Blurring time and place in higher education with bring your own device applications: a literature review

Some of the terms for technologies and applications that are discussed in this paper are sometimes used inconsistently; therefore a few quick definitions can be of value. A podcast (the word is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast”) is an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download automatically via web syndication to a local computer or portable media player, and unlike a radio broadcast it can be accessed anytime and anyplace, at the user’s discretion. In this paper podcast strictly refers to audio recordings, and Vodcast (a portmanteau of “video” and “podcast”) is used for the video equivalent. Video streaming is similar to vodcasts, but lacks subscription features and is typically referring to standalone recordings, and is often distributed via streaming services like YouTube. Social networking refers to “websites which support networking activities amongst friends, families and colleagues in a branded environment through communication, file sharing and information exchange” (MacDonald and Creanor 2010, p. 117). A blog, short for web log, is a web site allowing easy web publication of discrete, often informal diary-style entries (called “posts”) that readers typically can comment on. A microblog is a cut-down version of a blog with a limited number of characters per post (typically 140–200). Posts can be displayed publicly on a website and/or distributed to private or public groups of subscribers. A wiki is a website that allows collaborative modification of its content and structure directly from the web browser, typically using a simplified mark-up language (‘Wiki” 2016). A quick-response code (QR code) is a type of matrix bar code that can be scanned with the camera of a mobile device that is equipped with a bar-code reader, e.g. a smartphone. It is typically used to store an Internet address for easy access.

Podcasting is the most thoroughly studied application of BYOD, with 33 articles mentioning the term and 24 articles having it as the primary focus and examining its use in a wide selection of academic subjects. Interest in this area was relatively constant during the period of study. Ng’ambi and Lombe (2012) proposed a classification scheme for podcast types, where the four podcast types are: a) replicating lectures, b) supplementing lectures, c) replacing lectures, and d) student produced podcasts. The time- and place-shifting of lectures is the dominating example in the reviewed articles, e.g. podcasts of type “a”. A few studies deal with podcasts of type “b”, and one study is of type “d”, but none of the examined empirical studies examined is of type “c”. The first category “a” can be further subdivided into direct recordings of lectures, and summaries of lectures recorded at separate occasions. The first subtype has the advantage that it takes almost no extra time for the teacher to produce, but the pace of the recording is often poorly suited for listening as the teacher naturally focuses on the live audience, and sound quality can be lacking. The second type has the advantage of being better adapted to the distribution form, usually being better paced and of higher audio quality. A disadvantage is that it consumes a lot more teacher time in terms of preparation, actual recording time and post-recording editing. An interesting variety of type “b” is primer podcasts, approximately five-minute recordings that each consist of an introduction to theories and summary definitions of core concepts from the upcoming lecture, ended with epistemic questions meant to stimulate deeper learning. Popova, Kirschner and Joiner’s study (Popova et al. 2014) found positive effects on student engagement with this intervention, although no change in learning outcomes could be observed. Pegrum et al. (2015) examined student-produced podcasts (type “d”) and found positive learning outcomes for some of the tasks. They concluded that, as there were no negative effects from student creation of podcasts, instructors should be encouraged to consider adopting creative approaches. Several reasons have been given for why podcasts would augment the teaching and learning practice. One is the supposition that podcasts can be used to take advantage of otherwise unproductive snippets of time, so-called opportunistic learning (Hedin 2014). With podcasts and portable technology it could be possible to access course material during commuting, while gardening, when training etc.:

podcasting is commonly seen as a way of supporting m-learning since it enables learners to access course material on portable devices in any location. This opens up possibilities of accessing the material at opportune times such as during commuting. (McGarr 2009, p. 318)

The reasons mentioned for time- and place-shifting lectures through podcasts are potentially better retention through the possibility of repetition, and handing more control of the learning process over to students. The continuing interest in researching podcasting might be somewhat surprising, since there exists a perception in the research community that this is a technology that is becoming out-dated (Sundgren and Jaldemark 2016).

The second most researched application of BYOD is social networking, with Facebook being the most common platform used. The publication dates for articles concerning social networking are distinctly skewed towards later years. A typical example of a studied area is a social networking site (usually Facebook) used as a platform for communication between faculty and students as well as between students only. The latter includes the exchange of learning material (de Waard et al. 2012) and the facilitation of group work (Bradley and Holley 2011). This in some respects replicates the functionality of a learning management system (LMS). There have also been examples of social networking uses occurring among students that were not initiated or explicitly encouraged by the educational institution. For instance, informal learning clusters “often merged discursive practices like tweeting, Facebooking, and general communications to ensure more enriched social practices” (Rambe 2012, p. 55). In another example, a group of students started a Facebook group for exchange of work and ideas just before a holiday. Due to volcanic ash’s affecting the European airspace, some students were unable to return in time for the completion of a group assignment but could continue to participate in the Facebook group to finish the project: “[w]hat was started as a means of communicating turned into a ‘life saver’ for these students” (Bradley and Holley 2011, p. 47). A less common example is students accessing an expanded community of external professionals in their subject area, as in Pimmer et al. (2012) case study of medical education where many students participated in Facebook groups dedicated to medical education purposes.

Text messaging, or SMS communication, is the focus of eleven articles. The distribution of articles over time is fairly uniform, with a possible drop in the last year. Examples of use range from administrative access and support, to formative assessment, collaborative learning tasks, and teacher guidance. Young et al. (2010) used SMS as a means of providing support to health students while in practice placements. They found that students experienced an enhanced sense of support with this system in place, even the students who did not use it:

“The fact that texting enhances a sense of support even where students do not use it make the facility very attractive. It can be seen a means of enhancing students’ experience on placements with very low costs to the University in terms of finance and staff energy” (Young et al. 2010, p. 123).

Opportunistic and bite-sized learning via text messaging was tested in English learning in two different studies. One compared the learning of English idioms through classroom instruction, self-studies, and SMS distribution. Four idioms were sent per day in three-hour intervals. The SMS treatment group was found to have significantly higher learning outcomes (Hayati et al. 2013). A similar study using SMS to teach English vocabulary via the SMS-distribution of English words and definitions every 30 min during office hours also reported positive learning results, although no control group was part of the research design (Cavus and Ibrahim 2009). Morris (2010) combined podcasts with formative feedback via SMS. Each podcast episode contained five multiple-choice questions. Students responded to a question by sending a specific code in a text message, generating an automated response. Students using the podcasts and mobile formative assessments experienced a significant improvement in examination performance.

Blogging has a relatively long history of use in education. With this background it is somewhat surprising that most articles were published in the latter half of the studied period – eight articles compared to one article in the first half – but this might be a result of improved usability on mobile devices for content production. Some blog implementations were motivated by the possibility of facilitating opportunistic learning. Vuojärvi et al. (2012) implemented learning diaries for students during their apprenticeship period. With mobile access to blogs, students could take advantage of breaks or periods of waiting for customers. Another take on the opportunistic learning is the use of blogs for medical students posting questions and asking for assistance on subjects or situations encountered while treating patients, thus placing emphasis on student-to-student communication (Wilson and Bolliger 2013). A similar argument for blogging is the support for situated learning it could provide. Gikas and Grant reported on the affordance of mobile devices in combination with blogs, making it possible for students “to collect data and interact with content as they immediately came across it in their daily lives” (Gikas and Grant 2013, p. 22). Students perceived blogging as promoting meaningfulness and as linking instructional content and authentic contexts in important ways. Most examples were of student use, but one example of blogs was for faculty use. In this case, the blog was employed for information exchange within a teacher community of practice (Cochrane et al. 2013). This study also found that a blog as a reflective student discussion area benefited students who otherwise were reserved in face-to-face debate and that it helped students to discover beliefs and motivations of others. To conclude, this technology is making its way onto the mobile platform, demonstrating that production of content, and not just consumption of content, can be viable on mobile devices in spite of their small screens and keyboards.

Microblogging is a service influenced by the ubiquitous access to SMS messaging via mobile phones, as well as the distribution model of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and its status messages. The dominant platform is Twitter and that is also the only microblogging platform examined in the reviewed articles. Academic applications of Twitter range from use as a channel for administrative announcements in a library context (Cassidy et al. 2014), as a virtual community building tool (Cochrane et al. 2013), for sharing content between students (de Waard et al. 2012; Rambe 2013), to gain access to an extended community and interact directly with subject matter experts (Gikas and Grant 2013), and as a communication platform (Rambe 2012). Tweeting is furthermore, under the right circumstances, assumed to help improve social presence and to stimulate the students’ desire to learn (Menkhoff et al. 2015). In conclusion, although microblogging can appear to be a one-way distribution channel for content, it could be implemented to support aspects of the Community of Inquiry model (Garrison 2017; Garrison et al. 1999) to improve both social and teaching presence.

Several providers/platforms exist for instant messaging services. Allagui (2014) examined whether using the WhatsApp platform in English learning could improve students’ motivation to write, and a positive effect on motivation could be established. Other effects were that vocabulary and spelling skills in language classes improved, but grammar, idea development, and organisation were lacking. In Antonenko et al. (2013)study of attitudes towards mobile LMS features, females were significantly more inclined to find instant messaging features useful, and students in general perceived instant messaging to be more important than what faculty did. Because many different services are coming together in a single device, the blurring of boundaries between them is starting to emerge. SMS and instant messaging are becoming less and less distinct, which might lead to SMS becoming an outdated form of communication (Brett 2011). Similarly, traditionally computer-based tasks, such as instant messaging, are showing a large increase in use on phones (Cassidy et al. 2014).

Video streaming refers to videos made available to students online, typically via video sharing sites such as Youtube, or directly through an LMS, What separates video streaming from vodcasts (video podcasts) is that the videos can be accessed directly, without the need for subscribing to feeds. Some concern has been raised that recorded lectures might lead to decreased attendance in class (McGarr 2009). An experiment with video vignettes as a preparatory tool for practical classes, however, led to an increase in attendance and an improvement in the perception of the relevance of the subject for students’ future professions (Ernst et al. 2012). Another critique against video lectures is their unidirectionality, not lending themselves to communication and dialogue. By supplementing videos with a commenting function through the development of a platform (MOBILect) this problem was addressed in two studies (Boyinbode et al. 2013; Boyinbode and Ng’ambi 2015). The results indicated that this tool encouraged students to ask questions they would not dare to ask in class, benefited shy students, and allowed students to gain a deeper understanding of the lecture by exposing them to other people’s ideas and opinions. Sadik (2015) investigated student preferences for video lecture formats. Comparing full-length lecture captures with supplemental and shorter screencasts covering the same subjects, students were found to be in favour of the latter format.

Quick Response (QR) codes are intimately associated with modern smartphones, as they depend on three key features: a camera to scan the code, a live Internet connection, and an app to process it. Still, only six articles mention QR codes. This could be because the code is a same-place technology—physical presence at the same location as the QR code is a requirement for scanning it—and therefore it might not be of interest in scenarios exploring flexible place. Furthermore, Cassidy et al. (2014) found that students reported low familiarity with QR codes as a concept, and those familiar with it used it quite infrequently, not matching the recent hype surrounding the technology in the library science field. Cochrane et al. (2013) explored QR codes in a journalism course, with the initial student response that it was a “gimmick”, but after some exercises raising awareness about QR code use in local news publications, students started to explore its potential. Yin and Fitzgerald (2015) did see positive attitudes towards the use of QR codes, but it was mostly used to simplify a login process.

Wikis were discussed in two articles, but just one treated the subject with any detail. In that article, students were required to use a wiki for a group assignment where participants could be in different time zones. The benefits that were mentioned for using a wiki were twofold, the most obvious being the ability of students to work at a time and place of their convenience (Soon 2011; Wilson and Bolliger 2013). The second benefit was the teacher’s ability to track and follow individual students’ contributions to the assignment through the wiki’s history feature: “Wiki’s history helped the instructor to monitor both the students’ activity and their levels of contribution to the project and therefore made the assessment of individual members easier” (Soon 2011, p. 49). Students were mostly positive towards using the wiki, but many were not familiar with how to use it, and a majority “described a need for more time for Wiki training before embarking on their required group assignments” (Soon 2011, p. 47). The functionality described above can also be found in collaborative office suites online, such as Google Drive/Docs and Microsoft Office 360. As usage of these services does not require as much specialized knowledge, it is likely that they will replace wikis to some extent in the future.

Mobile LMS access seems to be increasing, as exemplified by data from New Zealand where mobile access quadrupled during the last year of the study (Ernst et al. 2013). Some studies have been made to develop/integrate mobile services into existing LMS platforms. In an examination of expectations for an LMS, where both students and faculty responded, some differences of opinion emerged. Students expressed a stronger interest in accessing grades, feedback, assignment descriptions, course contents and announcements, while faculty was more interested in discussion features and real-time chat. Females in general also showed more interest in communication features than did males. Overall, students showed a higher level of appreciation for mobile features than did faculty (Antonenko et al. 2013). These results somewhat contrast those of an earlier study (Koole et al. 2010), where students, on the one hand, reported flexible access to the LMS as being important, but on the other hand rated mobile access low. Usability indicators show that the mobile interface was more difficult to navigate and enter data into compared to the computer interface, indicating that mobile usability was not well developed at this time. This is likely to have negatively affected student perceptions about using mobile access.

The assumption that podcasts are suitable for opportunistic learning – that one can learn efficiently or conveniently with a podcast while doing other things – sees little to no support in these studies. One likely reason for this is the cognitive load that active listening demand (Brown 2011; Morris 2010). Students prefer quiet locations, with easy access to their notes and relevant literature, usually listening via a stationary computer (e.g. Kazlauskas and Robinson 2012; Pearce and Scutter 2010; Popova et al. 2014). This is an argument against podcasts as an application for the blurring of the place of use. This is somewhat contradicted by Rosell-Aguilar (2015) in a study on iTunes U users, where a majority preferred to listen via mobile devices. This study, however, did not specifically target higher education but rather sampled iTunes U users regardless of their purposes for using the service. This likely affected the outcome.

The mobility of small devices comes with certain trade-offs. The portable sizes lead to small screens that can be difficult to navigate and read (Boyinbode et al. 2013; Zawacki-Richter et al. 2009). Keyboards, whether physical or virtual, are small and are not as convenient for text production as are full sized keyboards, and apps do not always work as well as anticipated (Gikas and Grant 2013). Such restrictions put boundaries on learners’ use of mobile devices, as:

although mobile devices and MOOCs do allow anytime and anywhere access, the fact that mobile devices have limitations to content interpretation and content creation, the ubiquity of mobile learning and the immediacy of learner interactions is affected by the limitations of the current mobile technology. (de Waard et al. 2012, p. 43)

Studies later in the review period did not mention device usability as frequently, likely due to devices becoming easier to use with every new device generation (larger and sharper screens, faster, etc.), thus indicating that this problem will become less pronounced over time. A student’s familiarity with a device is another factor that can compensate such device usability issues (Boyinbode et al. 2013). Smartphones will likely not – within a foreseeable future – become as well suited for text production as computers with full sized keyboards, but the difference in usability does seem to decrease over time.

A prerequisite for BYOD activities is that students have mobile devices and that they can afford to use them for the intended purposes. Many reports on student device ownership show smartphone adoption rates well above 90% (e.g. Allagui 2014; Bradley and Holley 2011; Brett 2011; Cassidy et al. 2014; Meyer et al. 2015), but this is not universal. Bogdanović et al. (2014) reported that less than 50% of their sample owned smartphones, which became a barrier for the delivery of mobile activities. Even with ubiquitous mobile phone ownership, the costs of mobile services such as SMS can be an issue that inhibits interaction for students, especially for students without contracts (Brett 2011; McClean et al. 2010; Ng’ambi and Lombe 2012). Internet access can also be a cost-related issue where students do not have free data plans, or where such plans are not available, particularly when large files needs to be downloaded, such as podcasts or videos (Bogdanović et al. 2014; de Waard et al. 2012; Ng’ambi and Lombe 2012). These observations are reported from Europe as well as Africa.

Mark Prensky’s theory of digital natives and digital immigrants suggests that teachers, as digital immigrants, need to adapt to digital natives expectations for them to learn to their full extent (Prensky 2001). This, for instance, involves utilizing students’ mobile devices and creating non-text representations of learning material. Some studies, however, reported on students having technical difficulties due to faculty’s overrating students’ abilities and not providing enough support (Morris 2010; Vogt et al. 2010). It is also problematic to assume the opposite about older students “who may in fact be keen to take advantage of learning and teaching innovation” (Chester et al. 2011, p. 244). Benefits of the blurring of time and place boundaries, such as taking advantage of time snippets on the go for learning, are not self-evident to students to the extent that faculty sometimes assumes.

The use of social media that are open to the general public can be problematic. As educational institutions cannot control public social media tools such as Twitter, abusive or inappropriate student behaviour can become problematic. When students use their private Twitter accounts for coursework, communication of a private nature might interfere with class communication, although this can be partly overcome by the proper use of hashtags (Lowe and Laffey 2011). The opposite situation also needs consideration, where the public sphere invades private life. Some students express a desire to distinguish their private lives from their public or professional lives, leading to difficulties incorporating the use of social networking sites such as Facebook for school related work. As one student expressed:

While on […] our Facebook group, we have lecturers as ‘friends.’ I am uncomfortable with their presence because Facebook is my private life. Just as I would not have a drink with my supervisor, I don’t want them to know about my private life. (Rambe 2013, p. 324)

Complexities of identity management exist in public spaces and cannot be ignored. Such problems can hinder faculty from implementing social media solutions for the blurring of boundaries of time and space (Lowe and Laffey 2011; Rambe 2012, 2013).

The blurring of boundaries between formal and informal learning contexts is presented as a positive effect of mobile learning practices. However, students may become distracted by non-learning material when the device is supposed to be used for learning (Abu-Al-Aish et al. 2013), and the “alternation of informal conversations with academic engagements constitutes distractions that may jeopardise the smooth flow of the scholarly interactions” (Rambe 2012, p. 60). The distractive qualities of mobile devices were not directly examined in the articles in this review. However, from this review, it appears to be more of a faculty preconception than an observed problem. Students acknowledged the risk, but reports being able to separate private and educational use, and “students perceived the effectiveness of Facebook for communication more positively than the instructors” (Gikas and Grant 2013, p. 20).