The missing link: The parental voice in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports on the parental perspective on one school’s implementation of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program to ensure students had access to a personalized computer. Often studies of one computer to one student (1:1) Programs focus on students and or teachers while parent compliance in the Program is assumed. Consequently, there is limited literature that explores parental perceptions and concerns, and subsequent decision-making process, in the implementation of a BYOD Program. The aim of this study was to document the parental voice in the implementation of one such BYOD program. This case study focused on one large co-educational school with 130 parents completing a questionnaire that provided both quantitative and qualitative responses. This enabled an exploration of the effect of the BYOD Program as reported by parents themselves, as well as the examination of a range of related issues, such as textbook use, the financial burden and choice of device. The findings provided insight, through the lens of the parents, into how the BYOD Program was deployed. Three trends emerged from the study: parents clearly expected some kind of trade-off in terms of expenditure, they clearly wanted reassurances that their investment was worthwhile and that the devices would be used for improving learning. Further research needs to be undertaken about parental perspectives, expectations, and concerns of BYOD Programs.