KKU Students' Perceptions Towards Blended Learning Environment and its Impact on English Language Learning

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KKU Students' Perceptions Towards Blended
Learning Environment and its Impact on English
Language Learning
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E-learning in the Kingdom

• Using technology in language teaching and
  learning has witnessed a quantum leap at some
  universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  Goal1 of the Saudi National Center for E-learning
  and Distance Learning, an affiliate of Ministry
  of Higher Education, is to spread e-learning
  applications and solutions in all higher
  education institutions in accordance with the
  best quality standards.

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E-learning at KKU

• Some universities have realized the importance of
  blending face-to-face with online instruction in
  language pedagogy. King Khalid University is one
  of the leading Saudi universities that have
  recently adopted this new mode of
  teaching/learning with much of zeal and
  enthusiasm at the training, support, design and
  delivery levels.

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E-learning at KKU

• The experience is young however it is expected
  to revolutionize pedagogy in the university.
• This study focuses on the impact of this new mode
  of learning on language learning with particular
  reference to the influence of Blackboard Learning
  Management System on the development of English
  language learning. It is a fact that adopting
  such technology in language learning opens up
  exciting vistas of effective learning, promoting
  interactivity, collaboration, portability,
  creativity and innovation.

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E-Learning at KKU

• Levels of introducing e-learning
• Supportive (optional)
• Blended (compulsory)
• Full (compulsory)

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College Total number of courses Activated Courses Percentage
Al Samer 11 11 100
Girls' University Center 14 10 71
Bishah (Boys) 73 5 6
Mahalah 37 31 81
Greger 225 106 47
Namas 7 2 285
Rijal Alma' 3 3 100
Bil Garn 30 3 10
Science Girls' Complex, Abha 9 4 44
Arts Girls' Complex, Abha 153 94 61
Science Girls' Complex, Bishah 7 4 57
Arts Girls' Complex, Bishah 48 14 29
Girls, Namas 25 6 24
Girls, Bil Garn 27 2 7
Girls, sarat Abeedah 3 3 100
Girls, Dhahran Al Janoob 51 10 19
Science and arts (Khamis, Girls) 30 8 26
Community College for Girls, Khamis 5 2 40
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Semester I, 1433 ( Active Tools)
Tool Usage Frequency
Announcements 1098
Assessments 678
Blog Entries 1
Early Warning Center 3
Groups 0
Surveys 4
Surveys Links 3
Grade book Column 1337
Tracked Items 936
Discussion Posts 4195
Number of folders 2261
Number of Documents 998
Elluminate Live 4
External Links 42
Course Links 10
Assignments 372
Chat 2
Tests 228
Tools Areas 6
Journal Entries 0
Contacts 2
Collaboration Sessions 34
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Instructors and students Using E-learning Tools
Total No. of Students Active Ones Percentage
1886 1634 87
Total No. of Instructors Active Ones Percentage
103 38 37
Note Just these are calculated to an Extreme
level (That anyone who does simple 20 page view
is considered in active list but this is not the
true measure , since after these statistics
there are many operations performed in the
evaluations.)
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Research Questions

• To what extent does this abundance of input
  influence the students' abilities to produce
  output in the language they are learning?
• Do learners of English feel that their progress
  in English language learning is enhanced by
  e-learning systems provided by the university?

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To answer these crucial questions, the Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) serves as
the theoretical basis for this study. TAM
proposes that perceived ease of use and
perceived usefulness of technology are
predictors of user attitude towards using
technology, subsequent behavioral intentions and
actual usage.
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Participants (100)

• An open-ended questionnaire designed by the
  researcher was used in this study. It consisted
  of three parts
• Personal details, computer and internet skills
  and their experience with blended learning.
• students perceptions regarding the influence of
  using technology on their English skills
  development, interactivity and peer learning.
• problems they face

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Number of participants per level
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Do you have a personal computer?
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Do you have internet connection at home?
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Do you support taking blended learning?
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How many hours per week do you spend on
Blackboard?
17
Do you feel comfortable with the e-learning
experience?
18
Do you think e-learning helps in developing your
listening skills?
19
Do you think e-learning provides conducive
contexts for vocabulary building?
20
Do you think e-learning helps in developing your
writing skills?
21
Do you think e-learning helps in developing your
reading skills?
22
Do you think e-learning helps in developing
speaking skills?
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Do you prefer grammar courses to be taught partly
online or completely face-to-face?
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Do you send course emails to your instructors?
25
Do you participate in discussion boards?
26
Do you feel e-learning tools help you get to know
and learn from your classmates?
27
Do you prefer exams to be electronic or on paper?
28
Do you feel that e-learning provides learners
with more freedom to express their reflections on
learning?
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Are there any cultural apprehensions in employing
e-learning?
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Problems faced by students using e-learning
No. Problem Freq.
1 Internet connection problems /huge no. of users 52
2 No internet connection at home 20
3 Restricted deadline for assignment submission 19
4 No personal computer 18
5 Crowded e-learning labs 13
6 A lot of assignments and online work (many courses) 12
7 Number of attempts for assignment submission limited (one) marks loss 10
8 Noise and crowd in internet cafes cause loss of concentration (in the countryside) 9
9 Time of online classes (synchronous) may not be possible (prayer times) 7
10 Cost (owning a computer, connection, cafes) 6
11 Computer illiteracy 6
12 Tegrity does not open 5
13 Some instructors are not active/serious enough/have no enough knowledge 5
14 Assignments during vacations, breaks, and weekends, or exams 4
15 No instructional lessons or awareness campaigns targeting freshers. 4
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Problems faced by students using e-learning
16 Lengthy and difficult assignments 3
17 Essay questions in e-tests (slow typing) 3
18 No replies from instructors to students' queries or comments on their posts 3
19 No time to use university labs because of lectures. 3
20 Technical problems during e-tests 3
21 Censorship in labs/only Blackboard website access available in labs 3
22 No internet or cafes in villages 3
23 No replies from instructors to students' queries or comments on their posts 3
24 No announcements for assignments 2
25 Lack of motivation 1
26 No relaxation in university as at home 1
27 Timer during e-tests is a distracter 1
28 No correction of our assignment errors 1
29 Boring material 1
30 Students feel distracted because of different modes of learning. 1
31 Parents resent spending much time at computer by their sons. 1
32 Comprehension problems in online classes 1
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Problem Types

1. Technical
2. Management by instructors
3. Economic

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Conclusions

• Students highly value the importance of blended
  learning in listening and vocabulary courses .
• Writing and reading skills take the second
  position in benefitting from e-learning tools.
• Using e-learning does not help students in
  speaking skills development and grammar as with
  other skills.
• Degree of the students acceptance of the online
  environment is generally promising.
• Interactivity and communication among students
  and interactivity and communication between
  learners and instructors and learners
  interaction with the content need further efforts
  by both parties at KKU. percentages show weakness
  in these aspects.

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Conclusions

• The three types of problems need to be
  immediately tackled at three levels
• Institutional
• Service provider and supervisor
• Pedagogical (Instructors)

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To E or not to E, that is the question
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