Black Gold School Division

Black Gold Schools will be phasing out the initiative to Bring Your Own Device to school. When Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was initially started it was to encourage students to bring their own chromebook or laptop to school. This allowed for more choice and personal control over technology to support their learning. At its peak in select schools we had upwards of 30% of students in division 3 and 4 bringing their own device, a good response rate, but not without issues. We have found that management of technology, the requirements for provincial testing and consistency of use is too varied with BYOD in the classroom. BGSD is working toward one-to-one chromebook access in grades 3 to 12 with division managed devices. In the coming years we will achieve this goal. This provides consistency of use and a standardized experience ensuring all students have equitable access to information and digital tools. All provincial assessments are moving online starting in 2025/2026 school year.  Management of personal devices for provincial assessment is difficult for many students. Using BGSD chromebooks eliminates uncertainty while creating a common platform for all.

Several of our school currently meet the 1:1 ratio of devices to students. When this threshold is met teaching subtly changes and the use of technology flows with instruction. This doesn't mean that the use of technology is constant, in fact sometimes it is reduced in a 1:1 classroom because the devices can be accessed at any time the teacher feels that it will benefit learning without the worry devices are even available or that they need to do more than planned because they may not have access in the future. Timing is everything.   Teachers have been using portable devices in classrooms for the past 12 years. This has helped prepare them for the increasingly common use of technology to achieve educational outcomes. The new curriculum references digital access 100's of times as an expected component of learning.  Administrators in the schools have become involved assessing its effectiveness in the classroom to increase higher order thinking skills, collaboration and personalized learning.

The BYOD network will still be available for students to use a personal device, however, the bandwidth allocated to it will be reduced.  It is also important to know that cell phones are not considered a productive educational BYOD device. 

Covenant Christian School has a formal BYOD program in place for their grades 5 - 9 students.  This formal program has its own specific use cases and is an expected component of the school environment. Their BYOD will continue.