Teacher Perceptions About the Incorporation of Mobile Devices in a Costa Rican Secondary School

Abstract

Despite many studies researching the increased use and potential effectiveness of mobile devices in secondary education (high school) classrooms, less research has examined teachers' perceptions around such use. Accordingly, this qualitative (phenomenological) study used semi-structured interviews to explore 10 secondary teachers' perceptions around the use of mobile devices in Costa Rican classrooms. Utilizing an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to analyze the data of participants' experiences, results from this study found (1) that Costa Rican secondary teachers had mixed perceptions about using mobile devices for the teaching and learning process and (2) that mobile devices seem a “double edge sword,” which, if not used appropriately in the classroom, can be more detrimental than beneficial for students' learning processes.