Partners of the project

About the project

The project Concept Development and Practice of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in Schools through Support and Experience Exchange, abbreviated as Bring Your Own Device, was initiated by the Center for Educational Technology in the Western Balkans in collaboration with the UNICEF Office for Serbia. The project aims to contribute to the discussion on effective investment models in ICT infrastructure.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is an approach that allows students to use their own digital devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) during classes to support the learning process (UNESCO, 2013). The use of digital technologies in education has been increasing year by year, but their full integration leading to the achievement of educational goals and improvement in student achievements remains a complex process requiring further consideration and investment.

Within this project, it was assumed that the success of the BYOD approach would depend on a holistic approach, but that transformation should start in individual schools and classrooms. Typically, it takes several years to implement the concept at the school level. One approach recommended for successful integration of digital technologies into teaching and learning processes is whole-school digital transformation.

The project has empowered six schools (primary and secondary) in Serbia to implement and test the Bring Your Own Device concept.

Schools that participated in the project

  1. Electrotechnical School “Nikola Tesla”, Niš

  2. Philological Gymnasium, Belgrade

  3. Gymnasium Zaječar, Zaječar

  4. Primary School “Nada Purić”, Valjevo

  5. Primary School “Miroslav Antić Mika”, Pančevo

  6. Primary School “United Nations”, Belgrade

As part of the project, each school received:

-mentoring support for the general development of the infrastructure network enabling device and network access, as well as its sustainability for implementing the “Bring Your Own Device” concept;
-mentoring support and access to professional materials that can support the “Bring Your Own Device” concept in one classroom;
-opportunity for self-evaluation using the Selfi tool and/or analysis of the Selfi school report for schools that conducted self-evaluation, with a specific focus on ICT infrastructure development and the “Bring Your Own Device” concept;
-self-evaluation can serve as a basis for preparing the digital segment of the Institution’s Development Plan and developing the “Bring Your Own Device” concept;
-certificate of participation in the project issued by the Center for Educational Technologies in the Western Balkans;
-other types of support according to the school’s needs.

Results after the conducted project

After completing the project, the publication “Bring Your Own Device – Analysis and Recommendations for Educational Policy and Practice” was produced.

The publication covers the legal framework for developing the BYOD concept, reviews various BYOD concepts and models according to requirements. It also includes the results of the pilot project and recommendations at the system and school levels.

The publication was created as part of the Development of the Bring Your Own Device Concept and Practice in Schools project through support and experience exchange provided by the Center for Educational Technologies in the Western Balkans in collaboration with UNICEF, supported by the Bridging the Digital Divide in Serbia project for the most vulnerable children, implemented by UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, and the European Union.

The content and views expressed in the publication represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Ministry of Education, the Delegation of the European Union, and UNICEF in Serbia.

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