BYOB

Bring your own electronic device to school or a library program is a new concept to me. I am not sure how I feel about it. There are both pros and cons to this idea. As a parent, I can see the problems which could arise in schools. As library support staff, I can see the advantages of people bringing their own devices.

For school, the parent would need to buy the device. This could be a problem for the students from lower income families. Some families are struggling to put food on the table. To ask them to come up with enough money to buy an electronic device could cause a great financial hardship. If they do manage to buy their child an electronic device, it might be a cheaper one, which could possibly lead to bullying. It can also lead to parents needing to choose between a device and another necessity for school (such as wi-fi). As one parent stated in the study Bring Your Own Device to Secondary School: The Perceptions of Teachers, Students and Parents, “The homework set was assuming that everyone had broadband which we didn't because I couldn't afford it as I was paying off a tablet (we now have it).” You can access this study at http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1099110.pdf . The study is full of great information collected from teachers, students, and parents who participated in a pilot program of students bringing their own devices to school for classwork purposes and using these same devices for homework.

Another thing parents complained about was their child spending too much time with the device and not enough time with their family. As our children become teens, they spend little enough time with us as it is. As a parent, I would not like my child to spend even more time in their room.

For programming in a library, I can definitely see the ways patrons could benefit from this idea. We could provide more patrons with training, rather than just the few based on how many devices the library owns. When there are technology based programs, registration fills up quickly because there are not enough computers, laptops, etc. for all the people wanting to attend. At my library  we only have 16 computers in our computer lab and no handheld devices. With this type of program, we could use the money that would be spent on expensive devices to purchase other things. We could offer resume and job search assistance to many more people than just the 16 our computer lab can hold.

http://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/library-teaches-video-game-design-in-hour-of-code-program/1632486

This is an example of how libraries can offer more programming to customers if they bring their own device.

Another benefit  of BYOD is children could learn coding and not be confined to a computer desk and a limit of just a few seats. We could also provide teen friendly programming in a more relaxed environment if they brought their own device as well as focus the program on what we are trying to teach rather than how to use a device the customer has not used before.

As with any new idea, there are bumps in the road. As we test them out, we find ways to make the idea or program better. I am sure a couple of months from now there will be new data and more information on ways to successfully have people BYOB.

Walton, Graham. "Will Smart Phones and Other Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Dominate How Academic Library Services Are Developed and Delivered for the Foreseeable Future?." New Review of Academic Librarianship, vol. 20, no. 1, Jan-Apr2014, pp. 1-3. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/13614533.2014.875294.

Parsons, David and Janak Adhikar. "Bring Your Own Device to Secondary School: The Perceptions of Teachers, Students and Parents." Electronic Journal of E-Learning, vol. 14, no. 1, 01 Jan. 2016, pp. 66-80. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1099110&site=ehost-live&scope=site.