Issue 1: Equity
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What is Equity? |
“Equity does not necessarily mean one size fits all, but rather that all students have pathways available to accomplish established tasks, activities and goals.”
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‘Students who do not have personal technology devices have greater access to school-owned technology tools when students who bring their own devices to school are no longer competing for that access,'” –Education blogger Lisa Nielsen
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School programs to ensure equity
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'We have committed to a range of products to make devices affordable for our families. It's great to see the deeply discounted pricing of the Kobo products,' said Brian Woodland, director of communications and community relations for Peel DSB. 'It'll put these high-quality tablets within reach for many of our students.'
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A Vignette – Equity of access
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School boards must determine how their specific program will address issues of inequality; to alleviate such inequalities and advance equity of access.
Equity of access to personally owned devices. The intent of the BYOD policy in the Edmonton Public Schools is to encourage students to bring personal computing devices in to schools where there is a platform to which they can connect their devices. However, the policy leaves the day-to-day decisions about where and when students are allowed to use those devices up to teachers. Teachers know that if and when they require a student to use an electronic device, the school will need to provide one – unless the student chooses to bring his/her own. In Edmonton Public Schools, one of the exceptions to the school provisioning of devices is an optional one-to-one program where Grade 7 students are expected to provide their own device. Students sign up for that program, with the approval and support of their parents. The device provided by students can be anything from a handheld mobile device to a full-featured laptop. The only criterion is that the device must be able to connect to the school wireless network. By winter break of the first year the BYOD model was implemented, only three students were still using school-owned devices – the rest had opted into the BYOD model. The majority of those students participating in that first year continued that practice the next year in Grade 8. Parents were willing to provide the technology once they saw that it would be integrated into their children’s learning on a daily basis. |
References
Barseghian, T. (2012). Privacy, Equity, and other BYOD Concerns. Retrieved from
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/09/12/privacy-equity-and-other-byod-concerns/
International Society for Technology in Education (2016). Ensure equity in your BYOD classroom. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=440&category=Toolbox&article=
Rushowy, K. (2014). BYOD - bring your own device - now in most Ontario schools, survey finds. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2014/04/01/byod_bring_your_own_device_now_in_most_ontario_schools_survey_finds.html
School Technology Branch Alberta Education (2012). Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools. Retrieved from http://cuebc.ca/cue/conference_documents/dell/AlbertaEducationBYODGuide.pdf
Wilkinson, R. (2014). Peel District School Board teams up with Kobo. Retrieved from
http://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-story/4887849-peel-district-school-board-teams-up-with-kobo/