E‐learning at Sultan Qaboos University: status and future Ali Sharaf Al Musawi and Ahmed Yousif Abdelraheem

Abstract

This paper describes current issues emerging from research conducted on e-learning in higher education in Oman. E-learning is of importance in Oman specifically due to the continuous increase in students who qualify for higher education. As e-learning is at an experimental stage in Omani higher education, there are few reports on the effectiveness of e-learning. However, the authors attempt to draw conclusions from practices and research regarding the adoption of e-learning. In the Omani context, it seems that many challenges face higher education. Access to higher education is indeed one of the main difficulties that must be actively dealt with. Oman has recognised information technology, and its educational institutions have embraced it on a large scale. Many students use email facilities and surf the Web on a daily basis. To ensure that students have access to these resources, two solutions exist: Electronic storage and retrieval of information via the Internet are increasingly used by Omanis, thus transforming the role traditionally filled by books and printed media. E-learning technologies bring education to the Omanis by providing access to learning resources at a wide variety of locations, rather than making people travel to receive education. Omani students are connected with their counterparts in any place in the world through the Internet (Al Rawahy, 2001). Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) was established in 1986. It is the only state university in the Sultanate of Oman. It consists of seven colleges: Arts, Education, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Commerce and Agriculture. SQU also has a large Centre for Educational Technology (CET), which assists all faculty members to improve the effectiveness of their teaching methods by providing its expertise and guidance. The CET is also involved in research concerned with educational technology and its instructional applications. Recently, all SQU teaching rooms were connected to Internet services in order to make the World Wide Web available for faculty use. SQU, similar to other Gulf universities, understands the efficiency of WebCT, a courseware package originally developed to manage online course provision. SQU provides its faculty members with the opportunity to implement e-learning using this courseware. WebCT was installed on an SQU Intranet server by the CET, where the tool is managed, and by the university's Centre for Information Systems. In 2001 SQU began to implement e-learning using WebCT. At the beginning there were only 8 online running courses and 981 users. By the end of autumn 2002, 40 running courses were offered to different colleges at SQU with 3,001 students enrolled. This indicates a rapid adoption of WebCT utilisation within the university (Table 1). A series of 15 workshops was conducted by the CET for faculty members. These workshops demonstrated the functionalities of the WebCT package and how to use it to design online teaching materials. The workshops were popular and registration was full. Over 75 staff members attended and gained initial hands-on experience using the WebCT software. A large number of staff showed their keen interest in this software, and feedback was primarily positive. Most of the running courses mentioned above use WebCT with face-to-face (f2f) instruction. However, other courses such as ‘study skills’ course sections were administered completely online to first-year students in spring 2003. According to informal feedback, students were generally in favour of taking online courses. Many students observed the following positive points regarding e-learning instruction: It is preferred over traditional f2f instruction It gives them more self confidence More online instructor involvement is required However, students also reported the following negative points: Technical hitches, including Internet delays and interruption of WebCT service Difficulties using onscreen materials for learning Although teachers can educate students using modern information technology, ‘study skills’ course tutors at SQU felt that e-learning is a time-consuming method, specifically in the areas of designing online materials, downloading assignments, responding to students’ e-mails and sharing ideas with them. On the other hand, they perceived that an ‘e-presence’ made their students confident about expressing ideas and solving problems, which teachers felt paved the way for quality learning. Research evidence on the effectiveness of e-learning to face the challenge of ever-increasing Omani secondary school graduates still needs to be obtained. Although research on IT instructional uses in Oman remains scarce, some has been collected, classified and analysed. Akinyemi et al (in press) investigated the viability of the WebCT mode of instructional delivery. Results showed that faculty and students were favourably disposed to the new technology in spite of its teething problems. Major recommendations for future use of WebCT included, among others, infrastructural improvements and further IT training for both faculty and students. Akinyemi et al (in press) believe that the experience gained at SQU on the WebCT implementation has implications beyond the realms of teaching and learning. Several recommendations have been made for infrastructural changes in hardware, networking and IT training, and retraining of staff and students as e-learning gains popularity at SQU. Osman and Ahmed (2003) investigated the potentials and impact of web-assisted instruction on SQU students’ learning and attitudes. They found that web-assisted instruction is equally effective as face-to-face instruction in terms of student achievement. In addition, they found that students had positive attitudes towards web-assisted instruction. Al Musawi and Abdelraheem (in press) found the same results when comparing WebCT with traditional approaches to teaching at SQU. These results agree with other studies done outside Oman (eg, Fallah and Ubell, 2000; Johnson et al, 2000; Knight et al, 1998; Tucker, 2001; Waschull, 2001). Abdelraheem and Al Musawi (2003) investigated the extent to which SQU faculty members use the Internet for instructional purposes in relation to gender, college affiliation, teaching experience and academic rank. Seven highly recurring uses were identified. The most two frequent uses are in courses and to download ready-made instructional materials. Al Rawas (2001) contends that higher education in Oman can no longer be restricted to a single campus but must be extended throughout the country using distance learning and e-learning solutions. Al Balushi (2001) states that there is a need for an e-learning strategic plan for the Arab world. She asserts that e-learning is the ‘now big thing’ and not the ‘next big thing’, and that e-learning must be viewed with some seriousness in the Gulf region. Akinyemi and Al Rawas (2002) have reported on the ingredients for e-learning installation as well as some recipes for e-learning implementation in developing countries. Al Musawi and Akinyemi (2002) conclude that many Omani educators will be better convinced with more research evidence of the quality, security and credibility of e-learning. They mention that the Omani concern for comparability of standards with the traditional system is a genuine one and must be attended to before e-learning can be developed, disseminated and diffused into higher education on a large scale. Omani efforts to utilise IT in higher education are proceeding rapidly. Today students easily navigate the Internet, searching for knowledge resources. Since SQU adopted e-learning combined with f2f instruction, an increase in the number of online running courses and their users is noticeable. Major results show that e-learning is needed and that its standards must be set before it can be used widely. At SQU faculty members use the Internet in their instruction, but it was found that web-assisted instruction is equally effective as f2f instruction in students’ achievements. To date, it seems that the near future of e-learning at SQU is promising regardless of some issues that have resulted from technical, logistical and human factors. Through progressive implementation, improvement of utilisation and quality training, the applications of e-learning in teaching and learning will eventually develop. We predict that these will help to overcome problems of enrolment in and access to higher education in Oman.