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end of 2013, more than 10% of teaching computers (PC/ Mac/tablet) in schools will be tablets. This is a significant increase from the six per cent forecast in 2012 and by the end of 2015 this is expected to rise further, to 24%. The new buzz phrase ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) was stated by 67% of the schools as being either important or very important to their adoption of tablets. This compares with just 52% in 2012. A staggering 81% of schools showed a willingness to consider this route of tablet adoption with parents covering the cost of the technology. If schools are to consider adopting a BYOD policy, they
should look at it together with a legal adviser and their HR and IT teams to adopt a formal policy. Key considerations include supporting children from low income families, protection of the school’s data, content licensing, the operating platform to be used and of course, what happens when a child moves on to another school. Let’s look at each in turn.
“The benefi ts that BYOD can bring to schools are great and are having a positive impact on pupils in classrooms up and down the country. But by investing a little time at the outset to develop a clear BYOD policy, it will help protect schools from any potential pitfalls further down the line”
One of the most important initial considerations that, if
ignored, could potentially lead schools into an unfortunate legal situation is the school’s expectation of low income families’ ability to support such a scheme. It is heartening to note that out of the 81% of schools showing a willingness to consider BYOD, the majority showed an acceptance of the need to support children from low income families, but this requires serious consideration. Making BYOD a requirement (as opposed to merely an option) could potentially disadvantage students from low income backgrounds and, in a worst case scenario, could be a claim for indirect discrimination (potentially on the grounds of race, disability or sex). Schools must be aware of this and in a position to supply devices to students in low income areas (with the various legal issues this gives rise to) and to objectively justify their BYOD practice. The next important consideration that must be made before launching into such a scheme is the need to protect the
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school’s data and information. Having ultimate control of the type of information students can access, how and where they access it and how secure the information remains, is vital to minimise the risk of any breach of a school’s data protection obligations. The last thing a school wants is one student accessing the personal data of another student or of a teacher. This leads us to the notion of access to learning content
owned by the school. The nature of BYOD means that students are accessing content procured under licence to the school, on their personal computers, possibly at home. Do all your e-learning resource licences allow this? If the school has paid for a licence to a learning application for school use only, the implications for students to access or download this to their own devices could place schools in breach of the terms of the agreement. Taking this a step further, who will bear the
usage-associated costs, including connectivity to the school’s network and access to appropriate data? Who will pay for day-to-day voice and data charges, technical support and repairs, roaming and app installation costs, as well as recovery of any personal content which may be lost, is something that must be agreed up front? While such costs may seem minimal, if your students travel overseas on a school trip, and you permit data roaming the cost implications can become significant for example. Another seemingly obvious question is ‘What devices may
be used?’ However, it is not all until you consider that different devices offer different levels of security and anti-virus measures when accessing your school network, that the potential minefield becomes clearer. How will passwords be managed? Content and apps for Android devices are not suitable for iPads. Much of the school’s current learning content will work on an Android device but not an iPad. Are you going to stipulate that students must buy either Android tablets or iPads? And finally, once a student has left the school, any password
to enable access to the school’s network will need to be terminated. This is also a consideration if the device is sold. The benefits that BYOD can bring to schools are great and
are having a positive impact on pupils in classrooms up and down the country. But by investing a little time at the outset to develop a clear BYOD policy, it will help protect schools from any potential pitfalls further down the line. We recommend that schools take legal consultation before
embarking on a BYOD scheme to ensure all such pitfalls are covered and that the true benefits can be realised. Having a contract drawn up, setting out all related considerations and gaining parental approval protects the schools, parents and the relationship between the two.
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