At Kelly Mill Elementary, students don’t get scolded for using
cellphones during class. No one bats an eye when they bring a
laptop, iPad or Nintendo DS into the classroom. In fact,
teachers and administrators at the Cumming, Ga., school
encourage it. They say technology is providing new ways to
engage students in learning. So, students take notes on their
iPads, respond to teachers’ questions on their cellphones and
compete on math quizzes on their laptops — and teachers think of
technology as another learning tool. “It is as natural for
today’s learner to use technology to learn as it is for my
generation to use paper and pencil,” Kelly Mill Elementary
Principal Ron McAllister said. The approach is called BYOT —
Bring Your Own Technology — and something similar is on its way
to Collier County schools. This week, Collier Superintendent
Kamela Patton will lead a team of 38 district officials heading
to Georgia to learn more about it through a conference held by
the Forsyth County school district, which overse