Technology and Learning in the United Arab Emirates - Case Study Example

Technology and learning in United Arab Emirates affiliation Technology and learning in United Arab Emirates Introduction E-learning is quite new to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Numerous tertiary institutions have assigned ICT resources to offer substitutions to the formerly applied teacher-centered use of chalk and talk approach to teaching and learning. Nevertheless, until now we have not established a complete understanding of the use of e-learning resources and methods in the United Arab Emirates. Tertiary learning institutions in the UAE are getting students ready for a swiftly changing world that is driven by information and technology. It requires graduates who are prepared for the labor force and who possess a high level of confidence and knowledge in the usage of technology to assist them in their lifetime learning. The UAE is a small nation of nearly 4 million residents, located at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula and is bounded by the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Termed as one of the most bizarre nations around the globe, the UAE has existed in the globalized world over the past 30 years after being a poor state of the small desert and developing into a modern sovereign nation. Advanced colleges of technologies and universities in the country are progressively using e-learning or online learning as part of the program. The trendily used term to define the varied use of information and communication technologies to enhance and support assessment, teaching, and learning from resource-centered learning to complete online courses is called E-learning. Quite a number of scholars have been conducted in the United Arab Emirates to examine the practice of e-learning in tertiary learning. Numerous studies aimed at the views of the teachers on how to incorporate the new technologies into their learning and teaching, alongside with their opinions of the significance and drawbacks of e-learning in the UAE setting. Literature review The use of technology in learning is becoming a more and more significant part of professional and higher education. Technology does not only provide learners with the chance to govern their personal learning process; however, it also offers them with complete access to a huge volume of information over which the instructor has no control. According to Ahmad & Daghfous, (2010), 40% of the instructors showed that they used the internet or computers to form instruction materials, 30% said they used it for managerial record keeping, while not more than 10% stated they used it to access research and finest practices or access model lesson procedures. Beginner teachers were most likely to use the internet or computers to achieve different teaching objectives, which teachers with more than ten years teaching experience used the internet or computers to converse with colleagues. A majority of researchers has investigated incorporation projects globally and testified affirmative influences on learning and teaching for educators using Technology. For instance, Almekhlafi & Almeqdadi, (2010), testified important variables and positive associations amongst educators current level of comfort, computer training and usage in the classroom as related to their previous usage, comfort level, and training. Additionally, students who were attracted to electronic arts lessons were struggling with other lessons, but once they saw what they could achieve with technology they started appreciating the significance of performing well in all subjects. Similarly, Al-Awidi & Alghazo, (2012), findings of a survey measuring the grant’s effect on student success suggest that educators must give emphasis to the use of meta-cognitive abilities, use of skills, and examination of education as they instill technology into their educational content areas. Technology assimilation in schools and the factors hindering such assimilations have pulled most researchers attention and has been of high attention to them. Quite a number of researches have been conducted to examine the educator’s use of technology and the features holding back such use. Kim, Kim, Lee, Spector, & DeMeester, (2013), found out that educators who were extremely skilled and educated with technology were skillful and inventive at overcoming hindrances. However, they did not assimilate technology on a constant basis, both as a learning and teaching tool. This showed that many schools had not yet attained true technology assimilation. Almekhlafi, (2006), established that administrative staff and educators felt, experienced in using ICT accessible at the school, they testified the absence of strategies that could direct them to effective assimilation. Also, students testified that ICT was not used adequately in their classrooms. Ismail, Almekhlafi & Al-Meqdady, (2010), steered a qualitative study to observe the experiences and perspectives of teachers concerning technology assimilation training. The study showed that educators held a range of opinions on technology integration. These opinions triggered their application of technology in class. A majority of the educators was prepared to use technology, they stated affirmative experiences with technology assimilation training, which improved their usage of technology in the class and used technology more artistically. Referring to Khan, (2001), the gender of the learners also matters in the technological integration, as females found online learning to be less exciting while the male learners have minimal time to use this form of education. However, in the UAE context, studies including technology assimilation in learning and language teaching are minimal. Information Resources Management Association & Khosrow-Pour, (2006), investigated the outcome of Interactive Multimedia (IMM) CD-ROM on the achievement of language among the six-grade learners in connection to their learning styles. His results indicated no important dissimilarity amongst the experimental group and the control group in overall success. The commendation in this research was that IMM must be examined as a personal learning tool. Probable language ability problems are some identified barriers to learners adapting the E-learning environment. Darraj & Puller, (2009), investigated cultural and linguistic factors linked to international learner’s use of e-learning resources. Some of the observations were that linguistics issues seemed to have a lot of effect on the member’s real use of virtual resources while cultural issues had more influence on their broader learning experience. Additionally, the selection of conventional learning practices is convolutedly tied to tradition and culture and establishment of an online educational environment needs an examination of socio-cultural issues that might present cultural obstacles. Information Resources Management Association, (2014), investigated the perception of Arab students in UAE using e-learning, recommended that such students might require an exclusive Arabized e-learning structure and thus recognized a need for additional research in this field. Furthermore, another impact of E-learning is the internet access among the learners. This is affected by the nation’s connectivity and technological system, along with economic reasons connected to possessing a computer and the possible restrictions by families in restricting the freedom the student has access the internet. However, it is true as stated by Inan & Lowther, (2010), that E-learning unquestionably offers economic advantages, flexibility, and convenience that makes this field a well adored learning method in this information century. Conclusion Concisely, this study investigated the perceptions of teachers in the matter concerning the assimilation of technology in the lessons in schools in the United Arab Emirates. The examination of both qualitative and quantitative data showed numerous significant findings on the assimilation of technology in the classrooms. One of the noticeable findings is that educators established the inevitable influence of technology on their personal teaching that might stimulate student’s learnings. Additionally, another study indicated the willingness of educators to hasten the assimilation of technology in their lessons so as to improve learning and teaching. Also, there were some impacts to this technology integration like the linguistic factors where international students could not understand certain languages and therefore needed unique technology assimilation systems. Lastly, the incapability of some students to be unable to acquire their personal computers was also an issue among others. Nevertheless, in this information century, the era of chalk and talk is being replaced by online learning that is more advanced and effective in assisting the students to be successful in their education. References Ahmad, N., & Daghfous, A. (2010). Knowledge sharing through inter-organizational knowledge networks: Challenges and opportunities in the United Arab Emirates. European Business Review. http://doi.org/10.1108/09555341011023506 Al-Awidi, H. M., & Alghazo, I. M. (2012). The effect of student teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration in the UAE. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(5), 923–941. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-012-9239-4 Almekhlafi, A. G. (2006). The effect of computer assisted language learning (CALL) on United Arab Emirates English as a foreign language (EFL) school students’ achievement and attitude. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 17(2), 121-142. Almekhlafi, A. G., & Almeqdadi, F. A. (2010). Teachers’ Perceptions of Technology Integration in the United Arab Emirates School Classrooms. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 165–175. Retrieved from http://www.proxy.its.virginia.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=508128454&site=ehost-live Darraj, S. M., & Puller, M. (2009). United Arab Emirates. New York: Chelsea House. Khan, B. H. (2001). Web-based training. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. IGI Global,, & In Information Resources Management Association,. (2014). K-12 education: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications. Inan, F. A., & Lowther, D. L. (2010). Factors affecting technology integration in K-12 classrooms: A path model. Educational Technology Research and Development, 58(2), 137–154. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-009-9132-y Information Resources Management Association., & Khosrow-Pour, M. (2006). Emerging trends and challenges in information technology management. Hershey, Penn: Idea Group. Ismail, S., Almekhlafi, A. G., & Al-Mekhlafy, M. H. (2010). Teachers’ perceptions of the use of technology in teaching languages in United Arab Emirates’ schools. International Journal for Research in Education, 27(1), 37-56. Kim, C., Kim, M. K., Lee, C., Spector, J. M., & DeMeester, K. (2013). Teacher beliefs and technology integration. Teaching and Teacher Education, 29(1), 76–85. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.005 Read More