BYOD Lights: 12 Days of Techmas, Day 7

To celebrate the holiday season, I'll be sending out 12 Days of easy classroom tech ideas you can use right away!

Day 7: BYOD lights

Knowing when to use (or not use) BYOD devices is a study and etiquette skill that many students are lacking. It can be frustrating for teachers to be continually reminding students to put away (or take out) their devices at particular points in the lesson.

Instead of the constant wrestling, try a trick from the elementary teachers' book, and train your students with simple cues. I like the Red/Yellow/Green light system to cue students about their device use. It makes clear expectations for usage, and helps train the students with easy associations ("Hmmm, today's quiz day, so my teacher will probably set the light to "Red").

File:Traffic light red.png
Red light
light yellow-766495.png
Yellow light
File:Traffic light green.png
Green light
Devices not allowed
Devices allowed
Devices required
Examples:
test or exam days
during oral presentations
Examples:
Taking Notes
Silent seatwork
Examples:
Interactive online lessons
Collaborative writing

What the system is really doing is
1) making it easier for you to define and announce BYOD rules
2) helping kids internalize social norms of when device use is acceptable.

Easy implementation: get sheets of Red, Yellow, and Green construction paper. Pin up the paper that fits your lesson


:) 

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