The Online Education Program - Case Study Example

The Impact of Online English Grammar s on Achievement Evidence from the of Dammam AbeerAidh S. Alshwiah Master’s Degree in Distance Teaching and Training, Arabian Gulf University, Kingdom of Bahrain, 2008. BA English Literature, College of Arts for Girls in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2004. A Proposal Submitted as a Requirement for the PhD in Education. Introduction The online education program is a phenomenon which has sparked the education world due to its feature of flexibility and adaptability offering nature to the students worldwide. This is especially of great importance in developing countries and Middle East, where English language is of second option. If we compare this concept with reality, we can assume the country of Saudi Arabia where individuals especially students have less access to the art of English speaking and practicing it in their own life. In this current age, the online education curriculum is under the strong control of the updated sophisticated technology available today. According to (Rodriguez, Ooms, Montanez &Yan, 2005) “Since the 1990s, technological advances have led to an increase in the integration of web-based and web-enhanced resources into instructional practices”. As a result of the increasing demand for learning at all levels of society and in many different circumstances, Saudi Arabia (S.A.) has started delivering online courses. In S.A., online learning has been used to offer learning opportunities to students who are unable to attend an institute for various reasons, e.g. on medical grounds, due to living in remote areas, or because they are over 25 years old. Online learning has many advantages for students and also for faculties. For example, it offers learning opportunities at any time, in any location and in a way adapted to modern lifestyles (Perry & Pilati, 2011, pg. 95-104).People are nowadays technology conscious and online course deliver ample opportunity for the students to exploit their study programs. Research Problem and Objectives U.D. adopted Blackboard as their VLE in 2011 for all students, both on-campus and distance learners. U.D. offers a BA in English language due to the consideration of English as the language of science and technology and the fact it is the most widespread international language. Moreover, learning grammar is important for second language learners because it is connected with the other skills i.e. writing, speaking, and reading comprehension. The majority of Saudi students face difficulties in learning English grammar. Alsena (2005) emphasizes that one of the factors affecting their achievement is the lack of suitable aids for teaching English. Therefore, using online learning courses to teach English and other courses may improve the performance and practice of Saudi students through the provision of various tools. In reviewing the literature for a number of studies carried out on the effects of online courses in language learning, researchers such as Al-Jarf (2005,pg.21) and Baturay, Daloglu & Yildirm (2010, pg.313-331 ) mention a small number of studies that not only examine the effects of online courses, but also the effects of technology on language learning in general (Zhao, 2003). This study’s main objective is to deliver a well-structured online course that could have an impact on student achievement and establish instructional design principles in order to help the faculty design further courses. It may also have significant results in developing the faculties, the departments, and even the university itself. This study’s main objective is to deliver a well-structured online course that could have an impact on student achievement and establish instructional design principles in order to help the faculty design further courses. It may also have significant results in developing the faculties, the departments, and even the university itself. In a web based curriculum, the students need to absorb the information of the course with the assistance of faculties in the university. So in that case the selected online course must provide guidance to students as well as faculties for the better utilization of online course. The implementation of this study is necessary for faculties at U.D. because of their lack of instructional design principles for building an effective online course. The reluctance of departments towards online learning raises from the consideration that the quality of their learning outcomes will decrease or that learners will not be as qualified as traditional learners. Furthermore, U.D. has invested largely in the VLE (Blackboard), infrastructure, and so there is an incentive for the faculty to use online learning tools and offer good quality programs that meet both student and market needs to become one of the most prominent universities in S.A. in offering online courses. This study proposes to answer to the following research question: What are the effects of online learning courses in teaching English grammar on student achievement, in comparison with the F2F method? What are the effects of online learning courses in teaching English grammar on student achievement in speaking skills, in comparison with the F2F method? Moreover the structural design of distance learning course depends on the theoretical frame work of the particular curriculum Literature Review Online learning can provide a rich and enjoyable learning environment for learners through building a well-constructed interactive course. When it is the question of distance learning course, the significance of theoretical frame work is of large prioritization. (Gosky & Caspy, 2005, pg137–144) “The existence of theory, or a theoretical framework, makes it possible to explain phenomena of, to generate hypotheses, to frame questions, and to test them empirically”. Here the emphasis is on the usability of theoretical framework is in enhancing the knowledge and practical skill of the distant learning student. It is very essential for any educational framework to test its capability to upgrade the cognitive skill and practical skill of the distant learning students around the world. The theoretical frame work offers some advantages as listed below and this is the reason why it is given prime importance when constructing course design for online students. The advantages theoretical frame work is as follows. a) Presenting a coherent, simple and unified mechanism for distant education b) Transparent definition of the operation. c) Presenting a hypothesis which can be empirically investigated. These factors allow the construction of such a curriculum, which can be highly acknowledged by the students as well as the online education provider. The base of any theoretical frame work underlies in its capacity to transfer knowledge and sharpen the cognitive power of the distant learning students. When an academy constructs an online designing course, the primary importance should be given to exploit the internal capacity of various students in borrowing the information from website. It should be very well understood that interpersonal dialogue and intrapersonal dialogue form the real basis of online learning process. The theoretical frame work of the online course design helps the academy in empirically acknowledging the pros and cons of the course or curriculum provided. It is the prime obligation of any distant learning courses to give ample space for the students to achieve their goal of specifically improving the grammatical skill. The main intention of any distant learning course must be to establish a memorable and remembering impression in the minds of the foreign students. This is possible only through an intricate and well co – ordinate theoretical frame work, which communicates to the students the fact of improving the English language course and motivating their current and prospective career. One of the attracting online designing courses available today is the U21G Learning Design. As per (Siew Chin, 2006, pg 12-14) “The U21G learning design considers the principles of adult learning, distance learners and their learning styles and, indeed, their life styles”. Universitas 21 Global (U21G) is a comprehensive online distant learning educational institute giving online learning facility to students over more than 50 countries on the international platform. The college also has English grammar course which is of high demand among developing and third world countries in the current era. Generally the centre core of any distant learning education is English language course; hence learning grammar is of utmost importance in any individual’s life around the world. For the purpose of this, web based instructional theoretical framework (WBI) has been introduced to evaluate teaching process and assess the quality of the e – learning courses offered by the institutions worldwide. According to (Jung 2001) “Recent studies have shown that the key elements of the structure of WBI are (1) content expandability, (2) content adaptability, and (3) visual layout”. If the educational context of the grammatical subject is not expandable then the students can experience stagnation and saturation. Even though, the WBI offers expandability, adaptability and visual layout, these combined features should not overwhelm the process of learning of the online students in Saudi Arabia. However looking at a negative side, the students must not be carried away from the real purpose of learning due to the technological fashion of the theoretical frame work. Every system or concept has pros and cons and this factor should be considered while accessing WBI as a frame work for online course designing by the educational institutions. For instance, if we consider the transactional distance theory, one should consider the absence of teacher in the learning environment of the online students. The presence of teacher in any learning environment makes a powerful stand in conveying information to the students but here in e- learning the teachers form is taken by the mechanical devices, printed documents and technological facilities. Methodology The research made on this topic uses both quantitative and qualitative factors. It is quantitative because it attempts to measure the relationship between variables studied by comparing the experimental group achievement with and the control group and to obtain as results quantitative information (numbers).Whereas the qualitative research method will be implemented to describe the students experience in this research and it will use as an instrument the interview. The researcher will be observing the students’ development in the writing skills. To begin with, in this methodological study, Quasi- experimental design will be used in order to get maximum value from quantitative and qualitative data. (Bawden & Sonenstein, 2011) “Quasi-experimental designs are sometimes necessary when social programs are evaluated. Under certain conditions they are preferable to experimental designs with random assignment to treatment and control groups”. The main reason for choosing Quasi – experimental design to examine the two groups, which are experimental and control and the study will be conducted amongst pre-existing groups. The experimental group comprises students who will register for distance learning at an English language department in the academic year 2014.These English Department students will be female Saudi students who have graduated from governmental high school and successfully completed the preparatory year for General English course. The number of students who registered for online courses this semester was around 200 students in each department. The control group will consist of traditional students at the same department, who will attend F2F sessions without any online learning units. The independent variable will be the teaching method (categorical variable). The dependent variables are student achievement in the English grammar course and students speaking skills. Students achievement in writing and speaking (quantitative variables) will be measured by post-tests, a final written exam and an interview. (Torgerson) “The written examination has become an integral part of the educative process in every program of education or training”. Data Analysis and Expected Results The data analysis and its expected outcome of result is a primarily important aspect in any research work. Here the objective of the study is to quantify the benefit received by Saudi Arabia traditional students regarding the grammatical online course availed to them by online education. The data for analysis is received with the courtesy of University of Dammam, wherein the expected result shows the problematic situation faced by Saudi Arabian student in handling English language. Here in order to compare the experimental group achievement with the control group, a t-test element is used. More over the data analysis is done by the utilization of Nonequivalent Groups Design and Reliability-Corrected Analysis of Covariance model. Ultimately, the expected results of this study gives an assessment regarding the potentiality of English grammar course and other foreign language grammar course in building a world which is equipped with a well educated group of international employees. Conclusion Here the main attempt of the research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of online English grammar course on the students of Saudi Arabia. The assessment of the quality of the online course is immensely important because the educational world should understand the pros and cons of online grammar course available to foreign students on an international platform. Considered the most effective technologies to change the face of education, computers and the internet have caused a revolution, forcing the reformulation of curricula and the way it is delivered (Ameneh, 2011, pg.1201-1206).Here the main research problem put forward is, whether the Saudi Arabian students are getting maximum benefit from online English language course and also whether they are using it in the right manner to avail full benefit out of it. For example in this research, the contemplation has been done on WBI which is a theoretical framework aiding in easy structuring of web based online courses. Moreover, the methodological study is carried out with the assistance of Quasi – experimental design, wherein the quantitative and qualitative element is considered to understand the real potential of the grammar based online course provided to the Saudi Arabian students. The U.D of Saudi Arabia has conducted this study to avail best web based online course in English grammar which can give maximum utility to the traditional students of the country and the faculty of the university. Work Cited Al-Jarf, R S 2005, ‘The effects of online grammar instruction on low proficiency EFL college students achievement’, The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 4, pp.166-10. Alsena, D A 2005, ‘The effect of using computers in teaching English structure 1 (110) on the students achievement at Level 1 in the English language department at Umm Al-Qura University in MakkahAlmukaramah’, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia(Written in Arabic). Ameneh, A 2011, ‘The effect on the growth of e-learning problem-solving skills of Students’, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, vol. 5, no.11, pp. 1201-1206. Baturay, M H, Daloglu, A & Yildirim, S 2010, ‘Language practice with multimedia supported web-based grammar revision material’, Recall, vol.22, no. 3, pp. 313-331. Bawden, A. & Sonenstein, F.L. (2011). Quasi-Experimental Designs. Available: http://www.childwelfare.com/courses/Documents/bawden.htm. Last accessed 9th Sep 2012. Gorsky, P. (2005). Dialogue: a theoretical framework for distance education. British Journal of Educational Technology. 36 (2), 137–144. Insung, Jung (2001). Building a Theoretical Framework of. Available: http://asiapacific-odl2.oum.edu.my/c30/f294.pdf. Last accessed 9th Sep 2012. Perry, E H &Pilati, M L 2011, ‘Online learning’, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 128, pp. 95-104. Rodriguez, M C, Ooms, A, Montanez, M & Yan, Y L 2005, ‘Perceptions of online learning quality given comfort with technology, motivation to learn technology skills, satisfaction, & online learning experience’, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada Siew Chin, S.T. (2006). A Theoretical Framework for Effective Online Course Design. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 2 (1), 12-14. Torgerson, T.L. (1944). Examination are Important. JSTOR. 44 (10), 985-987. Zhao, Y 2003, ‘Recent developments in technology and language learning: A literature review and meta-analysis,’ CALICO Journal, no.21.    Read More