BYOD
Our Waterloo vision for e-learning is to: “Provide opportunities for the students of Waterloo School to be confident, connected, creative and actively involved future focussed learners”.
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is when students bring their own device to school to assist with their learning. Since 2016 Waterloo School has had a significant number of students who have brought their own devices to school and have received the benefits associated with doing so. This option is available in Years 3 to 6.
The purpose and goal of our BYOD option is to develop and lift student achievement in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing and mathematics.
A full BYOD classroom (one Chromebook to every child) has unlimited potential to enhance and improve learning by opening new and different ways of learning:
- Quicker access to information found on the World Wide Web.
- Devices and learning are taken home.
- Increased engagement from learners.
- File and information sharing between teachers and students.
- Collaboration through connected learning.
- Future ready students.
- Personalised instruction through flipped classroom and individual access.
Recommended Hardware
We strongly endorse the use of Chromebooks, which have been chosen due to their portability, battery life, ease of use and ability to enhance collaboration. A Chrome Management License will be applied to your child's Chromebook so it is able to have safety settings applied to it, apps installed and pinned and be managed effectively when at school. This does not affect your ability to add accounts to the Chromebook or download your own Apps and extensions.
Any model of Chromebook is acceptable. Waterloo School has bought Acer models due to the robust design for educational markets.
A laptop is also a suitable device but for ease of use in classroom learning programmes, we don't recommend tablets.
All models can be purchased through your normal electronics retailer.
Waterloo School partners with Noel Leeming for its school devices and to see the latest offers, click on the image.
NB: Please do not feel you must buy your child a device. We have school owned Chromebooks available in every classroom.