How to deliver quality learning in a BYOD classroom

Explore effective tools for BYOD classrooms

Teaching in a room full of computers is the bread and butter of a teacher of Computing. For others, though, it can bring fear or unease. Sometimes, that’s down to the worry that the technology might not work, but more often, in my experience, it’s the concern that students will be off task – you can’t see what’s on their screens or it can take a long time for all students to get to the online resource you want them to use.  

When thinking about how to deliver quality learning, you need to consider the scaffold that brings everyone together to help keep the focus on learning, not the technology. 

Enter, classroom.cloud! 

Running the room

If you’re delivering a lesson where you want to use technology, both as the teacher and for students to complete work or research, you’ll likely want to show students your screen. In classroom.cloud, it is simple to share your screen (with audio, too) with all students’ devices during your lesson.  

It’s also a quick and simple activity to share your learning outcomes and objectives with the whole class – and, if needed, for students to ask for help, discreetly, via the help request and chat (with teacher only) options in the student toolbar.  

Conversely, if you spot Timmy at the back (as you can see all of their screens) isn’t quite on task or has highlighted a misconception, rather than interrupting the whole class who may be in ‘flow’, it’s a simple press of a button and you’re able to send a direct, personalised message to either correct, explain or nudge him to get back on task.  

The ability to provide scaffolding, drop a quick resource to those students that need it, discreetly and in the moment, without disturbing the rest of the class, is another way that classroom.cloud helps reduce distraction, focus cognitive load and help – all at the same time.  

No wasted time

Keeping students focused in a lesson can be a challenge, whether you are using technology or not. Supporting them with their self-regulation is easy in classroom.cloud. Not only can you set up the approved list of websites they can access to focus them within a lesson (restricting all others), but you can also lock them into being only able to use the tools you want them to use to show their learning. For example, if you want them to only use PowerPoint to create a presentation and Microsoft Edge to look at a specific website to curate that information, those settings will apply across the whole class.  

Over time, this approach helps students build both the stamina and the habits they will need to manage their own focus later in life, say at college or university and beyond in the workplace, where they won’t have support options available to them such as these. 

In classroom.cloud, with just a few clicks of the mouse, you can even open those apps and websites directly onto their devices, helping deliver quality learning in a technology-enhanced classroom, and leaving you to focus on what you do best: teach.  

Adaptive teaching – groups

You will likely have different students in your class with varying needs. Managing this, the resources they need and how your lens as a teacher focuses in supporting them, is simple in classroom.cloud. By setting up groups, you can easily check, share and work with specific students within your class. It’s as simple as clicking the tab you’ve set up for that group of students, and, hey presto, there they are, all with the same functionality you have when working with the entire class.