Blackboard as Part of Teaching - Research Paper Example

The participants’ colleges The survey participants were also required to indicate the various colleges of the universities where they worked. In this regard, the question had been outlined as “What is your college?”. The following table (table XX) shows the various colleges in which the participants teach and the number of participants from each college based on the responses given. Table XX: Distribution of the participants from different university colleges College Number of participants College of Community 3 College of Dentistry 1 College of Nursing 1 College of Science 6 College of Pharmacy 6 College of Computer Science 2 College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences 1 College of Business Administration 13 College of Arts 16 College of Social Services 2 College of Education 14 Arabic Language Teaching Institute for Non-Arabic Speakers 6 College of Arts and Design 4 College of Languages and Translation 12 Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education 2 College of Applied Medical Sciences 9 Total 98 Courses/subjects that the participants use Blackboard as part of their teaching In order to understand the extent to which the survey participants use Blackboard as part of their teaching exercise, a question was framed to allow the respondents indicate the number of subjects or courses in which they used the learning management system. The question was stated as “How many courses/subjects do you use Blackboard as part of your teaching?”. Responses to this question were categorised from members of staff who did not use LMS in any subject or course, to those who used LMS in teaching some subjects/courses, and to those who used LMS in teaching all their subjects/courses. The findings are as follows. Out of the 170 responses given, 101 indicated that the participants were not using Blackboard in teaching any course/subject. This means that over half of the participants (59 percent) were not using Blackboard in teaching any subject/course. Thirty responses (18 percent of the participants) suggested the use of Blackboard in teaching some of the courses/subjects while 9 participants (5 percent) indicated that they were using the LMS in teaching most of the subjects/courses. Another 30 participants (18 percent of the total number) indicated that they used Blackboard in all the subjects/courses that they teach. These results are shown in table XX. Table XX: Courses/subjects that the participants use Blackboard as part of their teaching activity # Number of courses/subjects Graphical representation of the responses Responses (no.) Responses (%) 1 No courses/subjects 101 59% 2 For some of the courses/subjects I teach 30 18% 3 For most of the courses/subjects I teach 9 5% 4 For all of the courses/subjects I teach 30 18% Total 170 100% Participants’ experience in using Blackboard in teaching The survey participants were asked to indicate the number of years they had been using Blackboard in their teaching activities. This question was meant to provide an understanding of the participants’ experience in using LMS based on the number of years that they had used Blackboard in their teaching. The question was framed as “How many years have you been using Blackboard as part of your teaching?”. The results show that out of the 169 people who participated in answering this question, 97 (i.e. 57 percent) of them had never used Blackboard. This is consistent with the findings in the previous question where 59 percent of the participants indicated they were not using Blackboard in teaching any subject/course. Fifty-five participants (33 percent of the total) indicated that they had used Blackboard for between one and three years while 14 of them (8 percent) noted that they had used the LMS for between four and six years. Relatively few participants indicated that they had used Blackboard for seven years or more, as shown in table XX. Table XX: Participants’ years of experience in using Blackboard in teaching # Duration Graphical representation of the responses Responses (no.) Responses (%) 1 Never had Blackboard experience 97 57% 2 1-3 years 55 33% 3 4-6 years 14 8% 4 7-9 years 1 1% 5 More than 9 years 2 1% Total 169 100% Blackboard technologies in which the participants have been trained The survey also investigated the different areas of technology in Blackboard in which the participants had received training. Specifically, the survey participants had been asked to select from a number of technologies that were provided, those that they were familiar with by way of having prior training in them. The technologies that were provided on the questionnaire include Blackboard features, Discussion forums, ListServs, Chat Room, Teleconferencing, Videoconferencing, and Web-based lectures (Blackboard Collaborate). There was also an option for those who had not received any training to indicate ‘none’. As well, participants who had received training in Blackboard technologies which were not included in the questionnaire were advised to specify the various technologies that they were familiar with. The question was stated as “Select the Blackboard technology/technologies in which you have training. (Select all that apply)”. The findings obtained regarding the participants’ use of different Blackboard technologies are outlined in the table below. # Technology Graphical representation of responses Responses (no.) Responses (%) 1 None 72 43% 2 Blackboard features 68 40% 3 Discussion forum 35 21% 4 ListServs 41 24% 5 Chat Room 12 7% 6 Teleconferencing 7 4% 7 Videoconferencing 6 4% 8 Web-based lectures (Blackboard Collaborate) 35 21% 9 Other _________ (Please specify) 13 8% The other features (technologies) of Blackboard that were mentioned by some participants include electronic exam, sending emails, use of groups and blogs, assessments, quizzes and grading systems. Possible barriers to the adoption of Blackboard In order to understand the possible barriers that make it difficult for the participants in the survey to use the Blackboard LMS, the participants were required to select from a list of items the response that best described their beliefs, feelings, or attitudes in regard to the possible barriers. This was based on a Likert scale in which the participants were to choose from five levels whether they strongly agreed, agreed, remained neutral (neither agreed nor agreed), disagreed or strongly disagreed with each statement. The statements were based on issues such as the participants’ level of knowledge in using new technologies and Blackboard, time available to prepare materials for use on Blackboard, institutional policies regarding LMS use, level of technical and administrative support offered, availability of infrastructure and technologies to support use of Blackboard, extent of government support, and level of student support. The responses that were given to each statement are shown in the table below (table XX). Table XX: Possible barriers to the adoption of Blackboard. # Question Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Responses Mean 1 - I feel I have adequate knowledge to use new technologies in education. 29 54 24 29 2 138 2.43 2 - I feel I have adequate knowledge to use Blackboard. 29 34 29 40 6 138 2.71 3 - I feel I have adequate knowledge about how to teach using Blackboard. 23 35 25 45 11 139 2.90 4 - I feel I have enough time to develop teaching and learning experiences on Blackboard. 22 39 28 36 13 138 2.85 5 - I feel the university has a clear Blackboard policy. 14 31 41 37 16 139 3.07 6 - I feel there adequate peer support to use Blackboard effectively. 12 23 41 49 13 138 3.20 7 - I feel there is adequate technical support to use Blackboard effectively. 20 29 37 32 19 137 3.01 8 - I feel there is adequate campus network infrastructure to use Blackboard effectively. 22 45 35 26 10 138 2.69 9 - I feel there is adequate administrative support to use Blackboard effectively. 16 30 42 37 14 139 3.02 10 - I feel there is adequate governmental support to use Blackboard effectively. 18 37 60 19 4 138 2.67 11 - I feel there is adequate student support to use Blackboard effectively. 11 31 50 29 17 138 3.07 12 - I believe there is adequate access to technology for students to use Blackboard effectively. 27 47 36 23 5 138 2.51 Factors that promote participation in using Blackboard The survey also investigated the factors that could possibly encourage the participants to participate in the use of Blackboard in teaching. In this regard, the participants were required to choose from a scale that ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree in view of the statements that were provided. The statements bordered on issues such as the participants’ knowledge, relevance of the LMS, level of training, prospects for promotion, incentives provided, and the impact of Blackboard on teaching and student experiences. The responses regarding what promotes participation in the use of Blackboard among the survey participants are shown in table XX. # Question Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Responses Mean 1 - I have the knowledge I need to develop teaching and learning using Blackboard. 23 33 35 33 8 132 2.77 2 - I believe that Blackboard is appropriate for my courses/subjects. 31 55 29 14 5 134 2.31 3 - I feel I have the necessary training to prepare me to teach using Blackboard. 20 37 28 42 7 134 2.84 4 - I believe that using Blackboard will increase my chances of being promoted. 7 28 38 41 21 135 3.30 5 - I feel there are workload incentives if I use Blackboard. 8 27 35 41 23 134 3.33 6 - I feel students will see the use of Blackboard positively in my course. 20 62 37 13 2 134 2.37 7 - I feel there is incentives from the university to use Blackboard effectively. 7 25 43 39 20 134 3.30 8 - I feel there are incentives from the government to use Blackboard effectively. 3 20 55 32 24 134 3.40 Participants’ attitudes and opinions regarding Blackboard To determine the general attitudes and opinions of the survey participants regarding Blackboard, a set of general statements in this area were presented to the participants. The statements bordered on aspects such as Blackboard and the future of education, comparison of using Blackboard with classroom learning, the value of Blackboard, job-related effects of the LMS, impact of Blackboard on higher education, nature of Blackboard with regard to ease of use, impact of the LMS on students, tutors and universities, and relevance of Blackboard in regard to gender separation in higher learning institutions in Saudi Arabia. The participants’ responses are presented in the table below (table XX). Table XX: Participants’ attitudes and opinions regarding Blackboard # Question Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Responses Mean 1 - I believe Blackboard is the future of higher-education. 23 51 46 7 5 132 2.39 2 - I believe students tend to learn just as much in Blackboard environment as they do in the traditional classroom. 10 23 36 51 11 131 3.23 3 - I believe Blackboard provides a valuable service to students. 29 68 25 7 3 132 2.14 4 - I am concerned that Blackboard will put my job at risk. 1 5 27 62 37 132 3.98 5 - I believe that blackboard opens higher-education to a broader range of students than traditional face-to-face education. 16 67 35 10 4 132 2.39 6 - I believe blackboard technology is too complicated for both the students and the faculty to be successful. 6 21 46 45 13 131 3.29 7 - I believe Blackboard offers students enough opportunities for interaction. 15 59 37 18 1 130 2.47 8 - I believe Blackboard will create more stress for me as an instructor. 19 37 33 35 8 132 2.82 9 - I believe adopting Blackboard in Saudi universities will improve student learning. 18 63 38 9 3 131 2.36 10 - I believe adopting Blackboard in Saudi universities will encourage students to be more interested in learning. 9 59 49 12 3 132 2.55 11 - I believe that due to gender separation in the Saudi higher education system, Blackboard is a good teaching tool. 11 63 45 9 3 131 2.47 12 - I believe adopting and developing Blackboard in the Saudi universities will create a challenge for faculty. 12 65 37 14 3 131 2.47 Read More