Student Blog: Dalena Quach
January 14, 2020
Bring your own device (BYOD) refers to the trend of students using personal devices, such as smartphones, personal computers, tablets, or USB drives, to connect to the school’s networks and access tools, such as eLearning and Galaxy.
Today, college students are far more technologically savvy than previous generations. They tend to use their own mobile computing devices daily, in both their personal and academic lives.
When students and professors can bring their own devices to class, they are more likely to have easier accessibility to their work in and out of school. This gives students and professors absolute full control of their own devices to download and share the material of their choice.
Also, with UTD’s new mandatory Duo two-factor authentication system, a student will most likely need to have a second device to authenticate their login.
So, why should you spend your own money and invest in a computer when UTD already provides a computer lab for students?
Some students may prefer devices that they’re more familiar with, like Windows or Mac devices. Sometimes, colleges only provide one type of outdated computer and software, which could hinder a student’s work quality.
Using your own device can also increase the productivity of work since students and professors can take their devices home with them and are more likely to continue learning outside of school hours.
With many students and professors using different devices, there can be technical difficulties with web browsers and other tools, since not all applications are universal across all platforms.
Another factor is that students now usually have more than one device on them, and even use them simultaneously. This can potentially overload the school’s wireless network if the infrastructure is not properly prepared. This also introduces additional security risk since BYOD devices are not as likely to be under the same scrutiny as university systems.
Although BYOD is what most students are doing, there are some risks associated with this. To mitigate risks within a user’s device, we can follow Nate Howe’s Top Security Objectives. The ones I find most helpful are: