Towards BYOD: examining Education student readiness for a policy of Bring Your Own Digital device at ECU

Abstract

This paper reports on the 2012 phase of an ongoing project being carried out at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia examining ECU Education students’ ownership and use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Using the latest data the authors posed the question, ‘Is ECU’s School of Education ready to institute a Bring Your Own Digital Device (BYOD) Policy?’ Data was collected though surveying Education students of all levels. The survey, which was voluntary, has been run biannually at the university commencing in 2007. The results show that after a slow start in the early years, technology has now largely reached a saturation point with most students having access to multiple devices. The use of these devices in student-study is somewhat less satisfactory. The paper concludes with recommendations for education at ECU to leverage off of this technology ownership, adapting both pedagogy and support to the BYOD model.