1:1 Device Ownership

This is a topic I can clearly see both side of the argument. Most authorities through BSF are leaning towards the specification of a 1:1 device ratio and many towards personal devices. At the moment I don’t know which one is best and would welcome comments / discussion.

Pros

* students learn to take responsibility for the device (charging, keep intact etc)
* helps them become a knowledge worker / learner
* support personalised learning
* helps eliminate digital divide
* students can make the device personal

Cons

* students lose, break, damage device often
* no affordable device suitable today
* places huge admin burden on school / ICT techs
* poor spend of limited resources
* need refreshing often
* disruptive – charging etc during lessons

I guess a good question might be is ‘ how would you feel towards and treat a laptop that you had to hand back in at the end of each day, rather than one you were trusted to look after?’

This post was orginally placed on Andy Davies’s Blog.

Personal Learning Devices – Conversation Number 1

Well finally we got the first episode done (this is the hard one surely?). In this episode we kick things off with some background to this series of podcasts. Our main subject of conversation is the topical issue of a personal learning device. 48 minutes turned out not long enough to do this subject justice and I think we will be returning here in the future. Feedback is really encouraged, as are suggestions for future topics and offers to join in on a future conversations.

Listen and subscibe on itunes via the Itunes Music Store (under Education|Educational Technology) or listen here!