Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era

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Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era | www.AkinsIT.com

Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is the growing trend of people utilizing their own personal devices within the workplace. While smartphones are the most common example of BYOD, people also bring their own tablets, laptops, USB drives, and other electronic devices into their workplace. Nowadays, schools are also starting to catch on.

According to Forrester Research, 50% of organizations officially allow BYOD. BYOD is part of the rising scope of IT consumerization – a trend in which the use of both personal and business technology devices and applications blend together.

In today’s professional setting, fewer and fewer people feel inclined to separate corporate and personal technology. In schools, students who have access to the latest technologies at home expect to be able to use them in classrooms, as well. The blending of personal and professional technology is creating a significant impact on educational institutions as issues like network protection and device management come into play.

If your educational facility does not have a plan or policy in place to support and manage BYOD, the risks could be detrimental. When hardware or software is brought into a school setting without being authorized or centrally managed, your network is wide open to attack.

Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era | www.AkinsIT.com

At Akins IT, we help schools of all sizes implement the best BYOD policy with security solutions like MDM (Mobile Device Management) and NAC (Network Access Control). Incorporating these solutions helps ensure a truly secure BYOD environment. In doing so, your educational facility can inspire innovative learning and increase student engagement with fewer security risks.

Why BYOD is All the RageA Gartner report predicts about half of the world’s companies will implement a BYOD program by 2017.

Working on mobile devices helps on-the-go students and workers be more productive as well as increasing user satisfaction. These factors all drive the BYOD movement.

It’s time to get on-board the BYOD train. By allowing students and staff to bring their personal mobile devices to access your school wireless network, your school can gain many benefits:

Increase Student EngagementThe world is going digital. Younger generations are being exposed to mobile devices at increasingly earlier ages. BYOD offers a great solution in bringing technology to students to increase engagement and participation in learning. Just take a look at the stats:

77% of parents agree tablets help children’s learning and creativity.

There are approximately 1.5 million tablets currently in use by students in the US.

90% of students of all age groups say that using tablets help them study with greater efficiency

Incorporating these solutions helps ensure a truly secure BYOD environment”.

Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era | www.AkinsIT.com

Easier Collaboration StrategiesCollaboration is the key to student engagement in today’s classrooms. With BYOD technology securely set up in your school, students will easily be able to collaborate on projects and with teachers.

Learning Beyond the ClassroomStudents will also be able to learn beyond the classroom walls, using their devices as learning tools of engagement to access homework, projects, books, and everything they need to complete assignments.

Centralized Network Access Control (NAC)NAC can allow you to simplify the process of implementing BYOD. A NAC solution allows centralized policy management, dashboard device views, secure guest

registration and access to your wireless network, remote registration, and auto-provisioning of devices. If you don’t own the devices connected to your network, you need a way to control the device – so be sure not to neglect NAC as part of your BYOD solution.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)Mobile device management software helps protect your wireless network, your students, and the management of all the mobile devices your students and staff carry to class.

An MDM solution also acts as your centralized control for all apps you want to provide to users based on their role within your organization. That means you can allow specific apps to teachers and specific apps to students. This helps to ensure each student has the correct learning apps on their mobile device.

Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era | www.AkinsIT.com

Join the BYOD MovementThe use of mobile technology in the classroom is both the present and future of innovative learning and education. Schools must realize the power of BYOD in order to utilize all available benefits. If you’re ready to get ahead with a BYOD solution on your school wireless network, give the team at Akins IT a call today. As experts in everything both school wireless and IT – having worked with schools all over the area – we’ve got you covered.

20321 Irvine Ave Suite F3 Newport Beach, CA 92660

Phone: (949) 407-7120Email: sales@akinsit.com

Top Five Reasons Schools Should Embrace the BYOD Era | www.AkinsIT.com

20321 Irvine Ave Suite F3 Newport Beach, CA 92660

Phone: (949) 407-7120Email: sales@akinsit.com