Rationale for case study method

The study investigates a technology-mediated learning initiative called BYOD classrooms to find how individual, societal, and educational factors influence the digital divide phenomenon within the educational landscape at various stages of technology adaptation as the initiative advances. A five-year longitudinal investigation was conducted to answer the question: How have the digital divides in teaching and

67 learning changed over the years of BYOD classrooms? Yin (2003, p. 9) considers case study research to be appropriate for answering, “how and why questions being asked about a contemporary set of events, over which the investigator has little or no control”. Further, case study research can be applied with whatever philosophical bearing – positivist, interpretivist, or critical – which has been adopted by the researcher (Dubé & Paré, 2003).

This study employed the case study research methods using case design with both positivist and interpretivist stance to investigate the digital divide phenomenon within natural settings of a teaching and learning environment. The researcher wanted to analyse the whole initiative of technology-mediated learning (i.e. BYOD classrooms) within a school and document how the phenomenon of digital divide within teaching and learning evolves as it goes through the various stages of the technology adaptation within the teaching methodologies and learning activities. Further, real-world experiences of respondents (including students, teachers and parents) have been analyzed in the context of a research framework (section 3.7 discussed later in the chapter), thereby using an interpretivist and positivist stance.

A number of approaches can be used to investigate the integration of digital learning technologies and strategies in classrooms. Some of the approaches include social constructivist perspective (Khalid, Jurisic, Kristensen, & Ørngreen, 2014) and experimental approach using pre- and post- tests (Martin & Ertzberger, 2013). Cheung and Hew (2009) suggest research designs to include surveys, interviews or observations, especially when investigating technology-mediated teaching and learning, and similar initiatives.

68 The case study method is appropriate when the objective is to learn about some environment in more detail (Dubé & Paré, 2003). A case study explores a phenomenon in its natural environment by using multiple data collection methods to gather information from variety of sources associated with the phenomenon under study (Baxter & Jack, 2008). The boundaries of the phenomenon are not apparent at the initial stages of the research, and no intervention or manipulation tactic is to be used (Benbasat et al., 1987; Dubé & Paré, 2003; Yin, 2003). Case studies are common research designs for exploratory (theory building), explanatory (theory testing) and descriptive (description of the context) in social science research (Yin, 2003). In this study, a descriptive case study design has been used to present a longitudinal case of a secondary school implementing technology-mediated pedagogical practices in the form of the BYOD classrooms. The case selected for conducting the study is co- educational secondary school, which is state funded and is ranked at the decile2 _{9 in}

the New Zealand school ranking system based on the socio-economic status of the area surrounding the school.

According to Yin (2003), case study research design with a single case is suitable when the study represents a unique, revelatory or critical case. The case chosen is unique, revelatory and representative of the research problem and field of enquiry being investigated, since the said case is one of the earliest adopters of BYOD classroom or similar initiative in New Zealand. In an analysis of the literature on various research design, Dubé and Paré (2003) revealed 60% of case study research in information system (IS) studies to comprise single cases, and stated that of those single case studies at least 15% were either unique, revelatory or both. Although, Dubé and Paré (2003)

2 _{Deciles are a measure of the socio-economic position of a school’s student community relative to other}

schools throughout the country. Decile 1 being the lowest end of socio-economic community and decile 10 the highest end.

69 further reported that the proportion of the longitudinal case study design were relatively low in IS literature. However, they affirm that longitudinal studies are important in IS research for investigating phenomena like technology implementation, since issues related to the impact of technology evolve over time, and therefore have to be empirically observed over a longer periods of time (Benbasat et al., 1987). In this research, the impact of BYOD classroom implementation has been investigated over a 5-year period to determine its effect on digital access, digital capability and eventually on learning outcomes.

One of the most essential methodological requirements for the single case study research design is the repeated assessment and evaluation of the dependent variable across various phases of the study, tracking how the phenomenon evolves during the longitudinal period of investigation (McKay, 2008). This study follows an in-depth single case study research design with the continued investigation over a longitudinal period (of five years) to explore how digital divides in learning evolve within BYOD classrooms and with associated changes in teaching and learning methods.

In addition, the study was not intended to be comparative to any other initiative or school. Hence, to evaluate the different levels of digital divides evolving in the context of technology-mediated teaching and learning, the use of decile 9 school does not affect the outcomes and findings from the study. There could well be no digital divide based on the haves and have-nots of the access to technologies (first level), but this case study provided the foundation to explore higher levels of divides that may evolve. The research study therefore uses the data at various stages within a five-year period from a range of sources like classroom observations and surveys at the earlier phase, interviews and surveys at the follow-up phase, and teacher interviews at the summative phase.

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