BYOD concept

So that it succeeds!

On this page we summarise a few thoughts and best practices for educational establishments.

Laptops are a basic requirement at all vocational and secondary schools, as well as secondary school programmes, in order to participate in further education at all. So-called BYOD guidelines (bring your own device) regulate the minimum requirements for devices that are brought into the classroom.

The term "vocational school" is used in the following. All thoughts and considerations apply analogously to all types of secondary schools.

Basic procedure

Finding the right requirements is not easy these days, as there are many different types of devices and equipment options. The following process can help to create a coherent and future-proof BYOD concept:

• Clarification of basic questions about the vocational school itself
• Clarification of basic questions about teaching
• Clarify your own assistance
• Drafting the BYOD concept
• Periodic review of the BYOD concept

Vocational school policy issues

It makes little sense to draw up a blanket list of BYOD requirements, especially if a vocational school trains students in different professions. Rather, it would be more targeted here to create appropriate minimum requirements for each job profile. For example, more technical professions are generally reliant on more powerful devices - whereas less powerful devices could fulfil the same purpose for more manual professions.

This raises the following fundamental questions:

• What professions do we train?
• Which programmes do our apprentices use in class?
• What are the minimum requirements?

In most cases, even very simple configurations will suffice. For example, if you mainly work with Office/Microsoft365 and PDFs, even really manageable performance (Intel i5 from 8th gen, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) will suffice.

Basic questions about teaching

In many BYOD requirements, one requirement is usually a huge thorn in the side: the mandatory presence of a touchscreen. Devices equipped with such a screen quickly cause the purchase price to skyrocket.

It must therefore be weighed up:

• Is a touchscreen really necessary or just a "nice to have"?
• Do our apprentices even use the touchscreen?
• Are there disadvantages for apprentices without a touchscreen in certain programmes?

Here, too, our experience shows that a touchscreen is only used selectively (if at all) by learners. For certain professions, a touchscreen effectively makes sense in general (construction, assembly or graphic design professions). For others, however, it really doesn't. A simple option would be to list touchscreens as optional requirements for convenience purposes

Own assistance

Depending on the vocational school, various offers are already available, for example cooperation with platforms such as edu.ch or projectneptun.ch. But there are various other ways to help:

• Equipment hire at a contribution towards expenses
• Financial assistance by means of special funding pots

In many cases, it is not really necessary to provide brand-new devices for the start of an apprenticeship. There are also some second-hand platforms, such as benno-shop.ch or gewa-multimedia.ch.

Also a Partnership with Wir lernen weiter could be one of these opportunities. In order to become a partner, vocational schools only need to adhere to a clearly defined process that measures and identifies poverty.

Drafting the BYOD concept

In most cases, the wheel does not have to be invented. It may be easy to find templates or other concepts. The following points are important when writing:

• Simplicity (prevents excessive demands)
• Segmentation according to job profiles (realistic)
• According to the class (not much too high)

Examples of good concepts follow below.

Periodic review

Self-explanatory. We recommend checking that a BYOD concept that has already been created is up to date every two years. If questions arise before then, we can of course do this earlier.

Create a BYOD concept

This is part of the concept

The following components must be specified as a minimum:

• Processor incl. generation (at least 8th generation for Windows 11)
• Working memory (RAM)
• Operating system
• Touchscreen (yes/no/optional)

We recommend that no specific devices are recommended, as on the one hand the market changes very quickly and therefore students are already sent off on certain models. This is particularly critical if the laptops exceed the minimum requirements (cost factor)

Finding the right requirements

The following examples are just examples, but they can help.

Simple laptop

More powerful devices

Example of a good concept

BWZ Lyss has created a very coherent and realistic BYOD concept. Occupational profiles from the following categories are taught at BWZ Lyss:

• Horticulture, floristry
• Logistician, road transport
• FAGE
• Businesswoman / Businessman
• Carpenters / Joiners

Strengths of the BYOD concept

• Grading according to job profiles
• Low minimum requirements
• Simple listing of these
• Reference to second-hand platforms (incl. further discount)

Questions about your own concept?

We will be happy to put your BYOD concept through its paces - free of charge! It is important to us that the frustration caused by excessive device procurement costs can be minimised during the first steps in everyday working life.

Just send us an email and enclose your concept. We will be happy to take a look at it and give you further tips (if necessary) 😎