As an exercise in in-depth reporting, Journalism I students surveyed students in some of the homeroom classes about BYOD.  Students responded anonymously; two members of the class, Meghan Yakel and Carly Noble, tabulated the surveys.  Other students interviewed teachers and staff members for a balanced coverage of BYOD’s impact.  The Online Tritonian is filled with BYOD stories and opinions.  We hope you too will join in on the discussion.  Let us hear from you.

Do you believe the BYOD policy has been a distraction for some students?

• Exactly 245 students in our school responded to the survey. Out of that 245, 145 said “Yes, BYOD has been a distraction,” and 86 said “No, BYOD has not been a distraction.” 14 said “It can sometimes be a distraction.”
• Students said the most common distractions are playing games, texting through Macs, doing other homework, going on social media and online shopping.

Do you find it easy to take advantage (break the rules) of the BYOD policy?

• 100 said YES
• 10 said SOMETIMES
• 135 said NO
• “No” was the most common response because students say their teachers walk around the room and monitor the screens pretty well, so it is difficult to abuse the BYOD policy. However, “yes” was also an answer because some teachers don’t do that and aren’t aware of what students are doing on their devices.