Recent Changes

With any implementation of BYOD, whether it is in business or education, concerns arise in the area of security. IT professionals must be heavily involved in the process of policy creation and adoption due to the foreseen issues individual devices may bring to a network. In educational circles safety of students is brought to the forefront, as the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and E-rate funds require districts to develop policies protecting students from inappropriate use and access to certain content on the Internet (Federal Communications Commission, 2013). BYOD raises the level of concern not only from school network operators but also from students and teachers as many become frustrated with filtering systems that prohibit the use of some applications as well as block potentially useful websites (Hill, 2011). However, as long as schools receive federal funds and the law remains intact, access to Internet content will most assuredly be limited which leaves school districts the task of how to go about ensuring regulations are met when students are using their own devices for educational purposes.
Network Issues

Disadvantages
As with all programs or movements, there are advantages as well as disadvantages. Nothing, especially with technology, is ever perfect. There is always room for improvement or adaptation depending on the situations at hand. With BYOD, the same is true. Although BYOD has many advantages that truly benefit today’s education system, it also has some disadvantages. With these disadvantages schools must weigh the cost to determine if a BYOD program is fitting with their needs. These disadvantages range from lack of research to security and safety concerns.
One of the largest disadvantages of BYOD is the lack of research available. BYOD is a fairly new concept in education. This means, that although many schools are changing policies and starting to adapt to the new program, the programs have not been implemented long enough to gather a substantial amount of information. This can be a deterrent for school districts looking into BYOD. Without enough information, it is hard to fully buy into the idea and make decisions on a large scale. This requires schools to create a trial and error period and adapt as the program is implemented.
Along with lack of research comes the buy-in from faculty. Another disadvantage to BYOD is the concern from teachers regarding the new idea being implemented. Many schools start the BYOD programs with a flexible expectation from teachers. Many teachers are not required to take advantage of BYOD. In Saline Area Schools there were four goals when starting to implement BYOD.
2012, p. 36)36).
However, after a full year of BYOD and allowing teachers to ease into the concept, the school found that “some teachers still haven’t offered learning experiences that utilize student-owned devices; they are still unsure how it will work in their classrooms” (Graden & Kellstrom, 2012, p. 37). Teachers are hesitant to make the switch. It means giving up the traditional style classroom and allowing students to have some freedom.
BYOD programs.