September 4, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 Ho-Ho-Kus Expert sets groundwork for BYOD program by Jennifer Crusco The Ho-Ho-Kus K-8 Public School is moving ever closer to bringing its “bring your own device” program to fruition, and Daniel Cazes has been hard at work on the project. Cazes, the director of technology Ho- Ho-Kus shares with the Upper Saddle River School District, reported that the ground- work for BYOD began with the introduc- tion of a common platform. That platform, Google Apps for Education, is a free Web- based office suite that includes e-mail and collaboration applications designed exclu- sively for schools and universities. According to Cazes, that platform, which will be used by teachers and students, has been in place since last year. He pointed out that Google Apps for Education is not tied to Windows, Macintosh, or a specific piece of hardware. The Google Apps for Education website indicates that more than 14 million students and teachers now use this system, includ- ing those at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Westminster. The website also states that this platform allows people to study together in real time and across distances. Users control their own data, Google Apps backs up the informa- tion, and everything is automatically saved in the cloud; that is, the platform is 100 per- cent Web-powered. E-mails, documents, calendars, and other information can be accessed and edited on a wide variety of mobile devices or tablets. This spring, Cazes continued, the dis- trict worked on getting students onto the system on a small scale. He explained that individual students received access to the platform at the request of a teacher. “This was done as a trial or for special needs,” Cazes explained. This academic year, he added, the staff plans to roll out the program to additional students. Asked about the range of access, Cazes said the program might involve just one class this year, but that would depend on the school administration. “We’re moving slowly, cautiously,” he added. The next step in the process, Cazes said, involved the improvement of the infra- structure so it would be able to handle an increase in users. He said this phase included an upgrade of the school’s network and the addition of wireless access points within the building. Cazes said a password will be required to access the system. He added that the school will have a secure wireless network that can only be accessed by computers and devices owned by Ho-Ho-Kus, with a guest network for students. If a student does not own his or her own device, that student will be able to borrow one to use during school hours. This will allow all the students to have a uniform learning experience, Cazes said. Although students will have access to the Internet for research purposes, Cazes noted, “Everything is content filter secure.” As a result, he said, users will not be able to access websites with undesirable content. The BYOD policy was approved earlier this year by the Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Edu- cation. The policy will allow students to use their own technology devices, includ- ing laptops, tablets, and e-readers, during school hours for approved educational pur- poses. The BYOD policy states that teaching staff members, “in considering the use of privately-owned technology, will ensure such approval does not provide any advan- tage or benefit to the pupil who owns such technology over the pupil who does not own such technology. (continued on page 17)