Libraries in Developing Countries
"Should libraries in developing nations rely on donations and weeded books from developed nations?" My answer many years ago would have been yes, but not now. When I stop to think about the weeded books I sent years ago, I wonder, "Why should these students only have access to worn, out of date, and often politically incorrect books. Don't all children have the right to update to date, accurate information about the world?" Of course, they do. Richard Rowe in his Tedx talk, ICTs changing education in developing countries, says that education is the answer to many of the world's problems. This is the reason we must worry about the education of all the children of the world.
According to Susan Moody from Worldreader over 80% of people in parts of developing countries have access to mobile phones. This proves to me that mobile devices can play a huge role in the libraries and schools of these countries. Mobile devices will help level the playing field for the children in these countries.
BYOD
I was surprised to see so much information about BYOD. At my school and in my district, I think, there has been a "no cell phone rule" in place. My district is so far behind. Because of severe budget restraints, our technology has been archaic and teacher training has been nonexistent, unless you did it yourself. PAC has been helpful by raising funds to purchase technology, but without teacher training the new devices remain under utilized. Until the teachers integrate technology into their current pedagogy, I don't think they are ready to begin with BYOD. Regardless of this fact, the time will come when we will need to begin developing BYOD policies and T/L must be willing to take part in the discussion and use their school library as a model for classroom teachers on how personal devices can enhance student learning. By allowing BYOD we will be supporting 21st century literacy.
The Alberta government's guide, Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools, is an extremely comprehensive tool to refer to before developing our own policy. A quote, from an Alberta teacher, to support BYOD is found at the beginning of the guide.
“Learning is complex work and like other forms of skilled and technical work it requires that the person performing the job understand and be comfortable with his or her tool set.”
One thing I liked about this guide was that it included different models for BYOD from a standardized model to a flexible models and many in between. The Standardized model limiting the brands of devices to be used and the flexible model with no limit except that the device be Internet ready. The Pros and cons of each model are clearly presented in charts. The guide also provides many vignettes to provide practical examples of how individuals schools are incorporating BYOD.
Other articles I read supporting BYOD in schools were 6 BYOD Discussions Every School Should Have by Vicki Davis and Why BYOD Makes Sense: Thinking Beyond a Standardized 1:1 by Andrew Marcinek. Davis' article offers good advice based in her experience implementing BYOD. She believes BYOD will help students develop their own personalized learning environments. Marcinek believes in BYOD because, "homogenization of any tool is never a good idea in a context that is intended to foster creativity." Marcinek also states ,"giving choice makes it less about the device and more about the learning." Isn't this what teachers want?
At first read, the topics appeared different but after doing some reading I see the connection between them. Mobile devices can connect all of us and support learning for everyone, everywhere.
Works Cited
Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools. N.p.: Alberta Education, 2012. Print.
Davis, Vicki. "6 BYOD Discussions Every School Should Have." Edutopia. Edutopia, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-discussions-schools-should-have-vicki-davis
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-discussions-schools-should-have-vicki-davis
"How Mobile Devices Drive Literacy in Developing World." YouTube. WSJ, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.http://youtu.be/u3NqU6gqsTM
Marcinek, Andrew. "Why BYOD Makes Sense: Thinking Beyond a Standardized 1:1." Edutopia. Edutopia, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-makes-sense-beyond-1-to-1-andrew-marcinek
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-makes-sense-beyond-1-to-1-andrew-marcinek
Rowe, Richard. "ICTs Changing Education in Developing Countries: Richard Rowe at TEDx." N.p., 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
http://youtu.be/k1Hvmt4PY_Y
http://youtu.be/k1Hvmt4PY_Y
A good discussion around the central issues of access and support in a global environment where it can be very difficult to get access to the information you need to improve your own life. Your discussion of the evolution of our thinking from passing on our old out of date materials to instead working on increasing access and supporting all students, no matter what they might have, is a powerful new direction. Some good examples, good tagging and good linking and embedding.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the Alberta BYOD policy. I have tucked it into my toolkit for future reference! It will be interesting to see how our local policy develops.
ReplyDeleteYes, Alberta has a lot of great policies and resources around technology use. Working in the same district as you, I have often voiced the same concerns with our use of technology and our training to use it. I know your frustration, though I see some hope in the future with more PACs getting behind providing new technology in the form of iPads, Document Cameras, Projectors, and Smartboards. I know I have allowed intermediate students to listen to books on their devices for different activities, and at time have allowed students to use their devices to research topics. They found that they were able to do the research faster with their devices than with our poor little notebook computers. I also had a policy that if I came by to check on their use of their devices and they were not using them correctly I would seize their phones etc, they would get them back at the end of the day. They were not able to use their device in the library if they were caught misusing them two times. Rarely had to seize any device, and found that students using the computers were more likely to misuse them as they did not worry about me seizing their devices. They did run the risk of me printing out information and then losing the use of the computers. In both cases they needed to earn back the trust. I did this at my small school though find myself less comfortable at my new bigger school. Maybe that comes from the stronger connections I had with the students where I interacted with the students more often throughout the day, even on days that I did not see them in the library.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is similar, in terms of my district generally frowning on mobile device use during class time. I've had a few students reading e-books on their phones, but not many. I do think it's changing, though, with more schools having mobile ipad carts (although they're usually stuck sharing them with several other classrooms).
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about education and leveling the playing field. Providing access to information seems like one of the best ways to achieve that sort of democratic equality of opportunity..
Thanks for sharing the Alberta BYOD policy. This is something that I am not familiar with. I work in an elementary school that is K to grade 5 and not very many students have their own mobile devices, so BYOD is not an issue at my school. However, this is still good to know as technology is constantly changing and being able to adapt is important. Also, I totally agree that we need to provide equal access to information for everyone.
ReplyDelete