Now for the next challenge: BYOD

We took a decisive step toward the 21st century today by inaugurating a bring-your-own-device policy to the school.  From this point forward, students will have access to the wireless internet service at our school.  Use of cell phones, tablets, and laptops will be permitted.  I think it's been a long time coming.  It's a good change, filled with a lot more good than bad.  I can see our challenges being as follows:

• Bandwidth and other infrastructure limitations: I don't know if the grownups of schools realize how video-rich the content our students use is.  Even with legitimate school projects, students are accustomed to video rather than straight text.  Also, a lot of our kids might rely on their devices to stream Pandora or Spotify as they work.  I think we're in for a shock as to how much our kids will consume.  
• Modeling how responsible grownups use technology in a social setting.  Of course, we don't really have a firm set of rules for ourselves.  We trial-and-errored it throughout our own 20s and 30s.  The presence of kids' devices in our classroom will force us to think deliberately about what habits and manners we want to see. 
• The divide between haves and have-nots.  We've moved toward the laptop being an essential item for an adolescent.  But many of our kids come from households than cannot afford this accoutrement.  Those without the devices are going to feel like a lonely minority.  Inevitably, there will be a low-cost device kids can buy, rent, or borrow.  But it's a few years until we'll see it as a merit good, an item for which all are deserving.

But, again, there's so much more potential for good here.  I'll be able to move toward a paperless classroom.  I'll be able to more flexibly assign work and guide research.  Further, I'll be able to have students send me that work that somehow doesn't get through from home.  This really could clear up a lot of problems.