Dear Parents,
Gilbert Public Schools is pleased to announce that your student’s school has been selected to pilot a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) program during the 2012-13 school year.
BYOT allows students to bring their own electronic devices to school for educational purposes. We believe that this will allow for higher levels of student engagement and achievement. Students will use their devices to facilitate their ability to communicate, collaborate, research, create, and problem-solve in new and exciting ways. Approved devices include smartphones, tablets, iPads, iPods, e-readers, and laptops. Teachers will design lessons that leverage student devices to aid learning.
These devices will be used for educational purposes, not for playing games or distracting from your student’s learning. The school and teachers will develop schedules and practices that best meet the needs of their students. BYOT is strictly voluntary. When technology is required at school for a lesson or assessment, your student will be provided with appropriate access.
Student BYOT devices will connect to the GPS Guest Internet Network (if the device is capable of connecting with wifi). The GPS Guest Net is strictly filtered to protect your student. Use of 3G or 4G connections at school is strongly discouraged, because these cannot be filtered by GPS.
Gilbert Public Schools will not be installing any software on your student’s device. We will not be monitoring or filtering what Internet sites they visit from home. We are also not able to upgrade, maintain or repair a student owned device.
The Gilbert Public Schools Strategic Plan requires us to develop and implement a plan for allowing students to bring their own devices to enhance learning. BYOT is the district’s initiative to satisfy this goal.
If you don’t have Internet access at home or you would like to explore a low-cost BYOT device for your student, you may qualify for a special program that Century Link offers within our community. See this link: http://www.centurylink.com/home/internetbasics/
Because BYOT is a challenging initiative, District is working slowly and deliberately with seven pilot campuses to explore what works and to establish best practices. Regular updates about BYOT will be shared via email or newsletter throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Geane Flournoy
