The rise of BYOD in Australian schools

The term "BYOD" was first coined in the corporate world, when companies around the world first starting allowing - or mandating - employees to use their personal laptops and tablets in the workplace as a cost-saving measure.

BYOD was introduced to Australian schools in 2013 as a replacement for the government's Digital Education Revolution scheme. Five years later, the practice has become entrenched in schools across the nation, both public and private.

Schools around the globe, including the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Britain and New Zealand are increasingly adopting the BYOD model as standard operating procedure.

Supporters of the concept point to both cost-effectiveness for schools and learning effectiveness for students.  Student-owned devices are more likely to be state-of-the-art, and students are already familiar and comfortable using them. What’s more, BYOD can empower students by allowing them to make their own technology choices.

Finally, student-owned devices offer more opportunities for learning to continue at home. They can enhance student engagement, and enable students to keep work in one place.

But the problem of in-class distraction and misuse - and the challenge of managing learning devices once they leave school grounds - are the Achille’s heel of every BYOD program.

Linewize tackles both of these concerns, with an innovative eco-system approach that protects learning devices both on and off-campus, on any network, while providing granular reporting and visibility of student internet activity.

But technology alone is not the answer. At Linewize, we’re committed to ensuring school communities promote digital citizenship and wellbeing for all students, parents and educators.

Our Partner School program integrates best-in-class technology with world-leading expertise in child and adolescent psychology, learning development, digital parenting and internet law enforcement.

The aim? To help schools get the best outcomes - and the fewest headaches - from their BYOD programs.

Linewize Solutions is the trusted cyber-safety provider for over 600 premier schools in Australia and New Zealand and beyond. Our holistic, community-based solutions combine state-of-the-art filtering and reporting with educational enrichment and intervention by a team of leading cyber experts - to ensure students’ safety and wellbeing at school, at home and everywhere in between.