Although district leaders want to act as if Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives are ground breaking and these educational leaders are on the cutting edge of interactive learning by letting students use phones in school, students have been BYODing for years.

It’s great to BYOD, but what you do once the D is in the classroom is a whole other ballgame.  Remember BYOD is not going to be effective just because you let students read their textbook on their iPad.  Students must use BYOD to create things.  Contrary to what many people think, the Internet is NOT for consuming things; the Internet is for creating things.

So, beef up your district’s better-late-than-never BYOD policy.

1. YouTube – To search for things, adults use Google; kids use YouTube.  Try it and you will see why.  Anything you ever want to know has a video.  Some great; some not so great.  Just to give you an example, I became an audio editor while trying to fix a poorly recorded podcast I did a while back.  How did I become an audio editor in 4 min? YouTube.

YouTube is great for searching things but even better for creating things.  Have students create their own channels, group channels or create a class channel.  It’s easy.  Below is a YouTube video on how you can create your own YouTube channel.  It will walk you through the entire process in a couple of minutes.

Once students have a channel, have them use their own devices to create video on the content you are discussing in class.  Sit back and let them create and you will be AMAZED at what they do.  Many of them have  moviemaking apps on their phones, so let them shoot, edit and post videos that will enhance whatever content you trying to get them to master.  YouTube is like a gift from the tech gods sent here to make your life easier and students’ lives much more fun.  Use it. 

2. Google Hangouts – Google Hangouts are pretty much a chat room with video. These can stream live or they can be recorded and automatically uploaded to YouTube for viewing later.  They are very cool because students can interact with people from all over the world.  Want students to speak with students in Pakistan about issues in the Middle East?  No problem; set up a Google Hangout and let students interact with each other.  Google Hangouts are linked with YouTube so these tools go very well together.  Google Hangouts is a totally free service and their is a Google Hangout app for SMART phones.  All you need is a Gmail address and a Google + account. After you have those two things, which most people do, you are ready to go.  For instructions on how to set up a Google Hangout, see below:

3. Twitter – please don’t be afraid of Twitter.  It is an amazing resource and students are getting a ton of information from it.  Twitter can be used to communicate questions, information and even resources, which can all align with your class content.  Twitter can also be used in Twitter Gallery Walks,a Moxie Method we featured a few weeks back. Perhaps you have a Q&A Twitter session about how global warming is impacting our country, or how geometry can be used in everyday life.  Whatever the content, post a Q&A about it and watch thousands of students interact with each other via social media.  Below are elementary students explaining how they use twitter to connect with other students about topics.  

Need a crash course on Twitter, don’t be ashamed see the 4 min video below.  Or you can ask your students to help you.  Let them teach you how to tweet.

The bottom line is we have to step up our game.  Yes BYOD is a nice start, but we must allow students to use these devices in innovative ways.  Students will blow your mind with everything they know how to do with a SMART phone.  Have them teach you a few things.  And enjoy it because it’s FUN!