E‐learning challenges in the Arab world: revelations from a case study profile
| Published date | 01 March 2004 |
| Pages | 15-27 |
| Date | 01 March 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880410517405 |
| Author | Kamal Abouchedid,George M. Eid |
| Subject Matter | Education |
E-learning challenges in
the Arab world:
revelations from a case
study profile
Kamal Abouchedid and
George M. Eid
Introduction
The advent of the ``global electronic revolution''
in the twenty-first century has stimulated efforts
towards shifting pedagogy from its conventional
classroom-centred stronghold into a vibrant
electronic Web-based interactive learning
environment (Cuban, 1990; Shearman, 1997;
Czerniak et al., 1999). Although the Web has
become the modern tool of communication and
information resource all over the world and the
advanced technology it uses offers distinct
advantages both to educators and students
(Banga and Downing, 2000), research on the
educational benefits of e-learning has yielded
mixed results, as the e-learning trend has both
outspoken proponents and critics.
Carl (1991), for instance, has adeptly detailed
the positives of e-learning. In his view,
e-courses can be monitored more easily than
the traditional classroom, off-campus students
can use electronic mail to have the same quality
of communication with faculty members that
on-campus students have, and e-learning may
result in cost savings. By the same token, Dwyer
et al. (1995) explained the educational
advantages that arise when supplementing a
course with Web-based tools including
student-to-student and faculty-to-student
communication, enabling student-centred
teaching approaches, providing 24 hours-a-day
accessibility to course materials, and providing
just-in-time methods to assess and evaluate
student progress. Other studies (e.g.
Oppenheimer, 1997; Kraut et al., 1998) have
been dubious about the advantage of computers
and online learning over traditional classroom
teaching methodology. Phipps and Merisotis
(1999), for instance, have questioned the
effectiveness of distance education in the light
of the evidence that a higher percentage of
students participating in a distance learning
course tended to drop out before the course
was completed compared with students in a
conventional classroom.
Despite the presence of some critical, often
sceptical, views regarding the pedagogical
benefits of e-learning in meeting students'
learning needs, the recent emergence of
widespread application of computer-based
education and training, as well as distance
education in many parts of the world is an
The authors
Kamal Abouchedid is Director of the Office of Tests,
Measurement and Evaluation and George M. Eid is Vice
President for Academic Affairs and Professor in Mathematics,
both at Notre Dame University, Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon.
Keywords
Internet, Learning, Teaching methods, Globalization,
Attitudes, Lebanon
Abstract
The overwhelming traditional knowledge delivery system for
higher education in the Arab world demonstrates the
pronounced information technology (IT) gap between Arab
countries and the developed world. This study demonstrates
the problems and possibilities of implementing e-learning in
Arab educational institutions through analysing the attitudes
of university professors (
n
= 294) in Lebanon towards three
a priori e-learning dimensions. Favourable attitudes towards
e-learning attested to faculty members' interest to get
engaged in a fully-fledged e-learning programme in a
country where the primary delivery educational model is
essentially traditional. Discusses these attitudes in the light
of the social, political and economic hindrances that impede
the implementation of e-learning in the Arab region. A series
of K-independent Kruskal-Wallis tests yielded significant
attitudinal variations between males and females as well as
between computer daily users and occasional users.
Furthermore, daily computer users documented more
favourable attitudes towards e-learning than their occasional
user counterparts. Offers recommendations for the imple-
mentation of e-learning in ``traditionally'' demarcated
educational systems in countries where the deployment of
information and communications technologies is not wide-
spread.
Electronic access
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
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15
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 12 .Number 1 .2004 .pp. 15-27
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited .ISSN 0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684880410517405
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