Parents Perception of E-Learning in Abu Dhabi Schools in United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The need for learning has been increased with the rapid growth of modern technology and knowledge. Elearning has dramatically changed the manner and process of delivering learning courses and imparting necessary knowledge. The speed, time and distance related issues have been greatly resolved through it. United Arab Emirates, has stated to adopt the E-learning system. For this purpose, underlying research questions are prepared and answered demonstrating how e-learning contributes in enhancing effectiveness of education and understanding levels. The study aims to investigate parent"s understanding and perception of supporting, encouraging and adopting e-learning initiative. It has used primary and secondary data sources; The primary data based on response of 1520 parents, to a questionnaire survey that consists of six domains; 1-students" computer competence, 2-teacher computer competence, 3-quality of teaching and learning, 4-meeting students" needs through the curriculum, 5-school environment, and 6-students" personal development. The secondary data was from data and survey findings from published by academicians focus on parents" perception, difference and choice in selecting private or public institutions, implications on quality of education. To measure the reliability of the study tool; testretest was used. The scale was re-tested with (175) parents after two weeks from the 1st test. By using Spearman-Brown formula α = (0.9) which is acceptable for the purpose of this study. The results showed that parents" satisfaction was moderate with teacher computer competence whereas they are highly satisfied with student computer competence. The students" personal development, meeting students" needs through curriculum, quality of teaching and learning all these domains showed parents" low satisfaction as per the results. The hypothesis (a=0.05) denotes that null hypothesis is rejected and concludes that significant difference exist in parents" perception of e-learning in Abu Dhabi between public and private schools. Results showed as well e-learning can improve the quality of students learning according to parents" perception through providing them wide variety accessibility of learning materials. The students are not limited or restricted in any manner, regarding course materials, availability of faculty members, accessibility, and time related issues. They can use and access learning materials 24*7 without any restriction of time or physical barrier. The teachers, professionals and experts are available at one click. It has also identified that students often depict laziness and disinterest in visiting schools and universities campuses on ground of distance factor.

Parents’ Views of their Children’s online Learning in The UAE Context during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Quantitative statistics showed that more than 75% of the participants have the required educational and technological backgrounds to be able to cope with their children"s learning in an online format and more than 80% were satisfied with the teacher and the school support, while only 62% were satisfied with the quality, fairness, and weight of the delivered online material. These results were inconsistent with the study of Abdallah [9] who investigated parents" perceptions of online learning in Abu Dhabi and who claimed that parents in Abu Dhabi were less satisfied with the quality of e-learning in terms of content and the teaching procedure. In fact, Abdallah stated in her study that parents in Abu Dhabi were not satisfied with the teachers" teaching procedures and computer competencies used in online learning while this study confirmed that 73% of the parents were satisfied with the teachers" instructional techniques used in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…In other words, parents show their satisfaction with online learning if the process appears to be easy and convenient for their children. Hence, although most of the parents agreed in their qualitative responses that the online learning was the only convenient solution for their children to pursue their studies during the pandemic especially in the UAE, which is perceived as a growing country that embraces technological trends and teaching practices as a pioneer [9]. However, their responses were divergent of how easy the process was.…”

“…Lastly, although online learning is an idyllic learning mechanism for students of all age groups and backgrounds [38] and despite the high proportion of students convinced with the e-learning system in the UAE context [9], various and fluctuating answers were retorted by parents in questions 1 and 2. These illustrated their concerns and to reveal their suggestions to school to change in order to enhance their children"s experience in online learning.…”

“…However, few studies focused on parents" views of online learning. For instance, Abdallah [9] conducted a study in the UAE and revealed that parents in Abu Dhabi were not satisfied, neither familiar with e-learning and one of the recommendations was for the educational stakeholders and researchers was to conduct more studies on how to improve the quality of student"s learning and engagement in online learning [9]. Therefore, the researchers find it significant to investigate the parents" views of online learning in the UAE context, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as parents were extremely involved in online learning during this critical period of time; this investigation should be conducted in order to pinpoint gaps and deficits in online learning.…”

“…While the issue of online education has drawn academic interest, very few studies were conducted to study the issue from the parents" views, with limited studies exploring parents" views and experiences on online learning, especially in the UAE. For example, in one of the latest published articles [9] the author tackled the parents" perceptions of e-learning in Abu Dhabi schools. Thus, in this paper, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study that addresses and investigates the parents" views of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UAE context, we will contribute to the ongoing professional discussion to establish an overall understanding of the parents" opinions of online learning in the UAE context.…”