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"While primary school students were asked to bring hand sanitiser, tissues and paper towel at the start of this year, public high school students were expected to turn up with their own iPad or laptop. For the first time, the Department of Education and Communities has a formal Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy after schools held trials last year in preparation for the end of the federally funded free laptop program."

"Bring your own device is a trend that isn't going anywhere - we've established that. But do we discuss the risks involved with it enough? According to this article by Rebecca M. Abrahams, chief communications officer for Ziklag Systems LLC, a mobile security technology company, not many companies or government agencies have what can be called serious corporate mobile device security policies. And those that do have policies aren't necessarily having them followed."

"The NSW Department of Education and Communities will soon formally encourage schools to implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, allowing students to use their own devices, like laptops, tablets, smartphones or e-readers, in the classroom."

"iOS 7 provides powerful new ways to configure and deploy devices across institutions, and features to help schools purchase, distribute and manage apps with ease. App Store licence management, new options with Mobile Device Management and single sign on are just some of the capabilities in iOS 7 that make it ideal for education."

"I worked on the Genius Bar for almost two years, and the most difficult issue to solve was short battery life. It was extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why someone's battery was draining. I made it my mission to discover the specific reasons for iOS battery drainage. This article is a product of my years of research and anecdotal evidence I gathered in the hundreds of Genius Bar appointments I took during my time as a Genius and iOS technician, as well as testing on my personal devices and the devices of my friends."

"We trust much of our lives to our mobile devices, whether smartphones or tablets or a traditional notebook computers. But what do you do if one of these devices is lost or stolen?"

"A mind mapping application for Android devices. The app allows you to create mind maps through freehand drawing and or by typing on the screen. All of the mind maps that you create in MindBoard Free can be saved to your Google Drive account. Once the mind map is in your Google Drive account you can open it on any other device. One of the more thoughtful features of MindBoard Free is palm-input rejection which rejects accidental input from brushing your palm on the screen while writing."

Your iOS device is a killer pocketable computer; your desktop is more powerful with a bigger screen. They need to play better together. Here's how to break down the barrier between the two and shuttle text, files, media, and more seamlessly between your desktop and iPhone.Two-Way Tools: iPhone to Desktop to iPhone The following tools push information and data in both directions-back and forth between your desktop and iOS device.

"Scratch is often cited as one of the best introductory languages for teaching kids - or anyone, really - to code. So it's no surprise that a Rutgers University honors class called "Programming for the Masses" would utilize Scratch as part of its goal of making programming a more accessible, everyday skill. What is unique - and if I may say so, pretty fun - is the direction that a research project, an outgrowth of the class, has taken since. The project is called Scratchable Devices, and with it, computer science Professor Michael Littman and some of his students are working to make it easy for anyone to program their household devices by using Scratch."

"2010 was the year the cloud's impact became clear, permanent and more far-reaching than this slow-thinker had previously realized. Few things we did in my school district have not been in some way cloud-related - and those projects on the horizon look to be as well. My own personal technology use for both work and leisure has changed significantly this year due to ubiquitous cloud access and the devices meant to take advantage of it."

Interesting to consider some of the 2011 trends identified in this blog entry.

"Tablet computing and personal electronic devices such as iPads promise to have a dramatic impact on education. This Ning network was created to explore new and innovative ways iPads and other portable devices could be used in schools and colleges."

"Working in technology administration, I have always bowed down to uniformity. I can't help it…it's the way we were all taught in the technology industry. It was routine and comfortable. Everyone got the exact same computer with the same image. Everyone had to login to active directory. Security groups were applied with abandon. I wax nostalgic just thinking about it.Fear of BYOD But those days are coming to an end. This is due to a huge number of factors including ridiculously tight school district budgets, much lower computer prices and cloud computing. I believe more and more schools will soon adopt bring your own device (BYOD) as a matter of economic necessity and recognition of educational potential."

Five Alternative Devices To Replace The Now-Dead Flip Cam

"My hunch is that we will hear something from Apple late2011 about Thunderbolt use with iPads/iPhones .. now that the technology is out there on two of their most popular devices .. Thunderbolt seems to be a more viable and smart near-term solution for device sync rather than a full-on cloud sync."

"Our aim is not to buy an expensive super-computer that most students will never fully take advantage of; rather, we strive to provide a device and the digital tools that do what most students need most of the time, extremely well. This key trade-off opens the door to a faster, simpler platform for staff and students to utilise. Chromebooks are designed for the web and that's where we see resources, books and tools heading (if not already there). Add all of this to our longstanding success with Google Apps, these devices made for the perfect extension of what we were already doing."

"In an attempt to uncover what works, I combed through a few hundred apps and analyzed them by asking the following questions: How easy is this app to use for less tech-savvy students and teachers? Is the app free? This is crucial for multi-device or BYOD classrooms. What are other educators saying about this app? How are an array of classrooms using this app? How often should the app be used? Can the app be used out of the classroom? Is it designed to be easy enough to use when teachers or classroom leaders aren't there to help? There are, of course, many other questions to consider when trying out an iPad app (or any other smart device app) for classroom usage. However, I'd recommend taking your deliberate time and spending as much time testing, researching, and trying out as many apps as possible."

Developing policy/ies about BYOD question is becoming more important in schools. A lot of information is presented here, with videos. infographics and links.

"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

24 Hours using nothing more than a mobile phone. How did I cope? Where did the Edtechcrew fit in