To BYOD or not to BYOD: factors affecting academic acceptance of student mobile devices in the classroom

This article reports on factors affecting local academic acceptance of bring your own devices (BYOD). A review of the literature revealed a paucity of studies that have explored the complex factors that affect academic use and intention to use mobile devices in the classroom, with even less exploring truly ubiquitous and varied personal devices as opposed to supplied institutional or research study sets. A detailed qualitative investigation with 14 academics was undertaken, drawing upon and aiming to compliment mature acceptance research. Firstly by employing a focus group to identify initial psychological factors and the relevance of acceptance theories to the local context. Then, secondly by using in-depth semi-structured interviews, shaped by acceptance categories, to identify a breadth of psychological factors affecting faculty use and intention to use BYOD. This small-scale study found clear distinctions in local academic perceptions of BYOD compared with faculty devices and reported a range of factors that appeared to distinctly affect local academic acceptance of BYOD

North Carolina Private School Educators\u27 Perceptions of BYOD Implementation as a Lived Experience: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to understand North Carolina private high school educators’ perceptions of the implementation of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program as a lived experience. This research study utilized the theoretical lenses of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model and the technology acceptance model (TAM) frameworks to determine the perceptions of each educator participating in this research study in relation to BYOD integration into their classroom settings. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was secured from both Liberty University as well as the private school site. Participants in the study were asked to complete two assessment questionnaires containing 10 questions each regarding the participants’ level of TAM, complete three reflection journal posts, and also participate in a face-to-face interview to determine an accurate measure of their individual TPACK level at the time of BYOD implementation. A purposeful sampling procedure was used to select educators from private schools in North Carolina who met the study criteria and have implemented BYOD programs in their classrooms. Data collected included a questionnaire, an individual interview, and journals. Data were analyzed to produce codes and themes using the modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method advocated by Moustakas. Data were analyzed and developed into stories of the participants. Three themes emerged: Value to the instructor, student engagement, and continued learning/professional development. Findings revealed that if the teacher was comfortable with technology, they were more likely to use BYOD. IN additions, when trained in BYOD through professional development, the level of teacher confidence increased, as did student engagement

Digital capital and socio-economic disadvantage : an examination of the digital practices and online career information seeking of year 11 students in new south wales government schools

This study examines the online career information seeking practices of Year 11 students within five New South Wales (NSW) state secondary schools of different socio-economic status (SES). The broader context of this study is the ongoing inequality within the Australian education system, particularly the continued underrepresentation of students from low SES backgrounds in tertiary education. With the large-scale adoption of information and communications technologies (ICTs) within Australian secondary schools, the study shows the powerful ways in which ICTs can inform and influence students' post-secondary school career transitions and opportunities. A growing body of literature over the last three decades indicates the interconnected nature of these phenomena, particularly among low-SES students; however, little research has been conducted from an Australian perspective. Indeed, an examination of the career information needs that motivate young people, how they resolve these needs online, the sources and channels they use and how these practices differ within this large heterogeneous group is lacking globally. This study adopts a mixed methods approach, drawing together insights from survey, interview and observational data from a range of participants: students, teachers, university admissions and marketing directors and a former NSW Department of Education (DoE) information technologies (IT) director. It develops Ignatow and Robinson’s (2017) concept of digital capital to highlight the relationships between young people’s digital practices and the structural constraints of their social environment which mediate them. It also builds on the work of Park, (2017a) which uses the notion of digital capital to examine new forms of digital inequalities across Australia. By further developing the notion of digital capital, this thesis progresses research on digital divides away from simplistic binary analyses of haves and have-nots, skilled and unskilled, to include potential real world outcomes from varied levels of digital capital and differential OISPs, thereby creating a more nuanced account of young people’s digital practices. It also highlights the connections between young people’s SES, digital capital and their position concerning on-going digital divides. The study proposes a typology of four distinct groups of students based on their differing online information seeking practices (OISPs) to illuminate how young people in Australia seek and use online information to inform their post-high school career choices. These are the Traditional Job Seekers, the Social Networkers, the Future Professionals and the Creative Dreamers. Each category represents students’ future career aspirations and digital practices, highlighting their differing stores of objectified and embodied digital capital and the opportunities and constraints of each. Except for the Social Networkers, this research shows that young people largely underinvest in online career information seeking, preferring traditional sources of information, particularly parents, older siblings and careers advisors, along with serendipitous factors such as accumulated self-knowledge to inform their post-school career and educational options. In a hyper-digitalised world, digital inequities have the potential to shape key life chances of young people in multiple ways, including their educational and career outcomes. This study suggests that the widespread proliferation and adoption of ICTs within secondary schools and the everyday lives of young people have done little to promote equal opportunities for all. It therefore suggests that teachers, parents, researchers and education policymakers need to move beyond the current one-size-fits-all approach to secondary school ICT initiatives, to instead develop flexible, school-based programs that more accurately reflect the highly differentiated digital contexts in which young people now find themselves

Vision, Mission, and Technology Implementation: Going One-to-One in a Catholic School

As one-to-one computing initiatives become commonplace, some Catholic school educators might find themselves wondering what, if anything, such technologies might have to do with Catholic identity. This case study drew upon survey and interview data to explore the intersection of Catholic vision and mission with the implementation of a one-to-one (BYOD) initiative. The study finds that Catholic values informed the school’s support of teachers, as well as its efforts to help students navigate the personal and social issues associated with devices. In the end, teachers were positive about one-to-one. Many teachers had experimented with devices in their classrooms, and some even reported using devices for social justice purposes. In other words, the school’s unique vision and mission enabled it to engage in activities that might not occur elsewhere. The implications of this study on how to conceptualize about technological change and how to lead technology initiatives are discussed. A medida que las iniciativas cara a cara con dispositivos se convierten en cotidianas, algunos educadores de escuelas católicas se preguntan qué tiene que ver la tecnología con la identidad católica. Este estudio de caso se basó en datos de encuestas y entrevistas para explorar la intersección entre la visión y la misión católicas con la implementación de una iniciativa cara a cara (BYOD, o “traiga su propio dispositivo”). El estudio halla que los valores católicos informaron del apoyo a los maestros por parte de las escuelas, así como los esfuerzos por ayudar a los estudiantes a navegar a través de los problemas personales y sociales asociados con los dispositivos. Al final, los maestros mostraron reacciones positivas hacia los cara a cara. Muchos maestros habían experimentado con dispositivos en sus clases y algunos informaron que los usaban para la justicia social. En otras palabras, la visión y misión especial de la escuela permitió su participación en actividades que no podrían ocurrir en ningún otro lugar. Se discuten las implicaciones de este estudio en cómo conceptualizar el cambio tecnológico y cómo dirigir iniciativas tecnológicas. Palabras clave: cara a cara, implementación, visión escolar, identidad escolar, tecnologí