Ashby Primary School

2017 BYOD iPad Program – Action Plan & Timeline

This document outlines the process taken and being undertaken to implement Ashby Primary School’s 1:1 BYOD iPad Program in 2017. The outline below has been taken from the Department of Educations ‘Planning for 1:1 Learning’ -

Phase 1 – Preparing

Where are we, and what do we want to do?

Action / What has been undertaken?
Evidence of this?
Research / Research and professional readings have been undertaken as outlined below;
  • Bring Your Own Technology, Lee and Levins, 2012
Description: This book is designed to provide teachers and parents alike an insight into the bring-your-own-technology (BYOT) revolution sweeping across entire school communities in Australia, the US and UK, and explain the immense implications of these developments.
  • Planning a 1:1 Program in Schools – Apple Education, 2013
Description: The information within this guide is a collection of what Apple themselves have learned from those who have adopted a 1:1 iPad program in their settings. The guide identifies nine crucial areas for settings to consider regardless of whether your setting is undertaking 1:1 for the first time or altering, adapting or reviewing a current program.
  • Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow—Today: Learning in the 21st Century. Apple, 2008
Description: Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow—Today (ACOT2) is a collaborative effort with the education community to identify the essential design principles for the 21st century high school by focusing on the relationships that matter most: those between students, teachers, and curriculum.
  • NMC Horizon Report > 2016 K-12 Edition, New Media Consortium, 2016
Description: The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in schools.
  • iPads for Learning: In Their Hands Trial, DEECD 2011
Description: To prepare students for the knowledge economy of the 21st century, schools must provide students with purposeful access to ICT that increases their participation, engagement and achievement in education. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s (DEECD) 2011 iPads for Learning – In Their Hands trial placed around 650 iPads in ten primary, secondary and special schools.
  • Let it Grow: Developing a 1:1 Digital Eco System, Hughes, 2013
Description: A look at one educators essentially pedagogy required to make effective use of iPads, regardless of subject or age range, especially in a 1:1 model. This text covers workflows, lesson plans, key skills, and ideas for institutions, schools, and individual educators alike.
  • Teaching with Digital Technologies - DEECD 2012
Description: Digital learning is any type of learning that is facilitated by technology or by instructional practice that makes effective use of technology. Digital learning occurs across all learning areas and domains. It encompasses the application of a wide spectrum of practices.
  • Planning for 1-to-1 Learning, DET, 2014
Description: A guide for schools in transitioning away from traditional models of technology integration towards a 1:1 framework. This digital text covers the school policy and governance, teaching and learning and technical aspects of integrating a 1:1 framework in a school setting.
  • Classroom Instruction That Works: Research Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, 2nd Ed. Dean et al, 2012
Description: Classroom Instruction That Works inspired assist teachers to refine their approach to teaching by asking and answering these questions: What works in education? How do we know? How can educational research find its way into the classroom? How can we apply it to help individual students?
  • School ICT Planning: Advice for School Leaders and Principals, DET, 2012
Description: This digital text, which require DET Teacher logon, discusses the challenges for schools in creating engaging, supportive and flexible learning environments that stimulate deep learning whilst using technology to assist in activating this.
Rationale / As outlined in Ashby Primary School’s BYOD Policy
Ashby Primary School highly values the engaging and rich learning experiences that effective technology integration can bring. The promotion and advancement of placing a greater emphasis on digital technology integration aligns with world wide educational trends to ensure today’s learners are more adept at communication, creating, collaborating and critically thinking in a technology driven world.
By adopting a BYOD approach, Ashby Primary School is committed to empowering it’s students to give them direct voice in how technology is used and the ways in which it can promote their growth as learners. A BYOD Framework allows students and teachers to engage in a curriculum that no longer restricts learning to the classroom environment. The use of a personalised device to support and facilitate consistent learning growth adds further evidence to the importance that Ashby Primary School continues to prepare its students for success both inside and outside of the school setting.
Engaging School Council / The ideation of a BYOD was first raised at School Council at the beginning of 2016.
A brief information session was shared with School Council M<embers in Term 3, 2016, by Mr. Corrie Barclay, an Assistant Principal at the time of Northern Bay College, Hendy St. Campus. This presentation can be located here:
Having the necessary documentation ratified and passed at school council in term 1, 2017.
Readiness / How effectively will a 1-to-1 program support learning and teaching practice?
  • Discussions have indicated that the adoption of a 1:1 BYOD iPad program at Ashby Primary School would greatly assist the learning and teaching programs offered at the school and place a greater emphasis on curriculum redesign for current educational trends and initiatives.
  • The adoption of a 1:1 program will facilitate greater collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking in our students which will help develop our students as holistic learners.
  • Evidence based research is stating that schools who shift towards what is known as ‘digital normalisation’, are seeing far greater advances in cultures of change and innovation which is leading to students developing key critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills. This is also leading to deeper learning approaches and the develop of curriculum that greater personalises learning, increases collaborative practices, and enables students to take greater action stemming from their inquiry based work.
How confident and capable are your staff in optimising 1-to-1 in their classroom?
  • Staff capacity is low however the drive and willingness is there.
  • An Ashby Primary School Professional Learning Calendar is currently being developed which will outline key and targeted professional learning for staff, including that of teachers in years 3/4 to effectively and purposefully integrate technology in to their planning.
  • Opportunities will also arrive for Ashby Primary School staff to attend professional learning externally, including professional visitations to other high performance settings in this space.
What is the current state of ICT and infrastructure in your school including school network health (SIPS STAR rating), bandwidth, wireless coverage, service reliability, and what level of technical support do you have?
  • Current network and infrastructure is strong, with an Internet bandwidth upgrade due to take place early in Term 2, 2017, from 20MB to 50MB.
  • Ashby Primary School will be installing an Apple Caching Server to alleviate the stress on the network of iPad applications being downloaded.
  • Internet traffic will also look towards being ‘shaped’ with high traffic sites such as YouTube potentially being restricted.
  • Internet access will also be split with staff and students soon to be accessing sites specific for those groups. Currently as it stands students and staff arenot segregated, meaning what is blocked for one is blocked for the other.
  • Investigation will take place for the costing’s and infrastructure needed to further upgrade bandwidth. This will take place of an external ISP, such as iiNet.
  • Further investigating needed to increase online security through the purchasing of dedicated firewall hardware. I.e. Sonicwall, Fortigate.

Phase 2 – Planning

Getting Organised

Action / What has been undertaken?
Evidence of this?
Evaluate devices and infrastructure /
  • It was decided that Ashby Primary School would select the Apple iPad as its 1:1 device. The reasoning for this being outlined below;
  • Ashby Primary School staff and students are familiar with the iPad Ecosystem and it’s use as a device to support learning and teaching programs.
  • The school had invested in Apple iPad devices already, as shared devices amongst learning spaces and classrooms therefore again, students and staff were familiar with their ability to support learning and teaching programs.
  • As a 1:1 BYOD device, the Apple iPad is a high-end device capable of multiple tasks to a high end level.
  • The cost of the Apple iPad as a device to suit a BYOD program is also attractive, as similar devices by other manufactures are 2, 3 times more expensive.
  • Apple iPad as a device to support learning and teaching programs is easy to use and manage with no down time for loading applications, start up, or web access.
  • Current school infrastructure had been previously configured to manage and run Apple iPads as the school had already made these changes to the network when devices where first purchased.

Project Plan / What are the key targets and outcomes of your 1:1 program?
Inline with our rationale, Ashby Primary School has developed 5 key achievement outcomes that we believe the 1:1 BYOD program will achieve;
  • Students at Ashby Primary School will utilize their devices to create and publish digital content that supports their learning, demonstrates growth and promotes the engaging curriculum being delivered.
  • New knowledge and understandings gained by students will not merely be learned, but also applied, shared, and celebrated in a collaborative format that reaches beyond the college setting.
  • A digital learning culture of knowledge adoption followed by skill acquisition will be focused upon, rather than traditional technology integration and methods solely being geared towards information consumption. This supports our desire to develop future ready skill sets in our students such as collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, design thinking, and global mindset.
  • Technology adoption use will encourage a transformative approach towards offering alternative learning opportunities. This will improve student abilities towards personalising instruction and creating independence. Technology will become an enabler for students to manage their learning both locally on their device as well as through using cloud based technologies, as adults would use them in their professional lives.
  • Students develop, encourage and understand the responsibilities of online citizenship and what the outcomes of both positive and negative behaviour exhibited online can be. They have a deeper understanding that they are collectively responsible in ensuring all members of a collaborative society act accordingly.
Who is on the project team?
  • Mr Corrie Barclay – Ashby Primary School Assistant Principal
  • Mr Gavin Dowling - Ashby Primary School Staff Member / Digital Learning Leader
  • Mr Pat Connell – DET ST (Specialist Technician)
  • Mr Steve Drayton - Ashby Primary School Staff Member / Technical Support
What roles and responsibilities will they have?
  • The project team are all responsible for the successful implementation of the 2017 1:1 BYOD Program. Specific roles however are as outlined below;
  • Mr Corrie Barclay and Mr Gavin Dowling are responsible for the documentation and core implementation of the 1:1 BYOD Program. They are responsible for enacting the policies associated with the BYOD program.
  • Corrie and Gavin are also responsible to build capacity in staff throughout the school to effectively utilise the technology the students will now have access to.
  • Mr Pat Connell, as Ashby Primary School’s Specialist Technician, will monitor and evaluate in an ongoing manner the school network and infrastructure and make changes and amendments as needed in consultation with project team.
  • Mr Steve Drayton is to support the specialist technician, particularly in his absence, to ensure all devices brought in to the school are working as best possible.
What is the implementation timeline?
  • Week 3, Term 1: Feb 2017. BYOD Policy, Acceptable Use Agreement, and BYOD Action Plan finalised, shared and amended.
  • Week 4, Term 1: Feb 2017. Parent Information Evening. This will outline the rationale and aims of the BYOD program including how Ashby PS will Support all stakeholders.
  • Week 5, Term 1: March 2017. Ashby Primary School 2017 BYOD Parent Handbook to be released and shared.
  • Week 5, Term 1: March 2017. Ashby Primary School Acceptable Use Agreements to be sent home to all students for signing and to be returned ASAP.
  • Week 5, Term 1: March 2017. IT Infrastructure / Network Audit to be completed. Recommendations put forward.
  • Week 6, Term 1: March 2017. Classroom Infrastructure in place to support 1:1 BYOD Program. Apple TV, Wireless infrastructure, iPad Storage.
  • Week 1, Term 2: April 2017. BYOD Program Launch. First day for students to bring their devices.
  • Week 2, Term 2: April 2017. Parent iPad Masterclass. Parent session covering iPad basics, accessibility features, setting restrictions, in-app purchasing, etc...
  • Week 10, Term 2: June 2017. 2017 BYOD Program Review Panel. Key stakeholders to review the program, determine the successes and challenges, and implement changes accordingly.
  • Week 10, Term 2: June 2017. Student BYOD / 1:1 iPad survey to be undertaken by all students in years 3/4. Data collected, analysed and shared with all stakeholders.

Prepare a budget / Have you listed all the components that your 1-to-1 program will require including: the individual device, software, servicing and insurance costs, technical support and infrastructure support and initial and ongoing staff professional learning costs?
  • Support technologies that compliment a BYOD are already in place at Ashby Primary School. These namely being a strong infrastructure, wireless network environment, and audio visual supports.
  • To further support the BYOD program, 1:1 classrooms will be adopting the use of Apple TV devices. These will allow teachers and students to AirPlay and Mirror their device to the TV setups in each of the classrooms.
  • Further investigation is needed in supplying safe storage options in each learning space to endure devices are kept out of sight and stored appropriately when not in use.
  • Investigation is also underway currently to determine the need for Ashby Primary School to hire a local support technician. Currently as it stands, the DET Specialist Technician is on site for 4.0 hours per week. This is unsatisfactory.

Engage school community / How can you demonstrate to teachers some of the exciting things students may use devices for?
  • Teachers will undertake relevant and purposeful professional learning, led by Corrie Barclay, to up skill and build capacity in this area.
  • Staff will undertake the DET’s ePotential Survey, designed to outline where strengths and weaknesses lie and where professional learning can be targeted.
  • External opportunities will also be encouraged as will online modules that are available to undertaken.
How will you publicly celebrate success of your program?
  • Data that is obtained via informal and formal means will be shared publically via the school newsletter and website, as well as blog that is due to be constructed to document the journey of the BYOD Program.
  • Teachers are also in current discussions around online tools that can be used to support the 1:1 program. These tools allow for parental access and input and will showcase what students are doing with their devices and the positive impact these are having.
Have you provided a range of opportunities for parents to learn about the program?
  • Parent information sessions will be rolled out as of Week 4, Term 1, 2017. These will continue to roll out over the course of Term 2 to assist parents to learn about the BYOD program, how the students are engaging with the technology and the impact that the BYOD program is having.
  • Parents will also be invited to engage in Master class workshops that will up skill them in using an iPad device and the key features that we believe they need to know about to support them in the home.
Have you involved students in developing the communication strategy?
  • At this stage students have not been involved developing the communications strategy.

Phase 3 - Implementing

Making it happen

Action / What has been undertaken?
Evidence of this?
Ensure teachers are confident and capable in using 1:1 devices / What are the professional learning needs of your staff?
  • As mentioned previously, this is still being determined and discussions are ongoing.
  • iPads for staff are to be purchased who are directly involved in the BYOD program. This is being acted upon currently. This will allow for teachers to have ‘sandpit’ time, and informal professional learning opportunities to build their capabilities prior to the beginning of term 2.
  • The undertaking of the ePotential Survey will also guide professional learning needs once completed.
Have you developed a strong community of practice supported by coaches or mentors?
  • Directly and formally, not at this stage. However, particular staff at Ashby Primary School have strong networks in the area of digital learning and iPad integration and future opportunities are plentiful.
What support do your staff have to consider their pedagogy and extent that 1-to-1 devices are used for contemporary practice?
  • A core focus for all staff at Ashby Primary School on 2017 is to improve Classroom Instructional Strategies and Practices, as outlined in the 20-17 Annual Implementation Plan. That work will align and embed within the BYOD program as contemporary pedagogy is investigated, and current curriculum design is evaluated and adapted to meet the needs of all learners.

Learning places and spaces / Do your learning spaces cater for different learning modalities?
  • Learning spaces can be adapted and altered to ensure all students and their learning needs are catered for.
  • In 1:1 environments, this means a diverse range of furniture and seating, natural light, and a learning space culture that is safe and inviting.
Are the spaces flexible and engaging?
  • Learning spaces at Ashby Primary School are highly engaging as is the ability to make singular learning spaces flexible. Open planned learning at Ashby primary School is made difficult due to the nature of the building construction and set up.

Apps, software and online resources / Does your school use the software available on the eduSTAR image?
  • On desktop computers, yes. This is not applicable to iPad devices, especially under a BYOD framework.
How does your school's existing software selection and policy/procedures reflect your learning and teaching goals?
  • As Ashby Primary School uses the Department of Educations EduSTAR Image on Desktop devices, we are somewhat bound by the software we have available. There is the ability to alter this software slightly, however the need to do so has not been needed.
  • Ashby Primary School has purchased other software to support learning and teaching programs. Matheletics and Spellodrome are two examples of this.
How will your school facilitate students having the Department's anti-virus and endpoint protection suite on their 1-to-1 device?
  • As students are using Apple iPad devices, this is not required.
  • The only point of note to be made in this space is to monitor student devices to ensure that they are not being ‘jail-broken’, allowing for students to install illegal applications.

Technical support / Have you discussed your guidelines with a range of audiences?
  • Ashby Primary School’s Specialist Technician and Support Technician have both been involved throughout this process and are aware of the BYOD guidelines, protocols and procedures moving forward.
How will your guidelines be monitored?
  • Guidelines will be monitored by BYOD / Digital Learning Project Team. As needed, alterations and changes will be made, in consultation with all stakeholders affected and or involved in the BYOD program.

Phase 4 - Evaluating