The BYOD Model in Education: Advantages and Disadvantages

Carrying your own mobile devices everywhere – that's what the BYOD model is all about. Here, we'll look at its advantages and disadvantages.

We can’t argue about the importance of integrating ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) into school, classrooms and learning processes as an educational resource. The BYOD model in education reinforces this idea, even when there are no resources available at the school. In fact, it’s the students themselves who take their own mobile devices to school.

The BYOD model, or “bring your own device”

This model is already common in work environments that allows people to bring their own devices to work. This is a trend that’s also spreading to the educational field. With it, students can improve their learning experiences by connecting to the network in class from their own portable devices (smartphones, laptops or tablets).

The BYOD model is based on saving resources. In other words, it can be a way to efficiently manage resources when school budgets are limited and schools don’t have enough equipment to offer their students.

In addition, the BYOD model is slowly becoming more common in schools. However, it’s mainly for more advanced levels, like high school or college.

Advantages and disadvantages of the BYOD model

Obviously, the fact that students are in their classes with their own devices can cause a lot of discussion. There are positions that defend this trend, as well as others that are against it. Next, we’ll show you some advantages and disadvantages that we believe the BYOD model presents.

Advantages

• It can save money for schools that can’t afford to purchase a lot of portable devices for all their students.
• It can help take care of devices better. The fact that students bring their own devices means they’ll be more responsible and careful using them. Then, misusing devices or breaking them is up to the family, not the school, to fix.
• Each student knows how to use their own devices very well. They’re familiar with their programs and applications, how to install new ones, and where to store information.
• Although each student will work alone from their device, being connected to the network will help them do cooperative work. Also, they can be in immediate and constant interaction with their classmates and teachers.
• Kids can do schoolwork easily at home. Although there are applications that let them access content from anywhere, it’s even better if they do it from their own devices.
• The fact that students can work in class with their own devices could mean greater satisfaction and motivation in school work.

Disadvantages

• Not all families have the financial resources to provide their children with mobile devices. Additionally, at certain ages, they don’t think it’s necessary or appropriate for their children to have one.
• Using mobile devices in class could cause distractions and inappropriate use. While using them, teachers should have classroom rules for them. For example, limiting the use of portable devices only for school hours and not for recess.
• Schools and classrooms must be prepared for the devices by having enough power and plugs for all devices.
• Teachers must have thorough training in teaching with technology. The training should help them design and develop classes to integrate different applications.
• The school’s network needs to be able to support so many devices. Also, they need to implement strict controls to prevent any device from being infected with viruses and from infecting others.
• Even when all the students are connected via the network, contact with the device increases and face-to-face and partner contact decreases.

Conclusion

We’ve described just a few advantages and disadvantages of the BYOD model in education. However, it’s still very new and needs more exploration and research. It requires teachers to be prepared, as well as the acceptance of mobile devices in classrooms, which many schools currently don’t allow.

Finally, the BYOD model implies many changes to be used in schools, but it can cause amazing transformations in the teaching-learning processes.