When I was a student in elementary school, we had desks, teachers, and blackboards (not even whiteboards!). My interaction with technology in the classroom was limited to an exciting experience playing Oregon Trail, a software game that my teachers leveraged as a hands-on experience for students to see what kinds of challenges pioneers faced going west in the 1800's.  When I think about how deeply entrenched technology is in education today, I realize my teachers were quite ahead of the curve!

Anyone who has witnessed a child play with a smartphone can attest to the fact that technology comes easily to kids. Educators today are well aware of this situation and have been creating innovative ways to engage the interest in technology with school curriculum. Kids now "know" technology as a part of education starting as early as kindergarten.   Whether it's a laptop carts, tablets in the classroom, smart boards, or leveraging the internet as a pure teaching tool, the availability of technological resources places no limits on how education can be delivered and innovated.

A Pew Research survey on 2,462 teachers indicates that 73% of their students use mobile devices to complete assignments, 45% use e-readers, and 43% use tablets. Technology in the classroom is not a future trend, it is already here.

Cisco K-12 Education BYOD Solutions brings freedom to learn anytime and anywhere with Cloud-Managed or On-Premise deployments. To find out more about Cisco Education BYOD Solutions and to ensure your network is ready for BYOD please register to the Cisco Virtual Forum for education leaders.  The BYOD Readiness Solutions booth is just one of many booths in the forum educating teachers, administrators, principals, curriculum directors and IT directors worldwide on Cisco solutions and services.    The forum will take place March 19th, 2013 in the Americas & Europe and the 20^thas an Asia pacific event.  Register for the fast approaching event now!