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There is a big difference between having a BYOD policy and a BYOD learning environment. The former lays the foundation for a BYOD learning environment but it by no means guarantees it. In order to shift from a school with a BYOD policy to a school with a BYOD learning environment, mindset shifts need to occur organizationally:

"Today's education system is evolving to take full advantage of the potential of mobile technology devices to inspire learning and create independent, critical thinkers. However, with tight budgets, many schools are hoping to bring technology into the classroom without the costly burden of purchasing a device for each student. One potential solution that is being explored is BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. This allows students to bring their personal laptops, tablets, and smartphones from home and use them for educational applications in the classroom. At a time when budgets are shrinking, school districts are considering BYOD programs to integrate cost-effective technology into their educational programs. It's a promising idea, especially for schools that lack sufficient technology budgets. BYOD takes advantage of the technology that students already own and are familiar with. However, BYOD programs have been met with some criticism from staff and administrators who believe the challenges outweigh the perceived benefits. Continue reading..."

Schools are needing increasing amounts of expensive educational technology at a time when budgets are shrinking. Many have started to explore BYOD policies - Bring Your Own Device - as a practical solution to integrate cost effective technology into their educational programs. With the convergence of widespread broadband and the growth of powerful, platform independent web based tools BYOD has finally arrived as an effective educational alternative to other plans that require expensive purchasing and maintenance. Viewed within a realistic perspective of both its benefits and limitations BYOD can provide a workable solution for the many schools seeking to upgrade their educational technology.

"Proponents of "bring your own device" (BYOD) programs like them for a lot of reasons: budgets keep dwindling, students already bring devices to school, and technology isn't getting cheaper. "People are saying 'It's happening in the real world. Let's mirror that in our schools," says Lucy Gray, project director ofthe Leadership for Mobile Learning (LML) initiative at CoSN, the Consortium for School Networking. But this article isn't meant to convince readers to try BYOD. It's about how to make it work once you've decided it's the way to go. Here are the methods three districts took to make BYOD happen."

BYOD is the catch phrase in the 2012 educational technology spheres. This acronym stands for " Bring Your Own Device ", I am pretty sure you might have heard of this new trend because wherever you turn you hear people talking about embracing it. I actually have been reading a lot about it to the point that I deem it important that I share with you some of what I understood from BYOD .

What it is, advantages and reasons to consider BYOD

Infographics that try to explain and clarify the BYOD phenomenon and the impact of BYOD.

"With budgets tight, many schools are hoping to bring technology into the classroom without having to shell out for a device for each student. A solution for many has been to make classes BYOD (short for "bring your own device"), which allows students to bring laptops, tablets, and smartphones from home and to use them in the classroom and share them with other students. It's a promising idea, especially for schools that don't have big tech budgets, but it has met with some criticism from those who don't think that it's a viable long-term or truly budget-conscious decision. Whether that's the case is yet to be seen, but these stories of schools that have tried out BYOD programs seem to be largely positive, allowing educators and students to embrace technology in learning regardless of the limited resources they may have at hand."

"Our BYOD initiative at NMHS has succeeded and grown up to this point based on the basic premise of trust and respect.  Yes, we have policies in place, the right infrastructure, and support our teachers with professional development and guidance. However, the most important elements stem from the fact that we trust our students to use their devices as tools for learning, enhanced productivity, and to conduct better research.  Time is spent working with them on digital citizenship and the creation of positive digital footprints that they can be proud of.  We also respect them as learners growing up in the digital age where these tools are playing a greater role in the world we are preparing them to succeed in.  When creating a BYOD initiative grounded in these principles the possibilities are endless."

This special episode presents the recording of our first TER Live event, the Teachmeet BYOD Policy Forum. Panelists discuss issues relating to the development and implementation of BYOD policies in Primary and High School settings.

An interesting reflection on the positives and negatives from Royan Lee after five years of having gone BYOD/T.

Storify of a Twitter discussion on different platforms to enable learning - linked with BYOD

"Having reached critical mass with the number of devices that arrived in my room last week, it has set me to thinking about the biggest challenges and the pros and cons of the BYOD system."

"It started out with a standardized writing prompt and was never intended to move outside of the small testing window. However, when students finished writing a persuasive text on whether students should  be allowed to have cell phones and MP3 players (a student aptly pointed out that banning MP3 players would still allow him to have an iPod, because they don't use the MP3 format), they wanted to create their own BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies."

"BYOD isn't a recommendation, it's a realty. Everyone's bought one and everyone uses one and everyone carries it around with them. When we organise a meeting or conference, we don't send people an email telling them what device to bring, neither do we buy or lease a whole load of computers and hand them out." via @DonaldClark

"One expert argues that educators don't have to alter lessons for each device in a BYOD environment." Some good ideas here.

"5 Ways the BYOD Model Can Benefit Special Education Classrooms"

Links to a BYOD Responsible Use Policy pdf, FAQ pdf from St Mary's Secondary school in the US.

This is a fantastic starting point for all schools to begin their implementation of BYOD. All Teachers, Techs and Principals should have a thorough read as we all know BYOD is either here or fast on its way.

I have been hearing more and more about BYOD or "bring your own device" on Twitter and in the blogs and educational news sources I read. It seems to be a growing trend in the business world too. Yet, the controversy around this idea seems almost as large as the hype. BYO is not a novel concept for restaurants or even schools when it comes to basic supplies (everyone can remember being asked to bring that box of crayons or later your composition notebook) but apparently devices are a different story.

Blog post from Angie Harrison outlining some of thinking and prep undertaken when she went with a BYOD project in her Primary school