Privately-Owned Technology Devices
Waterford High School
In the adult work and personal worlds, technology is everywhere, but it isn’t always used effectively and responsibly. Since a high school’s job is to help prepare students to become successful adults, the WHS faculty takes the challenge of helping students develop good digital citizenship habits very seriously.
To help us accomplish this, students at Waterford High School are permitted to use privately-owned technology devices in school and to access the school network with those devices during the school day. The goals of this Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYOD) approach are to encourage the responsible use of technology and to help students develop the ability to make mature decisions about when and why to use – or not use – technology.
To help develop mature and responsible decision-making about technology use, you should always finish one of these statements before you reach for your cell phone:
“This is a good time to use technology because …”
OR
“This isn’t a good time to use technology because…”
Asking yourself these questions will help you decide which one it is:
Will this help me build positive personal relationships?
Will this help me strengthen my academic performance?
Will this improve my focus and performance?
Will this help me develop marketable job skills? A fair competitive advantage?
Which is more important in the long run: what is happening in class right now or what I would be doing on a device instead? (is this an “important meeting” for me?)