School Bring Your Own Device Program...

Wow. I'd make the decision based on MY situation and MY child. That's what I would do.
Are you really so concerned about the kids that may feel slighted?
Don't you think those parents just might opt out?
I don't sit and think about which kids get free lunch. If we see a need, we try to help fill it. And have done so several times this school year.

First, I think the school is opening themselves up to a lot of liability. Second, if every kid brought in a device, the teacher will have to be proficient on all of them--there could be 20 different devices in one class! I'm all for technology, but this does not sound like a well-planned idea:)

Our 1st grader is allowed to do this. We are not allowing it. Our 7th grader is allowed to do this, he uses his iphone and his hand me down kindle.
And we would never go purchase a device for this purpose alone.
Do what you feel is right, not what everyone else is doing.

In my children's schools, they are provided technology to use in the classroom. They cannot take it home and it isn't "theirs"... it is used amongst the classes, so for instance, in my daughter's language arts class (she is middle school, so they change classes) the teacher has a set number of chrome books and the students use them during her class, then turn them back in at the end of class.

Same with son. He is 9th grade this year, and when he was in Literature last semester, they had ipads or chrome books for use during class time only. His particular teacher allowed the students to use their own devices (mostly ipods) to take notes and such, but that was the teacher's prerogative, not a school "program".

I am all for kids learning to use technology, but I don't think I like the sounds of the program at your kids' school.
And, as a side note, yeah... they need reduced/free lunches, but they have ipods/ipads/tablets and cell phones? Hmmmm...
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ETA: it isn't that the families may have the devices... it is that they have devices they are able to (read: can afford to) trust a first grader or kindergartner with. And for phone service.. again, I get that not everyone who has assistance to have them is scamming the system, but those programs, unless I am mistaken, aren't providing the devices to 6 year old children. They are providing them to adults who ostensibly need them for one reason or another. No government subsidies should be providing cell phones to 5 and 6 year olds. Or am I totally missing something here?

Our district has an initiative to provide every student with a laptop regardless of financial need, starting in 9th grade. At this time, families can refuse the school laptop but the kid can't bring their own to school. The school laptop can go home.

Starting next year, the science and English classes in grades 7-8 will be using tablets and netbooks. Those will also belong to the school and, if I remember correctly, will remain at the school and not go home.

As for poorer families having devices, I try to not jump to conclusions. I know a 5th grader with an iPhone. His family was living week-to-week in cheap hotels for a long while until they could get help and find a proper rental. The iPhone was free with the cell service. The cell service was absolutely necessary. A land line isn't an option when you don't have a home, and with parents working more than one job the kid needs to be able to reach them when he's alone.

I choose to not have cell service. In our current life situation, my kids don't need cell phones so they don't have them. Maybe they feel deprived because some kids do have Smartphones and iPads and such. Just because I can afford to buy them doesn't mean I will, so they can get over themselves.

I teach high school, 11th grade AP English Language and an SAT prep class. We just implemented a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) policy last month. My boys are in a different district, and have had the policy all year. My youngest is in the 3rd grade, and most parents don't send their children to school with technology. Most teachers in his school don't have the students use the technology other than in computer class anyway, and there computers are provided.

My oldest is in the 9th grade, and they can BYOT, but the school district provides iPads for every student, so they just take those to school. It's the first year they've done this, so there is a learning curve for everyone. My son says that a couple of the teachers really use them well for teaching, but most of them don't use them at all. He also says that many students spend a ton of time playing games on them. Of course, students are excellent at pretending to work on the iPads, but actually be playing. When my son has used his iPad at school, he has completed some really cool projects, and it has allowed him to streamline his notes very well, too.

I have (dare I say it!) broken the rules in the past and allowed my AP students to bring in technology. Now it's allowed anyway. It's really not a problem if they have different devices, or if I don't know how to use them. I allow technology for projects we are doing, and usually it's for group projects. I'll simply let them know a day in advance that they can bring technology the next class, and introduce the project so that they will know what kind of technology would be beneficial (powerpoint, moviemaker, filming of some kind, etc.). Then the next day they come in and work. I bring in school laptops for those who don't have their own devices, so everyone has what they need. It's just easier to save their work if they have their own devices, and usually their own devices work better. Ours are ancient.

As for elementary, though, no. We don't send technology with our 3rd grader, but if others choose to, that's their decision.

Yeah, I agree with Kristen. I don't see how the teacher is going to be able to teach to all the kids if they all have different devices.It seems like they would spend most of their time figuring out the different devices. I wonder what their plans are for the kids who don't have devices.
By the way, my kid receives reduced lunch and we have 2 laptops and an e reader. I got my laptop using the leftover grant money I have from school. The other laptop we got with income tax money for a $150 through comcas'st internet program. And our e reader was a gift from my mother. Please don't just assume that because a person has some extras and receives assistance that they are scamming or trying to get over on the government. You don't really know what goes on in peoples lives. And there are programs that help low income families get services. There is a government cell phone program that gives you so many minutes a month and a phone. Comcast has a program to help low income families get internet for a reduced price and they offer laptops for a reduced price to people in the program. Sometimes charities get donations or grants for things like e readers, laptops, etc for the families they serve. While there are people that are working the system not everyone is like that.
Have a good night!

UGH. My 13 year old niece has this at her school. All of the kids use the devices to be on facebook, instagram, and whatever else kids do all day. The teachers really can't regulate individual devices. My niece has been in trouble at home for this, but the school doesn't do anything. (They don't know, and a teacher can't check every device in the classroom all the time.) It's pretty much not done properly, because it's impossible to monitor all those individual devices all the time.

Your kids are much younger, so hopefully that wouldn't even be an issue. I do think you'd better have lots of parental locks and safe search features. At that age, the worry is accidentally coming across something on the internet.

Ugh. At the elementary level, this would annoy me to no end. Little kids get too much screen exposure as it is. Get them outside. Do math and science in a school vegetable patch. Read books under a tree. Let them live life, not watch it on a screen.

Our high school literally just sent a note home yesterday about this. My kids will not be participating for now. I don't let them take their phones to school anyway - we live less than half a mile away and if they need to reach me, they can use a classroom or office phone and it forces them to walk home and check in after school. The last thing they need is one more way to distract themselves during the day. I'm sure that with little kids it's pretty easy to manage but with high schoolers? Terrible idea, honestly. The kids are much smarter than their teachers when it comes to electronics and I know that they already are using phones etc. for non-school use in the middle of the school day. To me, adding acceptable use just makes it harder for the teachers to control the use of devices and keep students focused on their work.

I don't think it will be much of an issue for the teacher to learn all the different devices. Since they're mostly being used for research, teachers will only have to learn how to access the Internet, and maybe how open and save documents on Notes or Word type programs. There's not much to it, and most of that stuff is intuitive now a days. I also wouldn't worry about it 'creating a class structure', especially not at this age. Most of the kids will already have them (as their survey already determined) and even parents that can afford it will opt out for various reason.

My concern is that kids already get way too much screen time. For kids like my SS, school is the only time that they're away from a TV/iPad/Gameboy. I understand that they will need to learn how to use these devices for their schoolwork in the future, but at this age I don't think it necessary. I would rather have them learn from hands on experience or from 'real' books at this age.

Wow, I am actually surprised about this. When I was in college, the university allowed students to check out laptops and if you damaged the laptop, it was your responsibility to reimburse the school. I'm not sure how we went from that to basically requiring parents to pony up hundreds of dollars for a laptop that another kid in the classroom can get access to and break. Sounds like the school's trying to wash their hands of the problem though, including classroom bullies who may try to break the victim's laptops. Doesn't seem like a smart idea. Why not allow kids to have laptops in the classroom only, so that if they do get bullied later or trip in recess, they don't risk breaking the laptop?

What I've learned is that if you don't send your child with their own device, they have to wait in line for the classroom computer. None of the kids will be left out, it will just be very inconvenient for them, and/or they'll be left to do the research at home if they couldn't finish it in class.

That being said, many kids, even if they come from disadvantaged families, have their own devices because everyone knows someone who "upgrades" all the time, right? For instance, my 10 year old has an iPhone because I was eligible for an upgrade, and gave her my old phone. If I hadn't wanted to have cell service for the old phone, it would still operate like an iPod on a wifi network. Just because a child has a device doesn't mean they bought it retail! There are lots of ways to get this technology inexpensively, or even free. Just ask around!

My son's school has this program. The effectiveness of the program is actually more dependent on the child than the teacher. First, the child is expected to know how to operate his/her device (majority are iPods and iPads with few Kindles, not too bad for the teachers). The teacher sets the instruction but the children are responsible for following the rules...no games, no texting, no silliness, etc.

For my middle son, extremely successful. He's has a very clear sense of priorities and self-monitoring. It's just part of his personality...sometimes, it worries me because it seems so out of norm for his age. For my other two, not at all. They cannot resist the temptation to NOT do those "other" things. They are generally well behaved kids...just haven't mastered that self-control when it comes to these devices.

The concept isn't all that different but the teacher can't see what they are doing...not in the same way for "traditional" work. So, you really have to trust the kids to do what they are supposed to do. I know adults who can't manage to follow the rules so it's a lot to ask.

My sons school has that option for 3-5 grade and next year will for all grades. I think it's great
Added: the school provides iPads

My son's school is raising money to buy an iPad for every student. However, in the meantime, his class was chosen to pilot the BYODevice curriculum. He's hooked on the computer anyway, so I know he'll pay good attention when the teacher is using the devices, and now he's cleaned his games off MY work iPad! I have mixed feelings--again, what if kids can't afford even a cheap tablet, and what if kids get distracted and start playing? However, I thought it was worth a trial, so Grammy helped buy the tablet for him. We'll see how it goes through the rest of the year!

The school my daughter goes to is also a Title 1 school as well as a Math/Science Technology Magnet. They offer a similar program but the devices are loaned out through the school district - much like textbooks. The kids do not have to loan a device out but they can if they want to. The program doesn't even start until they are in 4th or 5th grade which I understand. Until that all of a particular grades' classes will share the device. I like the idea of the devices benefiting the learning processes but I wouldn't be able to afford to purchase a tablet for my kids and we are not on a reduced lunch program so this wouldn't even be an option.