An experience of personalized learning hub initiative embedding BYOD for reflective engagement in higher education

Abstract

The article shares an experience in the implementation of the “personalized learning hub” initiative embedding Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) on learners' reflective engagement in flipped classrooms at a higher education institute. A reflective engagement framework was developed, consisting of three dimensions: intellectual, personal and social reflective engagement. Participants involved 26 in-service teachers for a teacher professional development programme on e-Learning. Participants were encouraged to bring and use their own portable computing devices as a “personalized learning hub” to support their reflective engagement. The analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected provides evidence on learners' attainment of reflective engagement in the three dimensions. The designed initiative enabled learners to achieve a significant knowledge gain for enhancing their understanding of e-Learning. The learners perceived that the initiative could help achieving their learning outcomes. They also perceived that group interaction and experience sharing with peers, teachers and related experts in this context could help advance their knowledge. These results imply that the designed initiative can promote learners to be engaged in reflective inquiry for deep learning and personal growth. Directions of future work are discussed regarding validating the developed framework through extending the use of the reflective engagement framework and the “personalized learning hub” initiative embedding BYOD to more learning scenarios, and enhancing the related teacher professional development.