Bring Your Own Technology Initiative

February 22 at Valley View Middle School, I held the last orientation meeting for the"Go Wireless" Bring Your Own Technology Initiative for this school year.

We currently have around 130 students, about 10% of the population bringing their own technology to school at Valley View. On March 1st, we will hold a similar student/parent orientation at South View Middle School.
At each training session, I ask students about their hopes on how the laptop will enhance their learning. You can see their comments in the image on the right.


While 130 devices in a school of 1300 may not seem like much, our Director of Media and Technology Services, Steve Buettner pointed out that it represents 4 computer labs coming to school each day!


It's rewarding to see all of the students connect to the network right away and have access to the survey and other resources they now have access to in the classroom. Our district tech staff continues to improve the infrastructure to make the use of personal technology possible.

Edina Public Schools featured in Converge Magazine

Last fall, our district was featured with several others in an article on the Bring Your Own Technology model in Converge Magazine. Many districts are seeing the advantages of students bringing their own technology as a way to sustain programs. The "Bring Your Own" model has been in place now at Edina High School for the last three years. With the additional netbook carts we have purchased at each building, we hope to allow for greater access to information and tools for students to create authentic artifacts of their learning.