Abstract:

Mobile Devices, which are provided by schools, are commonly used for students’ learning in the secondary school environment. Recent development in the field is shifting the role of the mobile device from a teaching tool for the teachers to personalized learning tools for the students. However, devices provided by school may hinder students from fully utilizing the mobile devices’ function due to a lack of self-belonging. Furthermore, students could not use the mobile devices to do their homework or perform self-learning outside the schools. In fact, several countries have implemented the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scheme. Likewise, BYOD scheme has been promoted by the Education Bureau (EDB) among Hong Kong Secondary School since 2017. The government provided various funding to help low-income families to purchase the device and Wi-Fi system in order to solve the equity issue. Despite governmental support, the implementation rate of BYOD scheme among secondary schools is still low, and research on BYOD scheme considering perspectives from different stakeholders is still lacking especially in Asian region.

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential benefits of BYOD on students learning and challenges faced by different stakeholders, namely, students, parents and teachers. The research was carried out with 233 junior secondary students, 153 parents and 60 teachers from a Hong Kong secondary school in the school year 2018-2019. At the end of the school year, different sets of questionnaires were given to all stakeholders. Besides, five students, parents and teachers were interviewed. Sociocultural learning theory was adopted as lens to analysis the data considering elements in structure, agency and cultural practice. The interaction between these domains were also explored by thematic analysis.

The preliminary analysis of students’ and parents’ data revealed that not many parents stated that they could not afford to buy a mobile device for student learning, possibly due to the government’s financial support for structure on school and students. Besides, some students and parents are still worrying about student learning with mobile device may replace some important traditional ways of learning such as pen and paper writing. Health issues resulting from prolonged use of the devices was also raised by some parents. Yet, many students and parents believe that the device can provide easier access to learning resources and enhance their motivation for learning. BYOD scheme changes students learning at home and cultural practice. BYOD also improves student’s agency in learning by allowing them to use technologies such as search engines when doing homework, thus also alter their habitual practices in utilizing the devices. The results from this study will benefit parties such as policy makers and schools who are planning to implement a BYOD scheme.

Keywords:

BYOD, Moblie Learning, Sociocultural.