Faculty members' readiness implementing e-learning in higher education Saudi Universities: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background/ Objectives: This article reports on an e-learning readiness study that was carried out to determine the institutional, individual, and communication factors of the two major stakeholder groups (teachers and institutions) in the higher education universities in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A sample of 139 faculty members working in ten higher education universities in Saudi Arabia was surveyed in this cross-sectional study. A pre-validated survey questionnaire of e-learning was adopted to collect data from the participants' between April and May 2019. Findings: The pre-validated survey tool of Teachers' Readiness for Online Learning Measure (TROLM) of an 18 item scale has been explored in four factors: Communication self-efficacy, institutional support, self-directed learning, and learning-transfer self-efficacy. The findings of this study are instrumental in implementing successful e-learning resources (strategies) in Higher Education Institutions and will also benefit e-learning initiatives in similar institutions in other regions of Saudi Arabia and beyond. The Study demonstrated the supportive e-learning strategies Blackboard system that facilitated faculty members' readiness to teach university students during the sudden transition from traditional methods to the e-learning platforms.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence Techniqies in Improving the Behavior and Practices of Faculty Members When Switching to E-Learning in Light of the Covid-19 Crisis

“…This observation could be attributed to the fact that the sampling population encompassed faculty members of academic institutions, and all of the participants were educated. Similar results were reported earlier by Tayyib et al (2020) while studying e-learning in Saudi Arabia. The differences with respect to the prior teaching experience in e-learning and using AI techniques impacted all the dimensions significantly, indicating that the entrants who had used these tools earlier had appreciated and embraced them.…”

“…The differences with respect to the prior teaching experience in e-learning and using AI techniques impacted all the dimensions significantly, indicating that the entrants who had used these tools earlier had appreciated and embraced them. This kind of former experience would have also increased the educators' readiness to use these techniques (Tayyib et al, 2020). In accordance with our results, Alqahtani and Rajkhan (2020) explored the educators at Saudi universities to determine the factors associated with the e-learning adoption and found that the knowledge of the implementation strategies was a critical component of e-learning success in the COVID-19 crisis.…”

University Readiness to Online Education during Covid-19 Pandemic

“…In this respect, current literature has investigated education institutions' readiness to online education in the following factors: technology, human resource, budget, and infrastructure (Azimi, 2013); computer self-efficacy, internet self-efficacy, online communication, self-directed learning, learner control and motivation towards e-learning (Yilmaz, 2017); technology, innovation, people, and selfdevelopment (Aydın & Tasci, 2005). According to Tayyib et al (2020) these dimensions could be more suitable when the organizations are at the beginning phase of the changes. On the other hand, Lokuge et al (2019) investigated the readiness to change under three main dimensions, which are change valance (support and commitment for change), change efficacy (resources and capabilities for required tasks), and contextual factors (organizational culture).…”

Generated Themes of E-learning: Exploration of Students’ Challenges During Covid-19

“…(31) . Hence, the e-learning of BBLMS simple, clear, and motivate the learners to use it effectively (32) .…”

“…As a result of Covid-19, education has changed dramatically and drastically, with the phenomenal rise of virtual learning, whereby teaching is held remotely. Research suggests that off-campus learning has been practiced to develop information retention and take less time, meaning the impact coronavirus has caused might be here to stay (3) . With this sudden transition away from the classroom in many https://www.indjst.org/ parts of the globe, few wonders whether online learning strategies will continue to persist post-pandemic and how such a change would alter the worldwide education market (4) .…”