BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD)

We live in a developing digital world and need to continue building skills of digital fluency, digital literacy and digital citizenship. At Rongotai College we encourage all students to bring a digital device to school as part of our Bring Your Own Device Programme (BYOD). 

The use of digital technology can transform learning in school and beyond.   Students use their digital devices in the classroom in many ways:

  • researching information on the web
  • note-taking and completion of written work and assessments
  • reading online text books or e-books
  • collaborating with other students on shared documents and projects
  • sharing information easily with teachers
  • access class resources, support or extension materials
  • develop and present their ideas and learning through PowerPoint and Prezi
  • use email to communicate
  • develop portfolios of learning (e-portfolios)

Rongotai College uses GOOGLE Apps for Education, which is a free suite of productivity tools including Gmail, Drive, Docs, Slides and GOOGLE Classroom. Students’ work can be saved 'in the cloud’ so it is accessible from school and home.

What do we recommend?

We do not mandate devices, but have identified several key features for devices, including battery life (as boys will not have access to charging facilities in every lesson), compatibility with the GOOGLE Suite and price point.

We believe that for Year 9 and 10 students, Chromebooks work best with our Google tools in school. Chromebooks work extremely well in a Google Apps environment. You do not install software on to them. All brands of Chromebook will be suitable for school. They also have excellent battery life and they sell at a good price-point.

Senior students may prefer a devices such as Laptops, Notebooks, or MacBooks , which support specific software that supports their specialist courses (e.g. Photography, Design, Computer Science, Media Studies, Music).

We find that tablets (e.g. iPads, Android Tablets) do not always offer the functionality that students need, even with a remote keyboard.