Overview
The link between the use of personal devices and increases in productivity gets stronger each passing year as more organizations adopt BYOD policies. The integration of personal smartphones, tablets, and PCs into the workflow supports an on-the-go mentality, changing the nature of work and learning activities so that they can happen anywhere, at anytime. Employers and schools are finding that when given the opportunity to choose their device, users are saved from the effort and time needed to get accustomed to new devices and can therefore accomplish tasks with ease and efficiency. A recent study by Gartner predicted that by 2018, twice as many employee-owned devices will be used for work purposes than enterprise-owned devices. The success of BYOD aligns with global trends toward mobility as more people, from children to adults, own mobile devices and are accessing the Internet in increasingly different environments for learning. Gartner projected that the worldwide total of PC, tablet, ultramobile, and mobile phone sales would reach 2.4 billion units in 2014 and that by 2018 over fifty percent of users will access the Internet via tablet or smartphone. Internationally, the United States was the largest mobile learning buying country in 2014, but by 2019 China is projected to overtake the United States due to a number of factors including adoption of tablets and digital content in Pre-K through 12 schools. A number of reports are showing that BYOD is gaining acceptance in schools all over the world. Research from the nonprofit Mobile Future in the US highlighted that 43% of Pre-K through 12th-grade students use a smartphone and 73% of middle and high school teachers use cellphones for classroom activities. In Canada, “Digital Learning in Ontario Schools” noted that 58% of schools reported that students were using their own devices. The report “ICT Trends in Australia” revealed that in 2014 there was a 77% rise in the adoption of 1:1 compared to 2013, and that an increasing number of schools are structuring their programs around student/parent-owned devices. In Europe, a 2014 survey of over 500 teachers, department heads, and school heads across the United Kingdom found that two-thirds of respondents claimed that BYOD has had an impact on their organization.