Computer Supported Collaborative Learning of English Language in Saudi Arabia High Schools - Case Study Example

COMPUTER SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Introduction The increasing need for education in contemporary society, reduction of the overall cost, learning flexibility, and availability of sophisticated technological systems have fostered investigation and implantation of various types of technology-supported teaching and learning systems. Good numbers of students in higher education have increasingly encouraged the decentralization of educational students in different parts of the world whereby Communist states such as those found in the Arab world are no longer an exception. Such decentralized units have to reach critical mass in order to justify educational existence economically while at the same time maintaining excellence. One way of satisfying such requirements is to utilize computer supported collaborative learning. One basic requirement for future education is to prepare learners for active participation in an networked, information society whereby knowledge has transpired as the most critical resource for social and economic development. This has in return forced educational institutions into devising pedagogical strategies that can effectively cope with such challenges. It is in view of such facts that technological systems can begin playing a critical role in restructuring teaching and the learning processes to be better prepared for future challenges. Computer supported collaborative learning is now emerging as one of the most promising ideas that can improve on teaching and learning with the help of modern information and technology. Way back during the eighties a number of researches centered on computer supported collaborative learning were based on “solo-learner model” and the opportunities to individualize learning processes were supposed to be the crucial feature of computers. However, it was the omission of social interaction that worried educators during this period of time (Isenberg, 1992; Karger & Barwick, 1989). Over the last ten years the situation has dramatically changed and late research on using information and communication technology in education is considering technology’s possibilities to facilitate social interactions between teachers, students, and among students. Within network based learning environments, communication and collaboration are usually the main idea, nevertheless, social interactions has also been taken into consideration in designing and implementing systems running in separate workstations. Prospects of computer supportive collaborative learning in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is an ideal region for computer supported collaborative learning. The Kingdom is lags behind other countries in mainstream technologies such as internet access. This clearly depicts that technology has not deeply penetrated in the kingdom. Universities within the Kingdom can therefore take advantage and invest their resources hence contribute to the spread of technical education in their vicinity. With the Saudization accelerating, matching the capacities of the national workforce with needs of knowledge and information society has transpired as a big challenge for both the public and private sector. Also the Kingdoms educational system is not as vibrant hence cannot accommodate the new needs directly related to the rigors of the global competition (Brofferio, 1998). Therefore in order for the Kingdom to keep pace with latest technological developments, the Kingdom is now beginning to introduce computer assisted learning in schools to assist students, teachers, and parents to interact. In a certain forum, the Kingdoms education minister Dr. Abdullah Saleh, emphasized on the importance of electronic learning whereby he reiterated that through the concept, users could easily save on time and money, and also minimize efforts required to learn new things in life. Saudi Arabia ministry of education has already rolled out e-learning programs in Riyadh and Makkah and this initiative is soon going to be extended to other regions. The Kingdom is also poised to spend a whooping $15 billion on education primarily to fund both new and existing universities as a way of providing top priority to the development of higher education. Going by the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a developing country and has been lagging behind in the area of Information Communication and Technology, then it is advisable to evaluate numerous researches that have been conducted over the last couple of years. These series of evaluations are geared towards providing an overall picture of some of the perceived benefits on how computer supported collaborative language in the Kingdom of Saudi may benefit the Kingdom at large. Opportunities and Challenges of knowledge Management Approach to E-learning: Case study in Al-Bayan Model School for Girls, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A good number of countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are increasingly paying significant attention towards promoting education at large because education has been cited to provide high living standards in view of the human capital. It is against this backdrop that Saudi authorities are encouraging public and private educational institutions to promote learning by incorporating ICT in education with an aim of individualizing citizens with state of the art learning technology. Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is gender segregated into three; general education for male, education for female, and traditional Islamic education for Boys. In this particular study we will utilize the Al-Bayan model school for female. This study will present e-learning approach adopted by Al-Bayan. The approach used also follows knowledge management approach to e-learning. E-Learning Computer supported educational activities have been developed as motivation to apply computer abilities to various education domains while at the same time promoting activities of learners. IN e-learning education is delivered via various techniques such as TV, video tapes, Internet through Web 2.0 technologies, and other forms of computer based collaboration such as multimedia CD ROMs. In addition, learners and tutors can also communicate via e-mails, chats, or discussion forums. IT is such highly interconnected network that ultimately makes students active seekers rather than passive recipients of knowledge making education occur in areas where previously it could not. Cultural and Technical Constraints Financial and technical issues have been cited to be contributing most towards enthusiastic adoption of e-learning concept in developing countries. Cultural issues also play a role as well. According to Wurm (2008), there is a fundamental feature in the Saudi society where dichotomy is present between technological modernity and conservative religious values. For instance, Saudi authorities have been relucatant towards internet adoption because it comes with serieous concerns about arrival of undesirable content, and also due to cultural, religious, and political reasons. The Saudi government in return has heavily invested in security mechanisms such as firewalls to block websites which are deemed as offensive to local culture or religious beliefs. Since learning is today a social process, IT supported collaborative learning is set to become the mainstream educational model in Saudi Arabia. Various institutions within the Saudi society are gender segregated and for this reason, any form of cyber-based interaction is regarded as a societal threat because technology can easily be used to bypass cultural walls. Al-Bayan has adopted an e-learning solution which prevents students from accessing sites which are deemed by authorities as immoral and incompatible with Islamic norms. A questionnaire was distributed to evaluate impact of introduced environment on learners and parents. The survey archived 170 responses and it consisted of two main parts. Parents positive attitude towards technology as an important factor towards support of e-learning solutions. Approxiamtely 76% of the respondents regarded the system to be helpful and only 4% regarded the system as not to be very helpful. Fig 1.0 Parents impression about Al;-Bayan e-learning approach. The other section was technology quality, reliability, usability, and accessibility as important determinants with any e-learning environments. Here the learners satisfaction in terms of technical problems and restriction was not very encouraging with computer malfunctioning being at 42%, 28% were dissatisfied on the unavailability of class server, and 9% complained that learning materials were uploaded late. Fig 2.0 feedback of learner’s dissatisfaction Connecting students across universities in Saudi Arabia This study presents results of experiments in which Students from King Saud University share an online grammar course with professors and students from UMM Al-Qura University. In this study Freshmen student senrtolled in Grammar course at King Saud University shared an online course with their counterparts from UMM Al-Qura university. The aim of the study was geared towards investigating effectiveness of collaborative online instruction on learners achievement in grammar and their attitudes towards online collaborative learning and teaching. The study aimed to answer; the effect of collaborative online project on freshman students, the effects that online collaboration project have towards students attitudes towards online collaboration and interaction with their peers from other institutions (3) The technological, cultural and linguistic difficulties that these bunch of students have on online learning environments. Participants Two groups of students participated in the online collaborative project. The first group comprised of 70 students (Male & Female) from Umm Al-Qura, the second group comprised of 40 female students from King Saud University. These students had a median age of 18 and all the students and they had no prior experience with online learning whatsoever. A grammar course was developed and allt he students provided with URL links and asked to register. Students would access the course contents from home or use the college PCs. Prior to online instruction, the students computer literacy skills were assessed by a questionnaire. Every week a series of questions would be posted and these discussions required the student to use particular tenses and throughout the semester the author only served as a facilitator by providing technical support. Project Outcomes Depsite encouragements and credit messages beign sent to students individually and as a group, only a student from Ul-Al Qura University and four students from Kindom Saud University registered in the e-learning platform and there was also isignificant interaction in the discussion forum throughout the semester. IT is only five messages that were posted by students from King Saud University and no message at all was sent by Ul-Al Quea students. This particular online collaborative project from these two institutions proved to be a total failure. Students concealed their identity by registering using males name, initials, deleting e-mail messages. Factors which contributed to inadequate participation and interaction are likely to be Cultural barriers: In Saudi Arabia students are instructed using same Sex instructors: Technological Issues: Students reported that the e-learning platform was very complicated to use. Linguistic factors: Students were in their first semester and had very low proficiency level and a lot of difficulty with technical terms. College culture: Participants reported that they preferred working if the activity was part of the coursework and there were credits given for participation. References S.C. Brofferio,"A University Distance Lesson System: Experiments, Services, and Future Developments", IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 41, No. 1, February 1998, pp. 17-24 Wurm, I. (2008) Operation: Reforming the Kingdom, External and Internal Triggers of the Reform Process in Saudi-Arabia", Paper presented at the annual meeting of the ISA's 49th ANNUAL CONVENTION, BRIDGING MULTIPLE DIVIDES, Hilton San Francisco, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, Mar 26. 0723853890 Read More