The wave of the future is at South Middle School.
BYOD — bring your own device — is an initiative that allows students to take their smartphones, tablets and e-readers into the classrooms to use as educational tools. The pilot program is in its first year at South and could be expanded to other Henderson County Schools in the future.
"To engage students in learning you have to have to take it to them in a language, in a vehicle, that they can understand and are excited about," Principal Ryan Reusch said. "We can't keep teaching the same way we were always taught in paper and pencil. We have to continue to change with the times and engage them in different ways and this does that."
Eighth-graders Adriel Brewer and Siara Marquez said they use their iPhones to jot down notes, forgoing the usual pen and paper method.
"I like it because it's faster and it doesn't make my hands hurt from writing so much," said Brewer. "I can just type it."
The smartphones double as reading devices. Eighth-grader read the Nicholas Sparks novel "Safe Haven" entirely on her phone during her reading class. She also uses it for research.
Merrill Punke can remember when the Internet was brand new, but the kids he teaches in his social studies classes have been well-versed in web-based technology for the majority of their lives.
"If you wanted to look something up when I was in school, you went to the library," Punke said. "Well, these kids don't do that. They're used to instant information."
Punke incorporates the BYOD initiative into his classroom daily, utilizing several educational apps like Socrative and Nearpod. His classroom is large and the students spread out, so one good feature is that a presentation projected onto the Smartboard can also be viewed on the students' devices.
Using the technology, Punke has students text answers to multiple choice questions he poses during a lesson and then receives instant feedback on which answer they have selected. Punke can alter his lesson based on the feedback, spending extra time on a question that many students missed.
The BYOD initiative also incorporates 21st century skills, he said. The students learn to differentiate valid research from incorrect information via their research on the devices.
Being able to use their smartphones and tablets also feels like a reward to students.
"Allowing them to use those devices in class kind of makes them feel like they are able to kind of get something they deserve," Punke said.
Students have to earn the right to bring their devices to class, Reusch said. Each student must take an online course about Internet safety and pass a test. Students can either take the test at home or they are given opportunities before and after school if they don't have access to a computer at their residence.
Once a student passes a test, a laminated digital license card is issued which Reusch stamps and distributes. Students must present their cards in class when they use their devices.
Reusch estimates about half of the school's 675 students have digital licenses.
There's always been a few problems with kids leaving their phones in the pockets and it buzzing during class, but that hasn't seemed to increase since the BYOD initiative began this year, he said. There are guidelines and rules in place on how and when students can use their devices.
Parents have to sign a waiver allowing their children to use the licenses with the understanding of what the ramifications would be if their child used a website deemed inappropriate. There are measures in place to block such websites, Reusch said, but noted there are so many websites online there could always be backdoor ways to access the sites.
"We have to be able to monitor it and have a level of trust with the kids," he said.