BYOD
Bring Your Own Device Demise
Dec 12, 2012 - The American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP), representing 60,000 pediatricians and pediatric surgeons, warned
against "the potential dangers of RF energy exposure" on children and
pregnant women:
"The differences in bone density and the amount of fluid in a child’s brain compared to an adult’s brain could allow children to absorb greater quantities of RF (radiofrequency) energy deeper into their brains than adults... the current exposure limits may not reflect the latest research on RF energy".
Oct 4, 2011 - Health Canada encouraged “parents to reduce children's RF (radiofrequency radiation) exposure from cell phones since children are typically more sensitive" and "there is currently a lack of scientific information regarding the potential health impacts of cell phones on children".
School
Boards across Canada are promoting "Bring Your Own Device", i.e. asking
students to bring their own wireless smart phones, iPods, tablets and
laptops to the classroom. This policy has no regards for the health
impact on the children.
Why BYOD Is A Disaster Waiting To Happen For Schools
"having worked in educational IT (with both public and private schools), I have to say that the idea of launching BYOD at the K-12 level makes me shudder. There are several serious concerns that should be forefront in the minds of school IT staff, administrators, teachers, and parents about BYOD in schools."
Read more: http://www.cultofmac.com/176277/why-byod-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen-for-schools/#cYzqtKs0JMCllqoF.99
BCTF Teacher News Magazine
Wi-Fi Technology In schools:
Is It Time To Reconsider?
"Wi-Fi in schools is an unprecedented and unethical experiment involving the continuous radiation of children with microwave level frequencies, a possible cancer risk according to the WHO, that is considered by our government to be harmful to children, and it is happening without the consent of children, parents and school staff, including pregnant women who are more vulnerable...
Do we as teachers and school boards have the right to expose children, hoping that the health risks are inconsequential?"
A Letter To
The Ministry Of Education
By Patrick Chun,
Engineer & Parent
"About technology in education, we need to think carefully about simply buying the latest hardware such as tablets, smart boards, etc. and claiming that our schools are hi-tech. It may be nice to be able to recite how many i-whatever we have in our schools, but simply having more toys in schools will only perpetuate the already foolish use of technologies in our society in many cases.
We may all have
the tendency to going to a vendor's demo night and be dazzled by the
glitz, but, if experience is any indication, the benefits of the
latest-and-greatest gadgets frequently are not as great as using the
fund for other more meaningful, albeit low-tech, initiatives.
Don't get me
wrong, I am not techno-phobic (UBC engineering 1984). If we are going
to use technology, many times very modest equipment nowadays are already
more than adequate for all of the truly meaningful educational
purposes.
It is the educational software that matters, not the hardware.
We
need to wean ourselves from a "Rolls-Royce" mentality in terms of
hardware purchases, and we need to focus on using the money to build a
province-wide educational software repository particularly addressing
the needs of our BC kids. This is the way to gain efficiency and
scalability in education. It also addresses the flexible individual
learning initiative.
On
another note, we may want to be more vigilant about using unproven
technologies such as wireless Internet routers within schools. Like
DDT, we don't want to find out its issue too late."
The author: Mr.
Patrick Chun, professional engineer, computer programmer, educator, and
entrepreneur, graduated from the University of British Columbia, Canada
in Engineering with 1st class Honours, and subsequently went on for
graduate studies at McGill University, Canada, and the University of
California, USA in Computer Engineering.
Patrick had
extensive high-technology development experiences on electronic
communication systems, satellite observations, and multimedia designs
across North America, as well as the design of users’ training and
education for these complex systems. He was a volunteering
engineer for the "Scientists in School" project in Canada where
experienced scientists, doctors, engineers would visit high schools to
give lectures about the fascinating world of science and technologies.
Email: pchun@greenwood.ca
Technology Purchase Suggestions
For Your Family
For Your Family
"Given the many changes that continue to occur in Information Technology, families have struggled in recent times to provide the best technology tools for their children to be successful at school. In some respects, the "commercialism" of technology has pushed parents to rush out and purchase the latest and greatest technological device with the intention that their child requires a specific tool to be more successful at school and eventually post secondary education and/or the work force. To this end, School District No. 27 would like parents and families to note the following with their technology purchases:
A
cell phone for a child is a family decision, but students do not need a
cell phone for any educational purpose at this time - this includes
Smart Phones that allow them to access the internet.
Parents
and Families should not be caught up with the latest and greatest
"gadget;" one must always remember that Computer and Software companies
may not have your child's best interests in mind when the product is
being sold to the public.
Tablets
are good consumers of information (receiving information), but not for
producing information which is the skill set we want our students to be
developing.
Technology
ages very quickly, so spending significant amounts of money on a device
that may not last for a significant period of time should be considered
for all purchases.
Finally,
what is the best dollar investment for what your child really needs?
The answer to this is a laptop, desktop, or an inexpensive Netbook with
Microsoft Office so that they may create their assignments and do
research in a timely and effective manner."
- By Ken Matieshen, District Principal of Information Technology, SD 27, BC