Mobile Learning in the Arab World

Author(s):  
Saleh Al-Shehri

Most Arab countries started their own e-learning and mobile learning initiatives in order to cope with global integration of latest educational technologies. The high mobile phone penetration among Arabs as well as availability of good mobile infrastructure are all important factors that can enhance the shift to mobile learning. Moreover, several studies indicate positive attitudes and perceptions toward mobile learning at different Arab learning institutions. However, specific challenges may act as barriers to mobile learning in the Arab world. This chapter reviews some of the current mobile learning practices in the Arab world and provides an overview of challenges faced by Arab students, educators, and probably researchers. A description of future mobile learning in the Arab countries is then provided.

2015 ◽  
pp. 2077-2091
Author(s):  
Saleh Al-Shehri

Most Arab countries started their own e-learning and mobile learning initiatives in order to cope with global integration of latest educational technologies. The high mobile phone penetration among Arabs as well as availability of good mobile infrastructure are all important factors that can enhance the shift to mobile learning. Moreover, several studies indicate positive attitudes and perceptions toward mobile learning at different Arab learning institutions. However, specific challenges may act as barriers to mobile learning in the Arab world. This chapter reviews some of the current mobile learning practices in the Arab world and provides an overview of challenges faced by Arab students, educators, and probably researchers. A description of future mobile learning in the Arab countries is then provided.


Author(s):  
Hanadi Traifeh ◽  
Raad Bin Tareaf ◽  
Christoph Meinel

Although most Arab countries offer free public education, the majority of their educational systems do not prepare students for the labour market or equip them with the skills needed to compete in today’s global society. Teaching methods and techniques do not encourage critical and analytical thinking, and are still teacher-centred instead of being designed with intentional focus on students and learners. E-learning technologies have the potential to address most of these challenges. For example, digital technologies can make education more efficient, scalable and accessible. And with the wide spread of the internet in the region, an increased adoption of e-learning has been witnessed among Arab students and life-long learners. To assess the current state of the e-learning sphere in the Arab world, we conducted a survey to learn more about the digital learning experiences of Arab students. In this paper, we report our findings. Most of the 200 participants who responded to our survey hold a bachelor degree and higher, and claimed to spend more than 4 hours online. However, only 19.5% of all participants have enrolled in an Arabic e-learning program or MOOC, and 70% still prefer to take their courses in English. We also assess the different factors Arab learners take into consideration when joining an online course, and also explore the reasons that lead 80% of participants not to join any online courses. Our observations show that adoption of digital learning in the Arab world is very low but has significant potential for growth. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to spread digital learning in the region.


Mobile Learning (mLearning) has become an influential educational technology in higher education. With the internet and other technological developments, mLearning makes it possible for students to learn, collaborate, and share ideas with each other. However, mLearning student acceptance is critical to its effectiveness. Attitudes toward learning is a vital factor in deciding whether or not students are ready to use mLearning for academic purpose. Student attitudes may identify strengths and weaknesses of mLearning and facilitate development of the technology. This qualitative study aims to investigate graduate students’ attitudes and perceptions toward using mLearning in education. Data were collected by conducting interviews with fourteen graduate students enrolled in masters and doctoral programs in the College of Education at King Khalid University (KKU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Generally, graduate students in education disciplines had positive attitudes toward mLearning and expressed a desire to use it in their future educational settings. Students perceived mLearning to be valuable for academic purposes, noting the convenience of being able to access course materials, the ease of communicating with other students and professors at their own pace, and the flexibility mobile devices offer over desktop or laptop computers. However, students identified a few usability issues like small screen size and keyboards, and additional cost of mobile devices and the corresponding cost of Internet access as constraints for using mobile devices for learning.


Author(s):  
Dalton Hebert Kisanga

<p class="3">This survey research study presents the findings on determinants of teachers’ attitudes towards e-learning in Tanzanian higher learning institutions. The study involved 258 teachers from 4 higher learning institutions obtained through stratified, simple random sampling.  Questionnaires and documentary review were used in data collection. Data were analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Chi-square was performed to examine the association of variables.</p><p class="3">It was found that teachers have positive attitudes towards e-learning where computer exposure played a statistically significant contribution to their attitudes.  It is recommended that training in e-learning needs to be provided to teachers to widen their understanding of e-learning. There is also a need to strengthen factors associated with teachers’ positive attitudes towards e-learning. Results from this study are of particular importance to both teachers and the education stakeholders in Tanzania.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 19-42
Author(s):  
Khalid Shibib

As a humanitarian worker who was professionally involved for decades in crisis- and war-shaken countries, the author strove to understand the political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors contributing to conflicts. This contextualization, with a focus on Arab countries, confirmed what other thinkers found: the majority of political, economic, social, cultural, religious, and finally humanitarian crises in the Arab world are man-made and can be attributed to both extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Central to the latter appears to be a shared cultural construct that can be termed “Arab reason.” This essay tries to present information on various aspects of the crisis; to understand why reform efforts come so late and why are they are more difficult for Arabs than for other Muslims. It continues by looking at the knowledge systems that govern Arab reason and their evolution, including the decisive role of the religious knowledge system. From there, it proposes some reform ideas including a renewed legal reasoning process with the goal of a future-oriented, knowledge-based, and inclusive Arab Islamic vision. A pragmatic way forward could be an additional unifying eighth legal school (madhhab/madhāhib) to counter sectarian conflicts and violence. This essay is built on a targeted literature search and is not a comprehensive review of the growing literature generated by distinguished thinkers on various aspects of Arab Islamic identity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (14) ◽  
pp. 41-49
Author(s):  
Fernando Alirio Contreras Sanchez ◽  
Elkin Arturo Betancourt

En el actual contexto social, el uso de los dispositivos móviles se ha masificado de tal manera, que su empleo como herramienta de enseñanza y de aprendizaje en entornos académicos es extremadamente útil. Por lo tanto surge el concepto de Mobile Learning (aprendizaje móvil), que ayuda a los docentes a administrar su práctica docente y a los estudiantes a facilitar su aprendizaje a través del uso apropiado de las Tecnologías de Información y las Comunicaciones TIC; de esta forma la realización de un aprendizaje por medios electrónicos (E-Learning) debe ser centralizada en una plataforma de aprendizaje virtual y conectada con un ambiente multiplataforma de dispositivos móviles con interconexión a la red de comunicaciones de la Universidad. La coexistencia de M-Learning versus E-Learning, van a permitir al docente alinearse con los estudiantes en el uso apropiado de las TIC, para producir beneficios en el aprendizaje a distancia, de tal manera que los recursos tecnológicos puedan ser aprovechados y la comunidad académica se apropie de los recursos a través de nuevas interfaces de comunicación móvil como es el propósito de la investigación realizada para la Universidad Antonio Nariño.


Author(s):  
Leslie Farmer

With globalization, library educators should address culturally-sensitive instruction design and curriculum, particularly in online learning environments. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Bigg’s educational model provide frameworks for addressing cultural impact on library education. Specific techniques are suggested for handling language and online learning issues.Avec la mondialisation, les professeurs de bibliothéconomie devraient incorporer les différences culturelles dans leurs cours ainsi que dans le cursus, notamment en milieu d'apprentissage en ligne. Les dimensions culturelles de Hofstede et le modèle éducatif de Bigg offrent un cadre permettant de traiter de l'impact culturel sur l'éducation. Seront présentées différentes techniques pour aborder les questions de langue et d'apprentissage en ligne.


1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Mohamed Karbal

During the last two decades, the politics of certain Arab countrieshave been influenced by various Islamic groups. Some of these groupshave expressed their dissatisfaction with the performances of theirgovernments by Using the available political channels to seek change;others have resorted to violence. Armed protests have taken the form ofbombings, assassinations, and mass demonstrations.Suicide attacks and armed struggle took place against Israeli, American,and French forces in Lebanon (1982-83). President Sadat of Egyptwas assassinated in 1981 by Egyptian military pemnnel who were membersof an Islamic movement. Another armed struggle against the Syrianregime was initiated by the Syrian Islamic Front in 1976-82. Numerousdemonsttations against the governments of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisiatook place during the 1980s.Other Muslim groups attempted to participate in the decision-makingprocess in their countries. The Society of Muslim Brothers in Egypt encouragedits prominent members to run for election to the Egyptian Parliament.However, the Society was not considered a legal party accordingto Egyptian law. The Wafd, a legitimate party, allowed the Society ofMuslim Brothers to campaign under their banner. As a result, membersof the Society voted in accordance with their ideological and political beliefsrather than the Wafd party line. In Jordan, the Society of MuslimBrothem campaigned as an independent party during the 1988 electionsand won twenty percent of the seats.Due to the Arab countries’ economic and strategic importance, variousgovemments, scholars, and private and public organizations have paid closeattention to these incidents. In an attempt to understand this phenomenon,academic conventions have been held, books and articles have been published,and gmnts have been awarded for research. Western and Arabscholars have described it with such labels as Islamic fundamentalism,revivalism, awakening, reformism, resurgence , renewal, militancy, or simply ...


Background: Information technology (IT) is a new way of teaching and learning. One of the promising media of information technology is e-Learning, which is used to enhance knowledge and skills among users. A student gains better and deep knowledge through a useful tool. This survey aimed to determine practices among medical students for e-Learning. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on 184 students amongst the 500 students currently enrolled in medical college. Data was collected using questionnaires and were analyzed through SPSS version 22. Chi-square was used for qualitative values. Results: Majority 90.80% (n=167) students were aware of e-Learning and were statistically high in first year students (p-value: 0.018). The student did not show statistically significant results for content learned through e-Learning with a p-value of 0.063. Different resources were used for e-Learning in which videos had the highest percentage (87.60%) and audios were used as the least resource for e-Learning (29.20%). Daily, 56% of the students use e-Learning for 1 hour or less and only 3% of the students used it for more than 4 hours. Conclusion: Majority of undergraduate medical students were aware of the use of e-Learning and most of them preferred e-Learning for their course work and studies showing a significant increase in understanding and use, compared to studies conducted earlier. Participants found e-Learning useful and effective tool in increasing knowledge and understanding of their subject. Keywords: e-Learning; Practices; Students.


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