Bring your own device classroom : issues of digital divides in teaching and learning contexts

Abstract

Technology mediated learning provides potentially valuable resources for learners’ academic and social development. However, according to recent researches, as the adoption stages of ICTs advance there arises further levels of digital divides in terms of equity of information literacy and learning outcomes. For the last three years we have been working with one of the earliest secondary school in New Zealand to introduce a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Our research has included a number of methods, including surveys, interviews and classroom observations. In this paper we present the findings from the investigation into BYOD project, which offers new insights into the digital divide issues in the context of technology mediated learning. Teaching and learning practices are evolving continually across formal and informal spaces, and this study informs us how the BYOD policy has influenced existing divides in the learning process.