Evaluation of Development and Quality of E-Learning in Arabic Countries - Literature review Example

Name Course Institution Instructor Submission Date EVALUATION OF DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY OF E-LEARNING IN ARABIC COUNTRIES The system of communication across and between electronic channels, mainly computers, through usage of audiovisual, sounds and text for various educational goals is known as e- Learning (Dajani, 2009). E-learning as a term is also dependent on the setting applied. It may refer to the methods where companies utilize their computer networks to administer training and educational instructions to their employees while universities take it to mean a particular method whereby students make use of online technologies to attend their course training and evaluation without necessarily having a physical presence on campus (Qureshi, 2012). The arguments concerning a concise definition of e-learning tend to reflect scholars’ interests. For example, past influences meant that e- learning could be viewed by educational instructors as a discretionary depiction while ICT practitioners preferred technological influences on educational and pedagogical correlation (Al-shehri, 2002: 147-150). Meanwhile, the influence of ICT on pedagogical and educational approaches came along with a distinct focus. Holmes & Gardner (2006: 14) observed on these differences and suggested that there may be as many definitions of e-learning as there are academic papers on the subject. Another dimension to this debate is a social science view that interrogates the influence of technology on learners and academic institutions. Definitions of e- learning have therefore evolved from distance learning, technology and pedagogy (Faleh, 2011). Considering distance learning, which evolved as a way of study by means of correspondence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, e-learning deals with educational means where instructions are remotely delivered to learners with the help of ICT tools. Emphasis has however been laid on the technological perspective of e-learning where a range of definitions exist that center on electronic means of attainment and utility of knowledge. Some scholars suggest that this form of learning is presently dependent on computers and their networks with a projection to develop and include wireless and satellite enabled platforms, mobile phones among other emerging technologies (Faleh, 2011). In fact, according to Nichols (2003), e-learning is the use of diverse “web-based, web-distributed or web-capable tools for the purposes of education”. On pedagogy, ‘e-learning’ involves utilization of technological tools to convey e-learning and the accompanying systems necessary for efficient and economical education. Universities are making use of emerging communication technologies to advance new services to learners and teachers’ activities (Zavoral, 2010: 224). Chang, (2008: 41) suggests that it is “an approach for delivering electronically mediated, well-designed, learner-centered and interactive learning environments to anyone, anyplace, anytime by utilizing the internet and digital technologies in concert with instructional design principles”. It is worth noting that not only have these definitions developed over time but so have their names. There are two major categories of E-learning; synchronous type and the asynchronous type. Synchronous e-learning involves learners meeting with a tutor online through audio and video streams at a preset time. By so doing, learners are capable of interacting with an instructor and at the same time hearing what other students are commenting and how they respond to them. Its major disadvantage is that they have to meet at a specified time; hence, the flexibility of time is lost. This may inconvenience students from other parts of the world who are required to be online after mid of the night or other inappropriate times. Asynchronous learning on the other hand, involves learners participating in the learning activities at the most suitable time. The implication for this is that a tutor will not provide immediate replies to the learner's feedbacks and queries. Students learning by way of either synchronous or asynchronous e-learning ought to have the benefits of university or college provided e-learning tools (Mirza, 2009). Considering e-learning as a form of distance learning, its origins in different places trail back to early nineteenth century, when courses were tendered through correspondence. Earlier in twentieth century, distance learning was informally occurring in Britain, until 1971 when it was officially unveiled by the Open University and later conveyed to other countries (Abdulaziz, 2008). ICT revolution has however played a major role in developing distance learning. Recent developments in the twenty-first century including design of websites has enabled users to design, control, implement, manage and evaluate teaching and learning processes through internet (Machado & Demiray). Developments including but not limited to online and electronic books, papers, iPods, blogs, iPads, voice recognition, Wikis, multi-touch interfaces and Pod casts have completely altered how e-learning is viewed in its presentation, usage, interaction levels and multiplicity of its interactive features. Elango et al. (2008) point out that Arabic states vary in ethnic, religious, geographies and wealth characteristics. Nevertheless, their educational systems portray similar characteristics since these nations have invested heavily both in financial and infrastructural terms. Internet has accelerated e-learning, especially in Middle East where learning institutions have made use of strong economies and the rising interest in e-learning programs. E-learning has raised standards in delivery of education in many Arabic states. This is mainly due to rising number of students who have gained interest and qualified for higher education in these nations (Alkhalaf, Drew & Nguyen, 2010).Demographic developments including but not limited to rising volumes of young population, increased education levels and the cost of providing traditional learning in the Arab world have led to introduction of e-learning so as to fulfill the aspirations of the emerging large young generation. Rise in the number of learners in Saudi Arabia in need of access to excellent higher education and employees who intend to further their training so as to gain leverage have pushed educational institutions in this country to offer distance education (Asiri, Mahmud & Bakar, 2012: 126; Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education, 2008). These Arab nations have embraced information technology and used them for implementation of educational programs in their learning institutions. This is evident from the amount of funding used to develop and expand e-learning initiatives across these Arabic states. Countries like the UAE, specifically Dubai, have heavily invested in ICT infrastructure and e-learning while Saudi Arabia has sponsored e-learning programs by way of teacher training and renewal of curriculum amongst other efforts. Nonetheless, it has also presented a myriad of challenges, chief among them being the accessibility of higher education and technical hitches that come with e- learning systems. Other challenges include lack of a comprehensive system of reliable and cheap internet access from home, difficulty of accessing campus servers due to limitations of IT security among other technical issues. Other minor factors include cultural barriers that arise due to different cultural interactions as a result of global rising and limitless global interactions. All in all, Arabic nations have consciously made efforts to develop and improve the quality of e-learning. Weber (2010), points out a case example where there has been solid progress in Qatar where the government has demonstrated a political will to develop ICT infrastructure. It has deployed technology to promote e-learning, especially for those with disabilities, such as using Braille technology to get online. This review aims to evaluate development and quality of e- learning systems in these Arabic countries in comparison to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Qureshi (2012) highlights various ways of describing the quality of an e-learning framework including but not limited to its extent of complexity, appropriateness to its aims or objectives, observance to standards among others. Technology plays a central role in enabling delivery of e-learning. However, this must be supported by proper institutional frameworks. Successful delivery of e-learning is based on the educational support accorded (Qureshi, 2012). Whilst e-learning depends on technology, an important arm for its success is the people charged to implement it. Rather than looking at technology as a separate entity from humans, administrators need to look at the social aspect of e- learning. That is only possible when influences that inspires and restrains participation by educators in carrying out e-learning are considered. Arab nations are also exploring economic options that will sustain them beyond petroleum products that are quickly diminishing and will eventually run out. Arab States are strategizing on technological oriented research tools as their operational components. Gulf, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the most recognized states in relation to research facilities. Initially mineral and petrochemical sectors, these facilities now technologically and ICT oriented. Recently, they have chosen to invest in technological infrastructures and e-learning. To highlight developments in e-learning, Syria and Yemen offer a good example. Syria offered internet access to its citizens as far as a decade ago and established the Syrian Virtual University in 2002. Yemen, on the other hand, has implemented an e-learning platform at Sanaa University (Ramady, 2012). Meanwhile, Kuwait utilizes e-learning programs in their public elementary and middle schools. Dubai is also investing its money, energies and resources to empowering e-learning programs and learner-focused classrooms and these schools are exhibiting a rare development in their adoption of ICT as a tool for learning and teaching. They have qualified teachers and students of all ages are efficient in using ICT. Almost 30% of Dubai schools have their libraries equipped with online computers (Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau DSIB, 2009). Nevertheless, these libraries offer limited access to these computers and teachers have limited freedom on how they deploy ICT for teaching. Oman too, intends to improve its ICT infrastructure through modernizing its schools, teaching and offering online teaching methods. Oman’s Ministry of Education advances e-learning through their learning system that boasts of virtual classrooms and a self-learning system where video, audio and text are utilized for communication. Parents can also monitor their children’s performance through mobile phones. In Bahrain, all public secondary schools have internet connections. Through public- private partnerships, teachers have been trained to integrate ICT in their teaching strategies. (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2010). In KSA, “the Ministry of Higher Education has established a national Centre for E- Learning and Distance education” (Alkhalaf, Drew & Nguyen, 2010) while Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-university in the UAE has surely come a long way in creating a novel and long-lasting learning model to ensure provision of learning opportunities for all in the Arab states by designing and providing an effective architecture for e-learning. Its pioneering initiatives have aided the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the UAE to prepare the Standards for e-learning programme accreditation”(Smith, Kukulska, Agnes & Page, 2012: 61). One learning center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has adopted e-Learning at its various educational centers. One of these centers has set up its own E-Learning system combining a hybrid of in-house and outsourced advancements and collaborations, and used it to build a complete E-Learning system available to a wide range of learners in its colleges nationwide. More learners are envisaged to embrace this system. The same centre has recently put in place initiatives including computer skills training, increased online course development and electronic materials’ production for personal learning (Garg, 2012). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has seen unprecedented rise in the demand for E-Learning education facilities, due to its emergence as a knowledge outsourcing centre in the Gulf Region. Recent market research indicates that the demand for eLearning modules will be driven by factors like rising investment and eLearning, which has been emerging as a substitute of distance education. Estimated to grow at the rate of 33% during 2010-2014periods, the size of the eLearning market in Saudi Arabia is likely to reach US$ 670 Million by 2014. Last year, the Saudi Government had allocated $40 Billion (SR 150 billion) in its 2011 Budget to education and training. It’s no secret then that investment in human capital has become a top priority for the Saudi Government” (Garg, 2012). Weber, 2010 put it that in as much as Gulf nations have made significant gains in global ICT pointers, they still appear in the lower ranks as concerns population to internet usage ratio. UAE’s percentage of its population utilizing the internet services is more than twice the world average of internet penetration. Other Gulf States, however, below world average in terms of internet penetration, are considered to enjoy a medium level rate of Internet penetration. On the other hand, Qatar and UAE were classified as highly Internet penetrated countries (Weber, 2010: 2). Courtesy of increased digital preparedness in the Arab world, educational systems are exhibiting renewed efforts in e-learning. Elango et al (2008) notes the e-learning market in UAE to be presently estimated at seventy million USD and adds that the total spending on e-learning in the Gulf region is estimated to go beyond three hundred million USD by 2014 with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates being the leading market players. They suggest that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to its large student population will dominate academic e-learning while UAE leads in e-learning activities that re business oriented. It is also worth noting that despite high growth rates, internet reach is still minimal in this region (Table 1). TABLE 1 ON GULF REGION STATISTICS GULF REGION Population (2012 Est.) Pop. %of World Internet users, 30-June-2012 % Population (Penetration) Internet % users Gulf Region 223 Million 3% 90 thousand 41% 4% Worldwide 6.8 million 96% 2.4 million 35% 95% WORLD TOTAL 7 million 100.0% 2.5 million 35% 100.0% Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm Han & Raihan (2013) posit that governments have failed playing their roles and are yet to create conducive environments so as to spur virtual learning especially in Arabic states. There is a big connection between education levels and internet usage. Highly educated populations are more likely to use internet. There also seems to be a higher number of males who utilize the internet than women in all educational levels in (Han & Raihan, 2013). This situation is played out in Arabic countries in all its dimensions, having a direct impact on delivery of e-learning penetration and subsequently, affecting its quality. Quality assurance is a dynamic, iterative and ongoing process that has to be enjoined in daily activities as regards e- learning. Improved quality in e- learning will accelerate the adoption of ICT in education but it presents challenges that are diverse from traditional learning environments. It therefore calls for abandon of old-fashioned gauges of quality as it is an all important aspect in learning, education and training. Quality assurance mechanisms have to be designed in line with existing support and monitoring systems. It is not just execution of tasks but methodologies consistent with professionalism and the requirement for personal progress (Han & Raihan, 2013). Approaches to e-learning improvements should therefore aim to provide local, applicable and user-focused internet-based e-learning systems and not isolated high tech solutions. Arab institutions are yet to establish national quality assurance standards relevant to Arab contexts and as a result, their program qualities suffer from their being developed by other universities and administered by part-time lecturers with no re-training to adapt to their new teaching environments (Jung & Latchem, 2009). However, there have been attempts to counter this aspect. Ramadi (2010) mentions that Gulf countries have been able to revalue their pedagogical strategies to conform to twenty-first century standards as regards e-learning. The challenge however, lies in managing a harmonious transition that will preserve cultural values while adapting to global educational standards. A good example is “Dubai’s Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University where learners are empowered for complete development through focused activities and tasks to make them globally competitive, upright, and disciplined individuals. It also continuously examines learners’ interests and needs through workshops, seminars and tutorials that enhance e-learning skills and abilities” (Ramady, 2010). However, challenges still exist as concerns educational content. Ramady (2010) outlines that online content that conforms to global quality gauges, while preserving local values and identities is needed. Therefore, crafting of policies at national level should allow increased freedom of knowledge and information sharing through increased access for e-learners. Further research should also be conducted concerning different variables, gauges and demographic factors affecting the e-learning systems. These include perceived risks associated with paradigm shifts as regards educational approaches, skills of e-learners in neo- technologies including e-reader devices and regime policies on education (Smith, Kukulska, Agnes & Page, 2012: 85). The pedagogical challenge pertains to inadequacy of learners’ preparedness for e-learning where education framework fails to reduce that divide. Secondly, Arabic content on the internet is less than 0.1% and these needs to be increased to provide learners with a library of material that they can comfortably utilize (Alhawiti, 2011). Qureshi (2012) finds that, e-learning has continually proved important for learners in the Gulf region and there is acceptance of e-learning as beneficial to the educational process. Most learners report improved performance, computer and technical skills, better learning experiences, increased independence and a positive perception. Technically, most learners find course contents and delivery of e-learning being effective, instructor support and collaboration being satisfactory and proving invaluable for success, enriched web-usage and online interaction, increased learner confidence in their course facilitators, enhanced e-learning mechanism in place that is measurable. Generally, support methods employed by universities have returned “significant success in safeguarding complete and effective implementation of e-learning” (Qureshi, 2012). There are however, a few misgivings form the learners view including, “administrative issues, non- availability of certain desired courses, delays in awarding of grades and inadequate financial support” (Elango, Kumar & Selvam, 2008). Different Countries Compared Country E-learning Attributes Kingdom of Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Qatar Kuwait Turkey Internet infrastructure Broadband Learning centers High Internet speeds Laptops Broadband/ fibre-optic cable High Internet speeds High internet speeds Internet Use High level High level High level Low level Low level Computer Skills Improved technical skills Enhanced learning experience Enhanced learning experience Improved technical skills Enhanced learning experience Confidence Development Medium Very high High High Low Preferred communication method face-to-face than virtual Virtual than face-to-face Virtual& face-to-face Virtual Face-to-face Perception of e-learning. positive positive positive positive positive MIDDLE EAST POPULATION AND INTERNET USAGE APPROXIMATIONS (Internet World Stats, Usage and Population Statistics). Gulf Region Population (Estimates as at 2012 ) Users, in Dec/2000 Internet usage 30-July-2012 % Population (Penetration) Internet % users Bahrain 1.25 million 50,000 1 Million 70.0% 1% Iran 79 million 250,000 42 million 50% .50% Iraq 31 million 13,000 2.2 million 8% 3% Israel 7.6 million 1.3 million 5.3 million 70.0% 6% Jordan 6.6 million 127,000 2.5 million 40% 3% Kuwait 2.7 million 150,000 2 million 75% 2.2% Lebanon 4 million 300,000 2.2 million 50% 2.5% Oman 3 million 90,000 2 million 70% 2.5% Palestine (West Bk) 2.6 million 35,000 1.5 million 60% 2% Qatar 1,951,591 30,000 1,682,271 86.2% 1.9% Saudi Arabia 26 million 200,000 13 million 50% 14% Syria 23 million 30,000 5 million 23% 6% United Arab Emirates 8.3 million 735,000 5.8 million 72% 7% Yemen 24 million 15,000 3.72 million 15% 4% Gaza Strip 1,710,257 n/a n/a n/a n/a TOTAL Middle East 225 million 3.3 million 90 million 40% 100.0% Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com References Abdulaziz, A. 2008.Issues Relating To Distance Education in the Arab World. 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