scholarly journals Perceptions of Saudi Students to Blended Learning Environments at the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ammar Anas

In this study, a survey is conducted to examine learners’ perceptions and satisfaction towards blended learning environments designed around the transactional and transformational approaches of learning theories in a blended course in the College of Arts & Sciences, Al-Namas, the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia. The study aims to evaluate students’ perceptions and preferences towards the three components of a blended learning environment: multimedia learning materials, assessment, and interactive activities. A mixed-method of research design is used to collect the data. Quantitative data is collected in the form of 12 Likert items in which 22 Saudi students are asked to evaluate their learning experiences in three categories of the blended learning environment. These categories are multimedia learning materials, assessment, and interactive activities in a blended course on Blackboard, a virtual learning platform used by the University of Bisha to support on-line learning. The researcher’s observation is used to decode, and explain the responses of the participants qualitatively. The result reveals that learners prefer illustrated text materials to video, plain text and audio materials, flexible assessments to non-flexible assessment, and embedded communication tools like WhatsApp, blogging, wikis, collaborative activities, and discussion forum.

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majed Gharmallah Alzahrani ◽  
John Mitchell O’Toole

The purpose of this study is to investigate student experience with the Internet, and their attitudes towards using it, inan attempt to determine the impact of these experiences and attitudes on their view of the implementation of blendedlearning. Data from 142 Saudi students at a leading university in Saudi Arabia were collected via an onlinequestionnaire. The results reveal that students have both experience with and positive attitudes towards using theInternet. Demographic variables had no effect on these attitudes, but experience variables showed significant effects.Interestingly, there were mixed interactions regarding student study year; negatively with Internet experience andpositively with preference for the implementation of blended learning. Neither experience with the Internet norprogram of study appeared to influence student preference for blended learning but age, study year, and attitudestowards the Internet were associated with positive attitudes towards blended learning. Importantly, students in thepresent study supported the implementation of blended learning, but not entirely online learning. Student attitudestowards the Internet in general appeared to influence their attitude to learning approaches that use the Internet inblended learning environments. Discussion of these results is presented with suggested implications.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Olapeju Latifat Ayoola ◽  
Eleni Mangina

This paper presents a ubiquitous learning (u-learning) system, the “Personalised Ubiquitous Learning Platform” (PULP), which integrates collaborative and social learning for the enhancement of the third level educational learning experience. University College Dublin (UCD) provides its students with managed learning environments (MLEs) and adaptive learning via UCD Horizon which enables students to take different courses from different colleges throughout the university. The main objective of this platform is to complement the current MLEs with a single supported intelligent and personalised ubiquitous learning environment that will promote and make provisions for adaptive and collaborative learning, human computer interaction on mobile and desktop clients anywhere and anytime. The system aims to enhance the students’ learning experience in third level educational environment by employing personalisation techniques such as the agent-oriented recommendation technique to engage students and help them access the content material for their studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emine Cabı ◽  
Yasemin Gülbahar

This study is conducted to develop a scale for assessing the effectiveness of blended learning environments based on the features of both face-to-face and online learning environments and provide suggestions for stakeholders. In the process of scale development, data gathered from 314 students were analyzed. The reliability and validity results for collected data were found to be acceptable since they were between or above the expected value. Based on the analysis it is found that the scale is composed of 55 items having a structure of 4 factors. Hence, it can be concluded that "Effectiveness of Blended Learning Environments Scale" is found as reliable and valid, and can measure what it aims to measure. Blended Learning Environment Scale, which was developed and analyzed for reliability and validity throughout this study, is expected to facilitate the further research studies that focused on blended learning environments.


2019 ◽  
pp. 276-290
Author(s):  
Bernice Beukes ◽  
Karin Barac ◽  
Lynette Nagel

Extant research shows that blended learning environments are widely accepted by students mainly because of the flexibility it offers. However, there is very little research that focuses on students’ preferences within a holistic blended learning environment and the contribution that a component makes to the learning of the subject matter, especially in large class settings. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of blended learning components in a holistic blended learning environment and whether these perceptions vary for students with different academic performance levels. A mixed method approach was used in this study performed at a residential university in South Africa and the results indicate that auditing students do have a clear preference for specific components within the environment and significant differences exist between the preferences of different academic performance levels. Such insights allow lecturers to adjust the resources and focus of the different components implemented in a blended learning environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinan Keskin ◽  
Halil Yurdugül

AbstractToday’s educational institutions are expected to create learning opportunities independent of time and place, to offer easily accessible learning environments and interpersonal communication opportunities. Accordingly, higher education institutions develop strategies to meet these expectations through teaching strategies, such as e-learning, blended learning, mobile learning, etc., by using teaching technologies. These new technology-based teaching strategies are mainly shaped by decision-makers in education. This study seeks to analyse the individual factors that affect learners’ mode of teaching and learning delivery preferences. In this study, blended and online learning is considered as preferences of learners’ mode of teaching and learning delivery. The individual factors discussed in this research are cognitive learning strategies, e-learning readiness, and motivation. The data were obtained from the pre-service teachers at the end of the academic semester when they experienced online and blended learning. Data were analysed using optimal scaling analysis. The analysis method provides a two-dimensional centroid graph which shows the correlations between the variable categories. According to study findings, there is a correlation between the preferences of the learning environment, and the constructs of self-efficacy, e-learning motivation, and task value. It can be said that the motivational variables are more effective in the learning environment preference. The students with high task value, e-learning motivation, and self-efficacy preferred studying in blended learning environments. Cognitive strategies, self-directed learning, learner control, and test anxiety factors are independent of the learners’ learning delivery preferences.


Author(s):  
Daniel Kelvin Bullock

The use of blended learning environments is rapidly expanding in education. This chapter examines a teacher's enactment of the New Tech Network educational model, which utilizes a blended learning environment, and the teaching strategies she used to engage students and gauge student achievement. Detailed teacher interviews, classroom observations, and analyses of student assignments were the sources of data for the study. The findings centered on the integration of culturally relevant pedagogy and authentic instruction within this learning environment and the implications of this integration. Recommendations for future research include a more expansive study of the use of blended learning in social studies and different means of integrating culturally relevant pedagogy and authentic instruction into blended learning.


Author(s):  
Raphael Raphael

What is the role of play in learning? What ways can we as educators leverage our students' extracurricular digital lives in meaningful ways in our digital and physical learning environments? What roles can the elements of game mechanics and game thinking serve towards these ends, especially in a blended learning environment? These are some of the initial questions that guided my action research at the American Community Schools, Athens (ACS). My project considers the efficacy of employing gamification strategies within a blended learning environment. This chapter in turn provides a brief narrative account of my research experience, focusing on an entrepreneur simulation in the ACS Academy (High School), and a series of gamified interventions done with ACS middle school students. It closes with a brief gamification toolset, a series of practical considerations drawn from this field experience and relevant research that may be helpful for teachers and administrators interested in exploring ways to gamify their own digital and physical learning communities or spaces.


Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren

This chapter explores the author's experiences with blended learning, both as a tutor and as a student at a British Russell Group University. The chapter starts from the importance of encouraging an autonomy supporting learning environment, featured within self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In the first part of the chapter, definitions of blended learning will be briefly reviewed. Secondly, the role of the learning environment will be explained, drawing upon previous research on learning environments undertaken by Darkenwald and Valentine (1986), mentioning the importance of the learning environment within motivational theories. Thirdly, results of a critical analysis on the own teaching and learning practice will be conducted, comparing the perspective of being a tutor and being a student. Finally, recommendations for future teaching practice will be discussed, before concluding this chapter.


Author(s):  
Steve Wheeler

This chapter explores the use of the wiki and its role as a cognitive tool to promote interaction and collaborative learning in higher education. The importance of the software to enable student created content, storage, and sharing of knowledge is reviewed. This chapter provides an evaluation of some of the affordances and constraints of wikis to promote critical thinking within a blended learning context. It assesses their potential to facilitate collaborative learning through community focused enquiry for geographically separated students and nomadic learners. One particular focus of the chapter is the development of new digital literacies and how students present their written work in wikis. The chapter also examines group dynamics within collaborative learning environments drawing on the data from a study conducted at the University of Plymouth in 2007, using wikis in teacher education. Finally, the chapter highlights some recent key contributions to the developing discourse on social software in what has been termed ‘the architecture of participation.’


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