Abstract:

The advancement in digital technology continues to alter the conventional order in the adoption and usage of technological innovation from a top-down approach (institutions to individuals) to bottom-up approach (individuals to institutions). This change is more notable in higher education institutions where the implementation of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept continue to grow at an astounding pace. This is in response to changing educational environment and increasing technology usage. The digitalization of education has pushed students towards the use of devices to access their institution’s network resources. This has led to what is termed Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), where students bring their personal devices with the genuine intention of gaining access with them to access university resources. The concept promises to enhance learning and improve student productivity while avoiding issues associated with budget constraints and the consumerization of technology. The article seeks to provide a snapshot of student ownership of mobile devices in a rural university. The results show that although a substantial number of students have access, majority of students purchase these mobile devices themselves. Students use these devices for accessing course materials even though learning activities were not optimized for use with mobile devices in the institution. Most concerning is that most of the students surveyed do not use their preferred devices to support their learning because of the cost component. The paper concludes with suggestions that higher education institutions (HEIs) can employ to support the digitalization of their institutions.

Keywords:

Digitalization, devices, dilemma, BYOD, adoption, HEIs.