their own devices to school or the workplace rather than using the devices provided. Over time, these practices have grown in the education system and the workplace. 

    BYOD in the classroom has created many opportunities for students to grow their learning but has also raised some questions about security. Some opportunities that teachers have stated about BYOD are that students are now able to interact with other students worldwide through skype (Bruder). It also allows teachers to create more interactive assignments in which students use their microphones and cameras to communicate (Bruder). Then there are the questions about security, whether the internet can be overused with so many devices connected, causing it to slow down and the concern of storage for devices. Many schools have created their own policies for their BYOD program, but Patricia Bruder from NJEA Review points out that having separate zones for network uses, allows usage from teachers and students to be separated and brings up the idea of device storage while students are not using the devices or are in transit to another class. 

BYOD in the workplace has grown over the years and has allowed many companies to create new policies for the practice. Many concerns in the workplace for bringing in your own device focused on the risk of company information being exposed. However, many of the benefits for using your own device in the workplace, is employee focused. Bringing your own device to work allows employees to use a device they are already comfortable with and takes away the need to train them on using new devices (Gatewood). And every workplace must implement their own policies for this program, that allows employees to feel safe while using their own devices and protocols in case anything were to happen to their device (Gatewood). 


Bruder, Patricia. “GADGETS GO TO SCHOOL: The Benefits and Risks of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).” Education Digest, vol. 80, no. 3, Nov. 2014, pp. 15–18. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=99173566&site=ehost-live&scope=site.


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