Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) for Reflective Engagement of Learners in Digital Classroom – Learning and Teaching Initiatives funded by the UGC

Abstract:

The advocacy of learners’ reflective learning and the trend of digital classrooms place new demands on academic/teaching staff in the higher education sector for transforming pedagogical practices along with the growth of e-learning in recent years. The project aims to enhance the competency of HKIEd academic/teaching staff in promoting learner’s reflective engagement in accordance with HKIEd e-learning strategies. The project, adopting the design-based approach, will conduct a two-year research on the professional development of implementing an e-learning pedagogy of “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)” for enhancing excellence and innovation in learning and teaching, as well as enhancing flexibility and choice for learners. With the set-up of a community of practice (CoP), the 15 project investigators will develop their own BYOD pedagogies which encourage our learners to use wireless-connected portable computing devices for their own learning needs such as accessing interactive learning platforms (e.g., Socrative), participating in social learning networks (e.g., Edmodo) for course learning, and collecting data (e.g., capturing pictures). Each CoP member will continuously implement their own BYOD pedagogies throughout three rounds of trial teaching, and progressively refine the BYOD pedagogies with reciprocal sharing and support from other CoP members of the project. The project will conduct questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews with learners to understand their overall perceptions as well as in-depth opinions on the suitability and effectiveness of the BYOD pedagogies. Focus group interviews will also be conducted with CoP members of the project to reflect on their competency in designing and implementing BYOD pedagogies for promoting deep learning engagement among learners. The research outcomes will lead the project to recommending designs of pedagogical initiatives favorable for learner’s reflective engagement in learning in digital classrooms, as well as approaches to sustainably scaling up professional development for academic/teaching staff on e-learning in higher education.

Code:

T0129

Principal Project Supervisors:

Keywords provided by authors:

Subjects:

Start Date:

01 Jul 2013

End Date:

30 Jun 2015

Status:

Completed

Result:

In the focus group interviews, students reported that with their wireless-connected portable computing devices in hand, it was more convenient for them to search online when they found certain concepts difficult to understand and to look up the dictionary apps or online dictionaries when they encountered new vocabulary. Learner survey results showed that the improvement in learning motivation in class and the enhancement of interaction with teachers and students brought by using mobile devices were the best perceived advantages of BYOD.
According to the feedback collected from interviews, most of the lecturers who conducted trial teaching agreed that BYOD brought new possibilities in teaching designs and was a favorable way to facilitate various types of pedagogical practices. With use of learning platforms, through activities such as polling and small quizzes, lecturers were able to gain a better understanding of how well students understand the course content and thus to respond to students’ need and further stimulate their thought with comments, feedback and etc.
The results of investigating the impact of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as a “personalized learning hub” initiative on learners’ reflective engagement showed that the use of a reflective engagement framework and the deployment of BYOD as a “personalized learning hub” initiative in the higher education sector can engage learners in learning interactions. BYOD as “personalized learning hub” is a means for achieving the goal of reflective engagement in the learning process. The reflective engagement framework consisting of the personal, social and intellectual dimensions was able to guide teachers to design learning tasks that made learners aware of the domain-specific intellectual ideas important for the targeted topics; the link between learning intentions and expectations; as well as the support from social interactions with peers in the learning process.

Impact:

Results collected from learner’s survey and focus group interview with lecturers and learners implied that the deployment of BYOD initiative could help teachers to support learners to actively engage in learning interactions, especially in knowledge construction with self-reflection on their learning process and learning outcomes. The technological model provided teachers and students with alternative ways of communication in and after class, digital tools and resources for learning and the possibilities of implementing innovative pedagogical designs and carrying out teaching and learning activities rarely achievable in a traditional classroom.
According to the interview feedback, the process of designing BYOD pedagogies was not only a process for lecturers to explore new possibilities brought by advancement of digital technologies, but also a re-examination of their learner-centered teaching designs. The implementation of these pedagogies can thus help learners adapt to learner-centered learning in higher education and prepare themselves for teaching with technology and promoting learner-centered learning in their teaching work after graduation. The majority of teachers and students involved in trial teaching agreed that they would continue using BYOD in teaching and learning, and others noted that they would use when necessary and useful, they would no doubt keep on using their mobile devices to help them learn and teach.

Deliverables:

Books / Book Chapters / Journal Articles / Conference Papers

Kong, S. C. & Song, Y. (2015, May). A study of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative for reflective engagement in a higher education institution. Paper presented at the 19th Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education (GCCCE 2015), Howard Civil Service International House, Chungli, Taiwan. https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/63e77e38-dfed-4d7a-9493-7ad7...
Kong, S. C., & Song, Y. (2015). An experience of personalized learning hub initiative embedding BYOD for reflective engagement in higher education. Computers & Education, 88, 227-240. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2015.06.003 https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/a47b30fc-17e0-4db6-8ca5-2573...
Song, Y., & Kong, S. C. (2015, November). What are the affordances of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for learning from teachers’ perspectives in higher education? Paper presented at The 23rd International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2015): Transforming education in the big data era, The First World Hotel, Hangzhou, China. https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/05ecc7fe-fd6a-4464-bab0-fc63...
Song, Y., & Kong, S. C. (2017). Retracted Chapter: Affordances and constraints of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for learning in higher education: Teachers’ perspectives. In S. C. Kong, T. L. Wong, M. Yang, C. F. Chow, & K. H. Tse (Eds.), Emerging practices in scholarship of learning and teaching in a digital era. Singapore: Springer. (ISBN 978-981-10-3344-5)https://www.springer.com/us/book/9789811033421

Seminars/Presentations/Sharing Sessions

(2013, September). Startup seminar of the Institute level project of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT) and Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 12 September 2013. (No of participants: 16)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/d6755d9d-a2a8-4f6b-92a2-d744...

(2014, January). Sharing session to report the design and implementation of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT), Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT), Ms. Suzan Stamper (CLE), Mr. Chan Ping Man Paladin (SES) and Prof. Lim Cher Ping (C&I) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 17 January 2014. (No of participants: 18)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/7b84e80a-edd2-4cf3-b6fd-51b8...

(2014, February). Sharing session to report the design and implementation of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) presented by Mr. Chui Hin Leung (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 18 February 2014. (No of participants: 12)

(2014, June). Workshop for “One Course One Digital Lecture Scheme” Ambassador presented by Mr. Chui Hin Leung (MIT), Dr. Li Ping (MIT), Dr. Li Kai Ming (MIT), Prof. Lim Cher Ping (C&I), Dr. Ying Danjun Issa (CLE), Ms. Xu Damiao Zoe (CLE), Ms. Suzan Stamper (CLE), Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT) and Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 12 June 2014. (No of participants: 27)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/0f2b3191-7564-47b3-a7b4-302a...

(2014, August). BYOD for Reflective Engagement Community cum Mobile Learning Community Joint Seminar presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT), Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT), Dr. Chung Ming Yan (HPE), Dr. Ma Qing (LML), Dr. Wang Lixun (LML) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 28 August 2014. (No of participants: 22)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/eb1910a1-682e-446f-8c81-33bf...

(2015, February). Departmental seminar “Enhancing students' interaction in learning with BYOD” for Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE) presented by Dr. Chung Ming Yan (HPE) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 27 February 2015. (No of participants: 11) https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/01e168ba-a4a8-4141-b74e-30ce...

(2015, March). Bring Your Own Device for reflective engagement of learners dissemination seminar presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT), Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT), Dr. Wong Ka Wai Gary (MIT), Dr. Li Ping (MIT), Dr. Yeung Chi Ho Bill (SES), Dr. Ma Qing Angel (LML), and Dr. Wang Lixun (LML) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 4 March 2015. (No of participants: 15)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/8916358d-af2f-4519-970b-0c9d...

(2015, March). Departmental e-Learning workshop “Learning with mobile technology in higher education: Experience and challenges” for Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA) presented by Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 11 March 2015. (No of participants: 15)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/b3562ee4-c740-4697-ba5c-b1ce...

(2015, May). Departmental workshop “Simple interactive in-class activities facilitated by Moodle and BYOD” for Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE) presented by Dr. Yeung Chi Ho Bill (SES) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 14 May 2015. (No of participants: Around 20)https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/8d99c027-9415-4702-9df5-7c13...

(2015, May). An experience of using Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as a personalized learning hub for reflective engagement in higher education presented byProf. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT) at The 3rd Annual Learning Futures, Quality and Innovation Forum 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 20 May 2015. https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/df0d26af-8aea-4b97-a374-6dcd...

(2015, June). Dissemination seminar “Using learner’s mobile device as personalized learning hub for enriching learning experience” presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT), Dr. Song Yanjie (MIT), Dr. Li Pang (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 2 June 2015. (No of participants: 15)

(2015, September). Staff induction “e-Learning in higher education” for new academic and teaching staff presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 4 September 2015. (No of participants: 19)

(2016, January). Staff induction “e-Learning in higher education” for new academic and teaching staff and research postgraduate students presented by Prof. Kong Siu Cheung (MIT) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 7 January 2016. (No of participants: 22)

Online Resources and Materials

17 video clips demonstrating examples of pedagogical use of applications with disciplinary knowledge of the subjects selected from the 40 times of video-recorded trial teaching are available on the BYOD website for review. http://tdgbyod2013.ied.edu.hk/
A website with resources such as apps for BYOD and videos featuring the pedagogical uses of applications and digital learning resources.http://tdgbyod2013.ied.edu.hk/

Financial Year:

2012-13

Type:

TDG