Affordances and constraints of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for learning and teaching in higher education: Teachers' perspectives Yanjie Song ⁎, Siu Cheung Kong Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, The Education University of Hong Kong, No. 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N. T., Hong Kong abstract article info Article history: Received 25 February 2015 Received in revised form 27 July 2016 Accepted 9 August 2016 Available online 09 August 2016 This paper reports on a study aiming at examining the affordances and constraints of BYOD (Bring Your Own De- vice) for varied pedagogical practices from teachers' perspectives in higher education. Seventeen teachers from eight departments and centers participated in the one-year study. The affordances and constraints of BYOD were examined under the “framework of affordances and constraints in BYOD-supported learning environment”. Data collection included class observations, class videos, field notes, resources on the BYOD website and teaching plans. Content analysis was adopted in the data analysis. The research findings show that (1) seven types of BYOD conceptualized affordances were identified for varied pedagogical purposes; and (2) three types of constraints of BYOD were singled out in pedagogical practices. Discussions regarding the affordances and constraints are made and implications are explored. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Affordances Constraints BYOD Teachers' perspectives Higher education 1. Introduction Mobile devices have become embedded in higher education set- tings. In Hong Kong, in 2014, over 90% of youth (15 to 29-year olds) owns a smartphone (http://www.go-globe.hk/blog/smartphone- usage-hong-kong/). More and more students use their devices for learn- ing-related information access and communication purposes (Dennen & Hao, 2014). Parallel with this is the increasing amount of trials of the adopted BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) model in higher education (e.g., Dennen & Hao, 2014; Kobus, Rietveld, & Van Ommeren, 2013). BYOD refers to a technology model where students bring a personally owned device to support their studies (Alberta Education, 2012). Aca- demics are exploring effective ways of integrating BYOD into students' study lives both in and out of classes. However, frequently reported from these studies are various ethical and security issues related to BYOD use in higher education (e.g., Kobus et al., 2013). Few studies have reported what BYOD can offer and what are the constraints of BYOD other than the reported issues from the perspective of practi- tioners in higher education. Thus, this study aims at exploring the affordances and constraints of BYOD for pedagogical practices by inves- tigating a group of teachers who were involved in the teacher profes- sional development project of “BYOD for reflective engagement of learners in digital classrooms”. 2. Related literature 2.1. BYOD in higher education Mobile technologies have been widely adopted in higher education. Many studies have investigated student perceptions of learning with mobile devices (e.g., Gikas & Grant, 2013; Viberg & Grönlund, 2013). A few studies have examined the application of designed learning envi- ronments or tools on mobile devices borrowed from universities for teaching and learning (e.g., Kobus et al., 2013; Sølvberg & Rismark, 2012). However, it is reported that teacher-led adoption of BYOD in higher education remains scant (Dennen & Hao, 2014; Gikas & Grant, 2013). Moreover, a recent study reported that students' high mobile de- vice ownership rate by no means implies that they have a preference for, or support university BYOD strategies (Kobus et al., 2013). The teacher plays a central role in orchestrating the integration of mobile technology, pedagogy and curriculum across formal and informal learn- ing settings (Sharples et al., 2014). Nevertheless, some teachers are not prepared to integrate mobile learning into their classrooms due to var- ious reasons such as age and self-efficacy (Dennen & Hao, 2014; Song, 2014). They need assistance in terms of both operating the devices and pedagogical design of mobile learning activities (Ally, Grimus, & Ebner, 2014). Thus, it is important to develop a teacher community will- ing to explore the affordances of BYOD for teaching and learning. 2.2. Affordances of BYOD Gibson (1979), from an ecological perspective, defines affordances as the possible that the environment can offer for the observer for ac- tion. Salomon (1993) interprets Gibson's concept of affordances as Internet and Higher Education 32 (2017) 39–46 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: ysong@eduhk.hk (Y. Song). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2016.08.004 1096-7516/© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Internet and Higher Education