First-year Secondary Students’ Perceptions of the Impact of iPad Use on Their Learning in a BYOD Secondary International School

Authors

Keywords:

iPad, Tablet technology, BYOD,, middle secondary schools, Classroom pedagogy

Abstract

This study uses a statistical survey over three consecutive years to show how the first-year students of a mid-sized Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) secondary international school perceive the impact of using their own iPad on their learning. The students’ perceptions show awareness of the usefulness and challenges associated with using their iPads in school life as well as at home. The students indicate several perceived benefits relating to having instant access to a variety of learning opportunities via the internet. However, they also indicate the challenges of keeping a balanced approach and avoiding overuse of their iPads inside and outside school (e.g., for gaming and social media). The original rationale for implementing the BYOD scheme did not anticipate specific benefits for students’ academic outcomes (grades). However, academic performance has continued to be monitored to identify any adverse effects associated with the scheme. Students’ overall academic performance has not been adversely affected since the scheme was implemented.

Author Biographies

Martin Watts, International School of The Hague, The Netherlands

Dr. Martin Watts is currently the Ed. Tech Coordinator at the International School of the Hague, in the Netherlands. He has 30 years of experience as an educator, teaching about and with technology in secondary schools and in Higher Education. His post-graduate and Doctoral foci centred upon Educational Management and upon online chat spaces and the development of discursive essay writing among secondary school students. He spent several years working as a Teacher Educator at the University of Cumbria and published research into online mediation of reflective practice among beginning teachers. Most recently he has returned to the classroom to better explore how technologies can support teaching and learning.

Ioannis Andreadis, International School of The Hague, The Netherlands

Dr. Ioannis Andreadis is a mathematics teacher at the International School of the Hague, in the Netherlands since August 2000. He completed a Doctor degree in infinite dimensional symplectic geometry at the University of Chambery, France. For two years he worked as a guest scientist invited by Professor John Argyris at the University of Stuttgart Germany, publishing several papers in the area of chaotic and Fractal analysis of financial time series, Noisy dynamical systems, Mandelbrot set and Infinite dimensional symplectic geometry. While working as a secondary teacher, he has continued his research activities expanding them recently in the area of the recurrence plots analysis and of the use of device in secondary class rooms.

Image of Martin Watts & Ioannis Andreadis

Downloads

Published

2023-02-14

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 2 (2022): Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning

Section

Articles - Primary studies

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Martin Watts, Ioannis Andreadis

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full text of the articles in this journal.

and

b. Acknowledgement should be made of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal using a full citation. In addition, a link to the JOFDL site at https://www.jofdl.nz is recommended where appropriate.