Technology Appliance in Saudi Arabic Education - Term Paper Example

Discussion The attempt of this study has been to find out the attitude of Saudi Arabia toward applying computers and instructional technology in education. According to the findings of this study, using instructional technology in education has been acknowledged by the students as a highly effective tool for learning and they generally welcome its application in their classrooms. This finding is relevant for the context in which Kay (1990) and Mackowiak (1989) have found out that cognitive attitude and experience are the best predictors for the commitment to the use of computers.

Gardner (1985) has also drawn attention to the importance of attitudes in the learning process. Though the students seem to be greatly excited by the task of making instructional materials, they are found to be more interested in the practical part of it rather than going deep into the wider theoretical aspect which can be attained from sources like books. As this study has been conducted among students of a teacher's college, it has shown that the coming generations of teachers are very much aware of the utility value of instructional technologies which was also been proven by researchers like Brooks and Koop (1990), Hmissat (1997) and Hamdi (1991).

Another very interesting finding has been that the students are getting more aware of the importance of instructional technology and computers in education, as they move ahead in their academic learning. It has also been shown that the students, in general, have been getting more confident with the use of instructional technology and computers in their learning process and that they are overcoming the fear of the new gadgets involved, very fast. This is evident from the lower mean obtained in the responses to item 33.

But the findings have also revealed that a gap exists between realizing the usefulness of instructional technology and really using it in education in Saudi Arabia. This study has thus shown that the application of instructional technology in education has been lagging behind the actual preparedness of the students to use it in education in this country. The lack of any difference in responses of students who own computer and who do not, and students who use Internet and who do not, cannot be fully explained by the findings of this study alone.

This phenomenon has to be analyzed by way of further research. Again, this study has proven that students irrespective of their age and academic specialization area, realize the significance of instructional technology. This finding, again indicates that the student community as a whole, is getting all relevant information about instructional technology simultaneously with their attaining a certain age and maturity. In this study, the respondents being students having age between 19 and 29, this inference can be strongly drawn.

Researchers like Ghazzawi (1990) and Nakshbandi (1989) have already shown through their studies that teachers also are finding a very effective tool for instruction in computers and instructional technologies. The major suggestion put forth by this study in view of its findings is that the Saudi Arabian educational system needs to speed up its implementation of the use of instructional technology and computers in education. This is because, even the students who do not have access to such technologies do think that they are absolutely necessary for effective learning in the current scenario.

References Brooks, D., & Koop, T.W. (1990). Technology and Teacher Education: in W.R, Houston (Ed), Handbook of research on teacher Education. (pp. 498-513). NY: Macmillan Gardner, R.C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Ghazzawi, M. (1990). Attitudes of medium school's teachers in Kuwait towards using educational communication means. Journal of Aleppo University researches, 17, 106- 111. Hamdi, N. (1991). Attitudes of the teachers of the society colleges and Jordan Universities towards educational technology.

Journal of Jordan studies,18, 130-162. Hmissat, H. (1997). Studying the attitudes of undergraduate teachers in the major of languages and social science towards the teaching aids in Sultan Qaboos University. Journal of research center of Qatar, 129-138. Kay, R.H. (1990). Predicting Student teacher commitment to the use of Computers. Journal of Educations Computing Research, 6 (3), 299-309. Mackowiak, K. (1989). Deaf College student and computers: The beneficial effect of experience on attitudes.

Journal of Education Technology, 17 (3), 219-229. Nakshbandi, A. (1989). Utilizing teaching aids in the health institutions in KSA. Journal of King Saud University, 2, Educational science (1).