Abstract:

BYOD includes learning with the aid of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets/iPad and laptops. BYOD strategy in teaching and learning is highly recognized nowadays, especially since face-to-face attendance was disrupted, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new normal globally was learning, teaching and assessment online. Students’ use of their own mobile devices was explored in many institutions of learning. Higher education institutions was the one mostly benefitted from online teaching and learning. Transition to remote learning allows students to study in their own space and time is currently increasing.

This paper reports on students’ perception of using the BYOD strategy for learning in a higher education institution. Participants were the 80 students registered for Agriculture Mechanisation1 and Agriculture Extension1 at the University of Technology in South Africa. The question posed in this study is: How did students perceive the use of BYOD strategy in higher education? To respond to this question, a qualitative case study was used. Semi-structured interviews and an open-ended questionnaire was employed to collect data. Data were analyzed through Atlas ti. It was found that most of the students indicated that they had fun using mobile devices for learning because they were familiar with their devices. It was also found that students felt comfortable when using their mobile device for learning and it was easy to use. However, the findings also revealed that few of the students experience challenges, but it improves with time. Therefore, higher education institutions must provide training to both students and academics on the utilization of BYOD strategy in learning, teaching and assessment.

Keywords:

BYOD, COVID-19, new normal, students’ perceptions, higher education.