e-Learning in Saudi Arabia

E-learning differs in the fact that, like e-commerce it has a broad application and is not limited to a single organizational type or sector. None-the-less, it is no less important and coordination is still a pre-requisite for the efficient use of learning related technologies.

E-enabled learning is a fundamental tool in the building of a knowledge base and its dissemination and management in the form e-learning resources be it within schools, higher education, vocational training, or to the population as a whole. E-Learning is thus a vital tool for the information society and its development into a knowledge based economy.

E-Learning enables distance learning and continuous learning making ideally suited to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

With modern e-learning tools the course developer has considerable flexibility as to the means of engagement with the student and the management of the student’s progress using a learning management system (LMS). They are able to utilize resources that appeal to the visual (video clips, slide shows...), auditory (commentary, pronunciation guides, alerts…), and kinesthetic (hand controllers, sensors…) senses making for an all-round learning experience.

Coupled with the collaborative (Web 2.0) tools (meeting spaces, video conferences, webinars and remote controls) there is little the course provider cannot do for an audience of one or 100 with the convenience for the student to record and undertake different aspects of training at a time and place most conducive to retention.

Re-usability of learning ‘objects’ is vital, and to do this, standards need to be established, e.g. SCORM . The Kingdom has moved to establish central coordination for this in the form of an e-learning center and repositories for e-learning resources.

The main challenge for the KSA is to ensure that this tool is applied in equal measure and with universal awareness across all sectors.

Currently, it would appear that efforts are being directed towards higher educational and vocational facilities with a considerable gap developing in K-12 facilities.

The latter will require greater awareness and possibly a paradigm shift in thinking to gain acceptance from parents, teachers and other custodians responsible for educating the young.

Strategy

The role of e-Learning as a tool for education and training is broad, embracing both adult education and school education (K-12) and is an integral component for lifelong learning and continuous improvement and as such has a strong vocational component.

At the time of writing there does not appear to be a unifying national strategy to embrace the entire national effort other than the National Communications and Information Technology Plan, though many government initiatives do come close.

The main thrust of e-learning in Saudi Arabia to date has naturally come from the Ministry of Education (MOE) who as part of their overall strategy to employ ICT in education established a facilitating body – the National Center for E-Learning & Distance Learning (ELC).

This very forward thinking strategy will ensure that the e-learning community – universities, schools, vocational training centers, professional training institutions and the e-learning resource suppliers have a single point of contact to procure, coordinate and facilitate the use of e-learning to the highest international standards within the Kingdom.

The ELC has the stated aim of becoming ‘an international leader in research, development and implementation of e-learning architecture and infrastructure using open standards’ and will in time provide the opportunity for life-long learning within the context of the Arabic culture for all Saudis both here and abroad.

e-Learning Center ELC Vision

“Empower People Through Creative e-Learning In Lifelong Education.”

The strategic development of e-learning holds huge promise for the Kingdom as a whole in terms of its efficiency of delivery, reach, and learning effectiveness.

However, the strategic thrust is predicated on a top down requirement for advanced higher education and may require a coordinated national effort to balance this approach with a bottom-up strategy that focuses on grass roots development at schools and in the vocational arena if the current initiatives are not to further disconnect the top echelon of learners from the bottom rung of the local economic communities as a whole and avoid creating the situation that local opportunity favors the ‘educated outsider’ rather than the educated local.

E-Learning in Higher Education

In common with higher educational establishments world-wide there is a major shift away from purely face-to-face lecturing and traditional class attendance towards e-learning; most universities in the Kingdom are expected to significantly increase their focus on e-learning and will replace entire curricula by e-learning materials or blend significant e-learning resources into existing curricula.

The Higher Education Ministry has set up a repository for e-learning material to help universities adopt e-learning. E-books for engineering, medical, computer science and humanities courses are either planned or available and academics are able to receive training.

E-Learning in K-12 Education

There are numerous projects undertaken by both public and private schools in the Kingdom that have largely been set up on a unilateral basis and often in close partnership with leading ICT vendors, e.g. Microsoft and Fakieh School.

However, the minimal use of the Internet in K-12 establishments precludes extensive use of e-learning resources at schools. As a result students, parents and teachers are ill equipped to prepare students to enthusiastically and expertly adopt e-learning resources when they move on to their future work places, vocational training or higher education establishments.

E-learning in Vocational Training

The General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training in the Kingdom (GOTEVOT) has been an early adopter of e-learning at its various technical and vocational training centers.

GOTEVOT has set up its own e-learning center and through a combination of in-house and outsourced developments and partnerships has developed a comprehensive e-learning offering to its 30,000 students.

Foundation

The ELC has committed to work across all universities and educational institutions, nationally and internationally to amongst other things:

As part of the MOE and ELC’s joint objectives is the development of the necessary infrastructure to support broad based e-learning across the kingdom. In order to do this and provide equal opportunity for all, there is an underlying need for access to broadband connections by the broadest spectrum of society as well as access to dedicated ultra-broadband secure communication networks for those engaged at the highest level of learning and research. To this end the various Saudi Arabia e-strategies and the deployment of ICT infrastructure in such areas as government, health, education and e-cities will be a major determinant in the growth of e-learning, providing that provision is made for currently uneconomic ‘black spots’ or geographic areas where the primary stakeholder doesn’t have an interest.

E-Learning Solutions

Higher Education

The following universities are known to have formal agreements with the ELC to introduce e-learning schemes into their curricula: King Saud University, King Abdul Aziz University, Baha University, Taiba University, Qassim University, and Madinah Islamic University.

In addition, in 2007 Saudi Arabia took the bold step of establishing a new university – the Knowledge International University KIU, dedicated to the use of e-learning resources.

Vocational Training

GOTEVOT has established its own e-learning portal, developed its Arabic learning management system and developed or procured numerous e-learning resources in partnership with ASEAN e-vendors and virtual universities, e.g. The Malaysian Open University and organizations such as the International Computer Driving License (ICDL).

K-12 Solutions

There are a number of public and private schools turning to e-learning and the development of infrastructure within their schools to provide closer working relations between parents, students teachers and faculty staff via school nets and the use of e-learning resources and learning management systems.

However, these are often being undertaken unilaterally with close working partnerships with major ‘ICT in Education’ vendors, e.g. Fakia School. The need for a more coordinated and proactive approach would seem to be most needed in this sector of education.

Change & Adoption

Whilst the laudable notion of lifelong learning is often seen as the prerogative of the young or those already ensconced in academia as students or professors the reality is that an individual’s academic leaning is more dependent on their social upbringing and the influence of their peers, the educational perspective and expectations of their parents and grand-parents and the economic environment in which they grow up.

One of the primary keys to economic development is targeted skills development at a geographic and vocational level.

Whilst it is a relatively easy challenge to convince those already exposed to high learning (e.g. academics and undergraduates) of the value of e-learning resources; the wholesale adoption of e-learning as a medium by the community at large depends on creating a paradigm shift in thinking away from traditional learning techniques and outmoded notions about the value of e-learning and the return that can be expected by investing effort into what appears to some to be a ‘do-it-yourself’ approach to learning. To effect such a broad based paradigm shift in thinking will require both traditional mass and directed awareness campaigns coupled with innovative programs to engage the medium with key groups, parents, the older (but still influential) generation, key vocational or potential vocational groups e.g. those denizens of a depressed community which have been targeted for inward economic investment such as a new plastics plant.

Without such a holistic approach to change and adoption it is likely e-learning in common with other e-strategies will be the cause, rather than the cure for greater digital exclusion in a country with such diverse and resistant socio-economic and cultural demographics.

Findings and Analysis

The main challenges can be summarized thus:

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