Pilot Project at a Fredericton Middle School Allowing Smartphones in Class

I never thought I would see the day where smartphones were actually allowed in the classroom, but that day has come in the form of a pilot project at the George Street Middle School in Fredericton.

As they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... And that is exactly what this middle school has done!

The pilot project for Grade 8 students is called a "BYOD" class — bring your own device. The goal is to teach students how to judge the information they find online. As we all know, not everything you read online is true.

Participating students signed a contract with their parents at the beginning of the school year, acknowledging that it is a privilege to be able to use their device in the classroom. By using the department's servers for internet access, any data charges are borne by the education department, not by parents who pay the bill for their child's smartphone.

And of course, this pilot project doesn't come without a cost, of which is around $22,000 for expanded bandwidth and increasing the number of access points within the school by 2015.

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