Cloud-based e-learning systems in Saudi universities

Hassan Mubarak A Alsuwayed

A thesis submitted to the

Auckland University of Technology
In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of
Master of Computer and Information Sciences (MCIS)

2017

School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences

 To my beloved Father,
Mubarak Ali M Alsuwayed

1959 - 2002

II
F O R M PG R 1 5 DEPOSIT OF THESIS/EXEGESIS/DISSERTATION IN THE
AUT LIBRARY
 This form must be typed. Handwritten forms will not be accepted.
PLEASE NOTE
 The completed and signed form should be bound into the copy of the thesis/exegesis intended for the AUT University Library
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into the thesis/exegesis.

Student ID No 1419163 Name Hassan Alsuwayed

School of Engineering,
Faculty Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies School/Dept Computer and Mathematical
Sciences
Year of submission
Programme Master of Computer &Information Sciences 2017
(for examination)
Research Output Thesis Exegesis Dissertation Points Value 120

Thesis Title Cloud-based e-learning systems in Saudi universities

DECLARATION

I hereby deposit a print and digital copy of my thesis/exegesis with the Auckland University of Technology Library. I confirm
that any changes required by the examiners have been carried out to the satisfaction of my primary supervisor and that the
content of the digital copy corresponds exactly to the content of the print copy in its entirety.

This thesis/exegesis is my own work and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains:
 no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements);
 no material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university
or other institution of higher learning.

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as follows:
1. This thesis/exegesis may be consulted for the purposes of private study or research provided that:
(i) appropriate acknowledgement is made of its use;
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digital copy.

Student’s Signature Date 11 July 2017

III
Table of Contents

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ IV

Attestation of Authorship ..........................................................................................................VIII

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... IX

Abstract .........................................................................................................................................X

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... XI

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ XII

Chapter One: Introduction ...........................................................................................................13

1.1 Research overview ......................................................................................................13

1.2 Thesis objective ...........................................................................................................14

1.2.1 Purpose of study ...........................................................................................14

1.2.2 Research problem .........................................................................................15

1.2.3 Research question .........................................................................................15

1.2.4 Research significance ...................................................................................16

1.2.5 Target audience.............................................................................................16

1.3 Methodology ...............................................................................................................16

1.4 Research design ...........................................................................................................17

1.5 Thesis structure............................................................................................................18

1.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................19

Chapter Two: Literature Review ..................................................................................................21

IV
 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................21

2.2 E-Learning ...................................................................................................................23

2.2.1 Popular e-learning systems...........................................................................24

2.2.2 E-Learning in the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ..................35

2.2.3 Need for further research on e-learning and learning objectives of courses

offered by academics in Saudi universities ...............................................................41

2.2.4 Gaps in e-learning systems and changes required to bridge these gaps .......43

2.3 Cloud deployment models ...........................................................................................46

2.3.1 Differences between cloud-based software and traditional e-learning

software .....................................................................................................................48

2.3.2 Benefits of cloud computing for educational institutions ............................48

2.3.3 Concerns and challenges in cloud-based e-learning ....................................49

2.4 Key considerations ......................................................................................................55

2.5 Survey justification......................................................................................................55

2.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................59

Chapter Three: Methodology .......................................................................................................61

3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................61

3.2 Purpose of the study ....................................................................................................61

3.3 Research methodology and justifications ....................................................................62

3.3.1 Research approaches ....................................................................................63

V
 3.3.2 Justification for adopting the mixed methods approach...............................64

3.4 Survey..........................................................................................................................68

3.4.1 The survey instrument ..................................................................................68

3.4.2 Qualtrics .......................................................................................................69

3.4.3 Self-administered survey ..............................................................................69

3.4.4 Survey design ...............................................................................................70

3.4.5 Pilot test ........................................................................................................71

3.4.6 Data collection..............................................................................................71

3.4.7 Data analysis ................................................................................................73

3.5 Ethical considerations..................................................................................................73

3.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................75

Chapter Four: Data analysis and results.......................................................................................76

4.1 Data preparation and cleaning .....................................................................................76

4.2 Quantitative and qualitative analysis ...........................................................................77

4.2.1 Data inclusion ...............................................................................................77

4.2.2 Demographic questions ................................................................................77

4.2.3 E-Learning questions....................................................................................81

4.2.4 Learning needs questions .............................................................................92

4.3 Summary .....................................................................................................................97

Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................99

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 5.1 Interpretations and opinions ........................................................................................99

5.1.1 Participants’ profile ......................................................................................99

5.1.2 E-Learning in Saudi universities ................................................................100

5.1.3 Advantages of shifting current Saudi e-learning to cloud ..........................101

5.2 Research implications................................................................................................103

5.3 Study limitations........................................................................................................105

5.4 Future research ..........................................................................................................106

5.5 Summary ...................................................................................................................107

Chapter Six: Conclusion ............................................................................................................109

References .................................................................................................................................. 113

APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................................127

Appendix A:......................................................................................................................127

Appendix B:......................................................................................................................128

Appendix C:......................................................................................................................129

Appendix D: .....................................................................................................................132

Appendix E: ......................................................................................................................133

Appendix F: ......................................................................................................................137

VII
Attestation of Authorship

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my

knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person

(except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial

extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other

institution of higher learning.

Hassan Alsuwayed

VIII
Acknowledgements

In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful, all praises to ALLAH
for giving me the knowledge and the strength to succeed in, and complete this thesis. This thesis
is the end of my journey to obtain my master’s degree. Completing this thesis has been a labour-
intensive process that would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of
numerous people.

I would like to acknowledge everyone who contributed to this unforgettable experience

and made this thesis possible. Special appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr Stephen Thorpe,
for his supervision, constant support, and invaluable assistance in the form of constructive
comments and suggestions through all stages of this research. His efforts have contributed to the
success of this research project. I wish to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Mr.
Mohammed Alenezi for the time he devoted to reviewing my analysis and results’ chapter, and
Mr. Ali Alharbi for the time he invested to offer me advice throughout this thesis project.

I am profoundly grateful to my mother Asalah M Alhazeb for her continued support. I am

indebted to my brother Eng. Thabet M Alsawyeed, and wish to acknowledge his financial support
during my study tenure. I would also like to extend warm thanks to my family and relatives for
their encouragement and support. My brothers Abdullah and Abdullhadi deserve special mention
for their support, motivation, and help in bringing this thesis to completion.

I am deeply grateful to my beloved wife Dalal M Alhezam for her ongoing support. She
has always taken care of me and provided for all of my physical, moral, and emotional needs. My
daughter Danah also deserves a special mention here for all the lovely moments she has always
provided.

I wish to thank and express my gratitude to Dammam University represented by Dr. Saleh
Alrashid and all respondents who devoted their time to taking part in this thesis. This project
would not have come to fruition without you.

IX
Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently seen phenomenal developments in advanced

education and e-learning. The Saudi government has decided to use new technologies to improve

the national education and learning systems and further develop educational opportunities,

especially in universities. This study was undertaken to uncover the perspectives of academics

and university staff on the question of how e-learning systems were serving their learning

requirements within universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A mixed method approach was

used to obtain e-learning users’ experience of e-learning systems within their own Saudi

university. An anonymous online survey was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative

data. A total of 114 survey responses were collected; however, after removing blank responses

and cleaning the data, only 55 surveys were used for analysis. Key findings in the study included

the fact that Saudi universities have a good e-learning infrastructure. In addition, shifting e-

learning services in Saudi universities to the cloud services might allow educators the benefits of

their current e-learning services as well as those of the cloud. From this study, a number of new

aspects were found that contribute to the conversation, concerning when, or if, a move to cloud-

based e-learning systems will better serve Saudi universities. It is hoped that this study can

provide a useful perspective for decision makers as well as subsequent researchers.

X
List of Tables

Table 4.1 Age groups .................................................................................................................. 77

Table 4.2 Job roles ...................................................................................................................... 79

Table 4.3 Number of years using e-learning systems ................................................................. 81

Table 4.4 E-Learning platforms used.......................................................................................... 83

Table 4.5 E-Learning systems used ............................................................................................ 84

Table 4.6 Key benefits and drawbacks of using e-learning systems .......................................... 92

Table 4.7 Q21 spread of responses ............................................................................................. 95

Table 4.8 Participant ratings of current e-learning systems ........................................................ 95

XI
List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Research design ......................................................................................................... 18

Figure 4.2 Respondents’ genders ................................................................................................ 78

Figure 4.3 Job title ...................................................................................................................... 80

Figure 4.4 Number of years in the role ....................................................................................... 81

Figure 4.5 E-Learning user description ...................................................................................... 82

Figure 4.6 E-Learning systems usage ......................................................................................... 85

Figure 4.7 Methods of teaching .................................................................................................. 86

Figure 4.8 The usual tasks performed ......................................................................................... 87

Figure 4.9 Features or functions of e-learning used most........................................................... 88

Figure 4.10 Current e-learning system ratings ............................................................................ 96

XII
Chapter One: Introduction

This chapter presents a research overview, highlighting the thesis objectives, the research

problem and question, the research significance and the target audience, the method used in this

study, and the research design. It concludes with the structure of the remainder of the thesis.

1.1 Research overview

Although the origins of the term e-learning are uncertain, it has been referred to in the

literature since the 1980s. Since then, e-learning has been defined as a method that uses any

electronic device to deliver educational material (Moore, Dickson-Deane, & Galyen, 2011). In

other words, e-learning deliberately incorporates technology to facilitate both online and offline

learning (Naidu, 2003). The Saudi Arabian government has decided to use new technology in

support of the national education system to enhance the learning systems available, and further

develop educational options; especially in universities (Al-Sarrani, 2010).

Cloud computing presents a promising pathway to digital transformation in the Saudi

Arabian education system at the university level. However, how well it may meet the learning

needs of academics and campus technology specialists is yet to be discerned. Cloud computing

technology has changed the way in which users can access and manage applications. In addition,

cloud computing is designed for use via applications services on a flexible online infrastructure

(Al-Zoube, Abou El-Seoud, & Wyne, 2010). Cloud computing has been described as a large

container that combines many resources that can be reached and dealt with in an easy way.

Usually, the use of these resources is based on a particular pattern offered by the provider of these

technologies or services, such as an infrastructure, platform, or software (Vaquero, Rodero-

Merino, Caceres, & Lindner, 2008). In addition, it has been identified as a platform that hides the

complexities of its function and provides service to users in a simple way. Furthermore, the

13
technological complexity of this platform simultaneously helps save on labour, maintenance

service and data, cost, software, and system updates (Alshwaier, Youssef, & Emam, 2012).

According to Sedayao (2008), the revolution in multimedia, communication, and

computing technology has helped to build a virtual environment for learning that can be unit

shared. Recent advances in cloud computing have enabled the development of effective and

scalable Web applications which can be used as important resources to provide educational

services to users over the Internet.

1.2 Thesis objective

1.2.1 Purpose of study

The overall purpose of this study is to enhance the e-learning environment in Saudi Arabia

by answering the following question: How well do cloud-based e-learning systems serve tertiary

learning requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? This investigation aimed to uncover some

cloud-based e-learning requirements at Saudi universities. It is hoped that the study can identify

factors such as:

- The current e-learning systems used in Saudi Arabian universities.

- The required changes to bridge e-learning systems gaps.

- The suitable cloud deployment model.

- The differences between cloud-based and traditional e-learning systems.

- The benefits of cloud computing for educational institutions.

- Concerns and challenges in cloud-based e-learning.

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1.2.2 Research problem

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers a large geographical domain with a large population

living in remote areas, where the possibility of going to university is problematic (Al-Harbi, 2011

& Bates, 2009), a challenge that also offers an opportunity for e-learning. Moreover, the growth

in the Saudi population, in line with a lack of qualified university staff, presents a challenge

(Hassan, 2008 & Chatin, 2016), this is particularly true of female staff (Al-Asmari & Khan,

2014). The lack of university facilities, such as offices, also presents challenges (Bates, 2009). In

addition, students’ acceptance of foundational courses exceeds the limit (Al-Asmari & Khan,

2014 &Bates, 2009).

The increasing cost of university administration (Lungu, 2016) as well as the living

expenses of students who travel to cities for educational purposes is another considerable issue.

(Al-Harbi, 2011). Some parents are also unhappy to allow their children to go to cities to study

(Al-Harbi, 2011), especially if they are female. (Alaugab, 2004). Moreover, the willingness of

Saudi universities to advance their education system (Mirza & Abdulkareem, 2011; Reuben,

2008; Al-Nuaim, 2012; Bates, 2009), along with massive expansion of universities over recent

decades, can be explained as a reason to employ e-learning. (Bates, 2009). Therefore, these issues

encouraged the researcher to carry out an investigation into current e-learning systems in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This investigation aimed to determine the state on the ground of e-

learning in Saudi Arabia, how cloud-based e-learning systems may compare to conventional e-

learning systems, and whether they can serve the tertiary learning requirements as articulated by

those teaching in Saudi universities.

1.2.3 Research question

This research asked the following question:

15
  How well do cloud-based e-learning systems serve tertiary learning requirements in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

1.2.4 Research significance

This study contributes to the field of e-learning by investigating current e-learning

systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and identifying several factors of conventional e-

learning systems and cloud-based e-learning systems. These factors will offer an insight into the

prospects of e-learning and cloud computing in improving and enhancing the tertiary educational

process in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the intended outcomes of this research may

help universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to benefit from investment in cloud based e-

learning, or inform technology selection decisions by having them based on the findings of this

study. It might also help to determine if there is an improved match between technological

systems and learning and teaching needs as an outcome of this study. This is expected to benefit

those who use e-learning systems.

1.2.5 Target audience

The target audience of the research are people working in Saudi Arabian universities and

specifically those working in, or making institutional decisions about e-learning or e-learning

support. Participants could have been Saudi or any nationality working in Saudi universities.

1.3 Methodology

A concurrent mixed method approach was undertaken in this study by circulating a survey

to academics and staff at universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The mixed method

approach has rapidly become a desirable method for researchers in the field of information

16
technology (Gable, 1994; Kwan & Ding 2008) and, according to Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and

Turner (2007), is used in many disciplines.

A mixed methods approach integrates quantitative and qualitative data collection and

analysis (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, & Turner, 2007). The aim of this approach is to provide the

most comprehensive insight into a research issue. This study used a survey containing a mix of

open-ended and close-ended questions provided to staff at Saudi Arabian universities. This survey

started with some quantitative close-ended questions to enable the outcome of the research to be

generalized to a wider population and then incorporates qualitative, open-ended questions to

gather detailed opinions from the participants (Creswell, 2014).

1.4 Research design

In order to achieve the aim of this research, a suitable research design needed to be

selected in order to gather data (Straub, Boudreau, & Gefen, 2004). The research design started

from the research proposal and preparation through to postgraduate department approval, ethics

committee approval, methodology, survey process, data analysis, findings, and final report

development. Through all these procedures, the literature review was a continual process, as

shown in Figure 1.1.

17
 Preparing the Research Proposal

Discovering Research Literature Review

Defining Research

Research Proposal Literature Review

Research Proposal Approved by Postgraduate

Ethics Application Approved by AUTEC

Start Research Process

Research Methodology Literature Review

Survey Construction

Survey Management

Data Analysis

Findings Literature Review

Report Development

Figure 1.1 Research design

1.5 Thesis structure

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 This thesis contains six chapters and four appendices. These are summarized below:

 Chapter One: Introduction. This chapter presents the research overview, highlighting

the thesis objective, the research problem and question, research significance, the

intended target audience, and the method used in the study.

 Chapter Two: Research Review. This chapter gives an overview of the research area,

including recent literature on e-learning and systems, current systems in Saudi Arabia,

gaps in Saudi e-learning, and opportunities to go further through cloud based e-learning.

 Chapter Three: Methodology. This chapter defines and explains the selected research

methodology used to achieve the main research objective. It includes an explanation of

the survey progress and plan, followed by the ethical considerations that were addressed

in the research design.

 Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Results. This chapter presents the analysis process

used in the research study by investigating use of e-learning systems by staff at

universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with the results of the analysis.

 Chapter Five: Discussion. This chapter gives an interpretation of the findings, discusses

it in the context of previous literature, identifies some implications, presents the

limitations of the study, and suggests future work.

 Chapter Six: Conclusion. This chapter presents an overview summarising the thesis and

the conclusions drawn from the study.

1.6 Summary

This chapter presented an overview of the research study, including e-learning

background, the interest in e-learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to advance their

educational systems, and introduced a high level view of the technology of cloud computing. It

19
also presented an overview of the objective of this research, including the purpose of the study,

the research problem and question, the significance of the research, and the intended target

audience. Furthermore, this chapter introduced the selected methodological approach used to

conduct the study as well as the research design and the thesis structure.

The following chapter presents recent literature on e-learning and its context in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

20
Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

E-Learning is a just-in-time education platform that is combined with value chains with a

high degree of velocity. It addresses the delivery of customised, all-inclusive, exhaustive, and

dynamic education content in real-time. It helps create knowledge communities and connect

learners and professionals with experts in different fields or subjects (Drucker, 2005).

The primary objective of an e-learning system is the replacement of the conventional style

of learning, which is primarily driven by predetermined aspects, such as time, content, and place

of learning, with a just-in-time system that is a customised and typically on-demand process

(Education Policy and Reform Unit (UNESCO), 2014). This innovative learning concept is

founded on several pillars, such as management, culture, and information technology (Maurer &

Sapper, 2001).

Management support is needed to define a clear vision and plan aimed at the creation of

an e-learning platform, to create an environment conducive to learning, and to assimilate learning

into everyday life. Significant changes in an organisation’s behaviour may be required to institute

a culture of “learn in the morning, do in the afternoon” (AlSultanny, 2006, p. 112). An

information technology platform that facilitates effective implementation of this type of learning

set-up is also required (Jones & Brader-Araje, 2002; Brown, 2010).

The advent of globalisation and continual increases in the sophistication of technologies

have contributed to improving education in the last few decades (Henderson, 1989). Newer

technological advancements are often exploited by the education sector, particularly with the

advent of computer-related information technology (Devedzic, 2003).

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 E-Learning originated in the late 1980s in conjunction with another model of knowledge

and information delivery: online learning. While a few scholars have offered clear-cut definitions

of e-learning, several authors have suggested that there are various definitions because of the

different perspectives that exist of the defining aspects of e-learning (Moore, Dickson-Deane, &

Galyen, 2011). Essentially, e-learning is a process of learning that evolves from the interaction

between learning content that can be digitally delivered (Brady, Holcomb, & Smith, 2010;

Bowles, 2013) by services that employ networking techniques and tutoring assistance support

(Jethro, Grace, & Thomas, 2012).

This remainder of this chapter covers topics such as:

- E-Learning:

Under this topic various themes will be discussed such as: the background of e-learning,

popular e-learning systems, e-learning in the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the

need for further research on e-learning and the learning objectives of courses offered by

academics in Saudi universities, known gaps in e-learning systems, and changes required to

bridge these gaps.

- Cloud deployment models:

Under this topic various areas will be discussed such as: the differences between cloud-

based software and traditional e-learning software, the benefits of cloud computing for

educational institutions, and concerns and challenges in cloud-based e-learning

- Key considerations:

22
 This topic explores some key questions for organisations to consider as they seek to

leverage technology to exploit business advantages due to some barriers to technology adoption

decrease and the education industry.

- Survey justification for this research:

This section will explore some literature to justify the use of survey method in this

research.

2.2 E-Learning

With the advent of information technology, there has been a growth in research into, and

utilisation of, various e-learning platforms. There has been a myriad of initiatives at different

levels of the education industry associated with the use of e-learning systems. Almost all

educational establishments and global universities that offer distance learning do so through e-

learning platforms. Coursera, Alison, MIT Open Courseware, Lynda.com®, and the thousands of

free online course available online are all examples of e-learning systems.

The virtual courses that e-learning mechanisms support are having a growing impact on

the educational framework, in comparison to conventional on-campus university programs

(Brunett, 2011). For instance, for the very first version of the course titled “Machine Learning”

that Stanford University offered, there were at least 160,000 students enrolled from across various

parts of the world. This illustrates the magnitude of the impact that e-learning has today (Al-

Zoube, El-Seoud, & Wyne, 2010) on a plethora of issues, such as the fact that the infrastructure

required to offer concurrent services for equal numbers of students obviously surpasses the

capabilities of traditional Web servers (Fernandez, Peralta, Herrera, & Benitez, 2012). In addition,

23
the demand for various teaching resources tends to vary in a dynamic manner and scale very

rapidly as well. To accommodate requests during peak activity periods without preventing access

to various other system services, the ideal solution would be to build a better, highly enhanced

infrastructure than that which would be sufficient for conventional educational purposes. A

solution would be to offer services based on real-time demand and facilitate payment for those

resources and aides that are used in real time by users.

2.2.1 Popular e-learning systems

This section presents an overview of the most popular e-learning systems that are

currently on the market and that are extensively used by educators and learners.

2.2.1.1 Easygenerator

Easygenerator is a Netherlands-based company that produces e-learning software for use

by teachers, learners, course designers, and trainers. Easygenerator seeks to develop e-learning

software that is powerful, innovative, interesting and simple (Easygenerator, 2016). The

Easygenerator e-learning software offers students the following:

 Visually illustrated templates

 A path for accelerating learning

 Lessons associated with specific tasks

 Team chores and homework

 Curriculum advancement and strict supervision

 Rephrasing of content from time to time

 Single-click publishing to any website, device, or learning management system.

24
 Easygenerator views e-learning as a collective learning process, i.e., that are various

process designers, content developers, subject experts, and instructors who make the e-learning

process a success. Easygenerator also allows people to co-author content. The company

understands that students need flexibility in learning; hence, all of Easygenerator’s e-learning

programs are designed to address the functional requirements of students. Easygenerator gives

students the freedom to choose their own curriculum through self-directed learning and

individualisation of their assignments (Allen Interactions, 2016). Easygenerator’s core product is

its NextGen e-learning software. Using this software, students can achieve results through a

deliberate approach to learning objectives, learner assessment, adaptive learning, blogs, videos,

and question-and-answer sessions. Easygenerator helps students with a structured curriculum,

creates interesting learning platforms, aligns content, uses regular assessments to measure the

progress of its learners, and provides personalised skill-based training (Easygenerator, 2016).

2.2.1.2 Elucidat

Elucidat uses various game features, multi-device compatibility, and quick interactions to

enhance the e-learning process. Through an introductory course, a student can meet the team that

will be taking the student through the entire e-learning process (Elucidat, 2016). In a single

morning, students can work through the basic information about the entire course and plan how

to proceed with the course. Elucidat refrains from using unnecessarily long steps that take more

time for students to create an effective learning process. Students are able to export the content

to any supported system, such as SCORM, Tin Can, or MOOC, described below.

SCORM is an extensively used standard for e-learning. Its popularity is the result of the

convenience that it offers in terms of playing any type of content that conforms to SCORM. Tin

Can is an application programming interface (API) that allows e-learning platforms to record

25
learners’ experiences, irrespective of the places and times at which the experiences occurred.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are e-learning courses that are offered free of charge by

a few leading global universities. Coursera is one such example.

Elucidat has an internal hosting system that helps course developers share learning

material instantly. Elucidat analyses the e-learning performance of students on a daily basis and

provides insights to them to make helpful learning changes. The Elucidat software has a course

on health and safety issues, which is helpful for people in various work environments. It also has

a Face Smile mini-challenge game, which teaches learners the importance of smiling in various

situations. Elucidat also has a leadership training course, sales scenario training, compliance

training, gamification technology, historical games, and a systems training course. It has a

personal safety program for children, developed in collaboration with the Barnardos children’s

charity, to provide online personal safeguarding training to children.

2.2.1.3 Quick Lessons

Quick Lessons is a collective e-learning platform that allows users to use their online

library of templates, animations, interactive tools, and games. Users can embed all these into

PowerPoint. No design skills are needed to use the Quick Lessons program. The online program

can be used from any geographic location at any time. Quick Lessons provides its users with out-

of-the-box learning programs, games, and exercises to evaluate users’ learning (QuickLessons,

2016). Quick Lessons employs HTML5, which is cross-platform and easily accessible

worldwide. It also has a system to convert PowerPoint programs into Flash and vice versa. Quick

Lessons also provides various export options and an offline, mobile, and online learning

management system (LMS). Quick Lessons uses SCORM and MOCC compliance structures.

The developer’s list of clients includes Mundo Verde, Portal Educaco, Lojas Americans, and

26
others (QuickLessons, 2016). Quick Lessons provides an environment for multiple users to

develop online programs at 60% of the cost and in 40% of the time of comparable conventional

programs. Developers can instantly preview and review their programs and collaborate with

tools. Quick Lessons helps new developers and engages them interactively. The content

developed with the help of Quick Lessons has excellent visual quality and is suitable for all levels

of classroom and outdoor training. Quick Lessons also helps developers to create modern content

and maintain content online.

2.2.1.4 Smart Builder

Smart Builder is a participatory team-based cloud application that allows various virtual

teams to collaborate to provide quality products and meet their deadlines. Smart Builder is a

product of Vantage Path, a company based in Alberta, Canada that trains various global corporate

companies (Vantage Path, 2016). The company delivers courses both online and through

traditional methods. The Vantage Path team works to improve the productivity of their clients

and enhance their profit and growth, primarily through the use of the client’s own infrastructure.

The company has served clients such as PwC, Ford, Shell, Encana, and Symantec. Another

educational product of Vantage Path is SNAP Tree—an autism-awareness e-learning course that

teaches supervisory skills to first-time leaders. (Allen Interactions, 2016). Using Smart Builder,

a company can develop e-learning courses from scratch to meet the training needs of their clients.

They can evaluate and understand the training requirements of the client, build courses that

accelerate the learning process, develop employees, and bring about behavioural changes.

The learning management system of Vantage Path is a cloud-hosted system. This system

evaluates, manages and tracks employee results. The courses are flexible, produce performance

27
reports, compare the progress of employees, create rectification programs, and provide

certification on the completion of the training program.

2.2.1.5 Artisan by BankersEdge

Artisan increases the learner’s creativity. The company, BankersEdge, believes in a

visually appealing training environment. Thus, following this basic principle, Artisan transforms

the content produced by developers into a huge training canvas. Artisan has innovative features

that help developers to change fonts per their choice, change colour schemes, and import various

learning tools. Students are motivated to be more involved and learn differently in a new, visually

appealing environment (BankersEdge, 2016).

BankersEdge helps students develop and edit their programs easily. There is a spell-check

program for theoretical content; it allows page-to-page editing and lets the user have a keyword

search program. Users can choose from a variety of template pages, test out features, and various

scoring parameters. Artisan also allows the users to leave work in-progress and save their work.

It also has a unique bookmark facility. BankersEdge motivates learners with a stimulating visual

flash-based program. BankersEdge engages students in innovative learning throughout the entire

course program (BankersEdge, 2016).

BankersEdge has three types of programs:

• Simplified template editing program for users not very technology savvy

• Easy-to-use tools for skill level users

• HTML editing features for advanced users

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 Students can reproduce their thoughts in several unique using graphs, charts, etc. Students

can manage their course content through a streamlined interface with clients. BankersEdge also

allows a student to view his/her entire work on a single page before launching the program online.

BankersEdge is in partnership with Training Pro for 44 new courses available on the Artisan

platform.

2.2.1.6 Lectora Online by Trivantis

Lectora online is a Cloud-based e-learning program that combines various authoring

tools. Trivantis was founded in 1999 and has its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Globally, nearly

125 countries today use Lectora’s e-learning tools and their Course Mill management solutions

for their e-learning programs. The company also has offices in Paris, London, Beijing, and Florida

(Trivantis, 2016). Lectora is Trivantis’ Flagship product and is the first authoring software that

not only allows a rapid e-learning process, but is also cost friendly. Trivantis has made Lectora

an affordable tool to create and engage content without any time and place boundary. The major

products of the company are

• Lectora Online - helps the user create his/her own content with the help of Lectora’s

desktop authoring solution (Trivantis, 2016).

• Lectora Inspire – allows users to create interactive learning programs. It allows developers

to create a quick mobile course and save time (Sharples & Beale, 2003). Once the

program is developed, it can be launched on all devices. Lectora Inspire can adapt to

tablets, iPhones, and Android phones equally well for the perfect look.

• Lectora Publisher – helps the developer enhance content with easy-to-use and easy-to-

make tools with the help of a master desktop.

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• Course Mill – prepares reports that are easy to make. Complies with the training program,

has user friendly interface and is mobile ready (Jeng, Wu, Huang, Tan, & Yang, 2010).

• Course Mill Mobile – enables the user to download the app on a cell phone, track SCORM

data, manage the content, and deliver the content in the required format, either Excel, Live

Excel, or dashboard (Trivantis, 2016). The company has a large client list including P&G,

FedEx, IBM Macys, and BMW.

2.2.1.7 ZebraZapps by Allen Interactions

Allen Interactions has been working to deliver custom based e-learning solutions for e-

Learners for the past 20 years. Several e-learning professionals and organisations have benefited

from the company’s customised learning services and their instructional products. The company

today has more than 500 clients and works in three core areas of e-learning:

• Custom learning services

• Training services and outreach

• ZebraZapps – visual Authoring System

ZebraZapps helps authors collaborate with one another, create content, publish on the

Internet, and share content and learning experiences. This online publishing system is based on

an online subscription. The authors’ designs can range from a simple PowerPoint program to

complex games and can be published on various online websites such as Amazon.com, Google

Play, and iTunes (Allen Interactions, 2016; Thurow, 2015).

ZebraZapps helps the user in three ways:

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• Creating a visual interaction – with the help of ZebraZapps, the user can create complex

programs. Whether it is a game or academic content, ZebraZapps allows the use of a

professional grade visual editor. The developers can engage themselves in the learning

process and can be involved in the complex process. ZebraZapps allows users to create

their own interaction as per their own imagination.

• Sketching and Brainstorming – ZebraZapps allows the user to sketch or prototype content

and maintain it logically. ZebraZapps has sketches that have full functional objects and

are very interactive. ZebraZapps brings learning events to life and has prototype

delivering services.

• Publishing - with the help of ZebraZapps sophisticated e-learning program, where

developers can select their own delivery platform, such as iOS, Android, and Windows

desktop (Allen Interactions, 2016).

2.2.1.8 Amvonet Publish by Amvonet

Amvonet was established in 2002 by Mr. Vadim Eelen in Ohio, USA. The company

provides Software as a Service (SaaS) e–learning solutions to a significant number of users

globally. The company creates and publishes interactive textbooks for up to year K12 students.

Amvonet focuses heavily on the graphical user interface. Amvonet offers interactive content and

interactive assessment programs to help modern-day teachers across the globe (Hartel, Fujimoto,

Strybosch, & Fitzpatrick, 2006). The pre-recorded interactive content of Amvonet is very popular

with modern-day classroom instructors (Amvonet, 2016).

The Amvonet program is based on three stages:

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• Amvonet Manage - this program helps teachers to manage content, progress reports of

students, handle student accounts, and deliver courses based on student demand.

• Amvonet Connect - this program converts the traditional classroom into virtual

classrooms, and students can interact live with the learning content. Students can also

communicate with each other through audio-visual aids. Current sessions can be recorded

and played on-demand by students as well. The classroom is also improved with the use

of multimedia whiteboards and screen share.

• Amvonet Publish – this program helps users to create interactive programs, patent the

same, and publish the same.

Amvonet provides solutions in four different forms—K12, higher education, corporate

training and development, and healthcare. Amvonet partners with TAEC for cost effective course

development, Totara Learning solutions as an open source option for corporate solutions, Nivel7

for generating human performance, VF Consulting as an independent research laboratory,

RTKomm for telecommunication services in Russia, and Wide Services for telecommunication

partners in Greece (Amvonet, 2016). Amvonet has transformed the traditional academic process

into a digital academic process by using a 21st century collaborative e-learning environment

(Freidberg, 1999).

2.2.1.9 Liquid Authoring by Landmark E-Learning

Liquid Authoring by Landmark E-Learning is a SCORM compatibility tool. The software

is cloud-based; it has a media library. The software is compatible with HTML 5. Liquid Authoring

creates dynamic e-learning courses and online presentations, which also include interactive video.

All this can be performed very easily, quickly, and at an affordable cost (Liquid Authoring, 2016).

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2.2.1.10 Atlantic Link by Assima

Atlantic Link by Assima is a flash-based interactive learning program. The company uses

three basic components:

• Content point – is the core of Atlantic Link. E-learning can be performed globally on a

single server. One does not need to have any specific skills to use this program (Assima

Atlantic Link, 2016).

• Capture point – this program can run in combination with any IT application. The program

can capture any screen with all its interactions. The developer can add an automatic audio

narration to the program. There are also key features for advanced recording and sound

editing as well. The annotated screens can enable the creation of powerful presentations

within minutes and streamline the web delivery process.

• Knowledge point is an integrated learning management and content management system.

The system provides user management, where a developer can easily add, edit, or delete

any point. There is also an automatic progress tracker and a learner tracker.

Using Atlantic Link, the developer can create content in minutes by using the drag and

drop feature. Atlantic Link has an extensive library, which can be accessed by users anytime,

anywhere. Atlantic Link also has a free, built-in customised learning program that is an asset to

the developers. These assets help the developers to develop more interactive and engaging

content. Atlantic Link is offered as a SaaS model, which helps in collaborative e-learning

solutions (Assima Atlantic Link, 2016).

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2.2.1.11 Cameo by Yukon Group

The web based tool of Cameo enables scenario-based learning with the use of e-mail. The

group uses a follow–up phase of learning which has been long forgotten. The group works on the

basic principle that after-training implementation is more important than during the training

process. Cameo keeps reinforcing e-learning points to users on a weekly basis. This gives a

unique edge to Cameo as other e-learning companies only emphasise this during the learning

process (Cameo, 2016). Reinforcement is delivered through email, so there are no multiple

systems that require the user to log in to. The email takes only a moment to be read, and learners

can use this in their office, while commuting, travelling, on the laptop, or on a cell phone. The

design of the program is simple and the message is easy-to-understanding. Cameo also provides

reports on the learner’s perspective and shares results via email as well.

Cameo works on the following basic principles:

• Identify key learning points

• Build short learning scenarios for each key learning point

• Assign course sessions to learners

• Ensure learners attend the session

• Analyse and send the results

• Reinforcement and target areas for reinforcement (Cameo, 2016)

Cameo is an easy-to-use tool with no login options, improves learning retention, and helps

the user to transfer the learned skills and knowledge to the job. Cameo’s program is very popular

in many universities and provides a continuous learning program to learners. Cameo’s program

34
is also very popular with many corporate companies who are interested in training their

employees. In 2009, Cameo received an award for the most innovative software product idea.

Cameo takes responsibility for ensuring that users learn from their training programs and use it

in their daily routine.

2.2.2 E-Learning in the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has seen phenomenal development in advanced education

and e-learning as of late. In recent years, 800 funding grants have been honoured each month for

facilitating students studying abroad; a national community for e-learning has been set-up; and

e-units, or divisions, have been set-up in practically every university (Al-Shehri, 2010).

The development of data and instructional innovations and their impact on education and

learning have essentially achieved noteworthy changes in the scholastic atmosphere in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Miniwatss Marketing Group, 2010). The new learning paradigm shift

has made it obligatory to equip educators with important abilities in order to adapt to the new

technologies (Wheeler, 2004). In 2002, “GOTEVOT, the government authority responsible for

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s technical education and vocational training, established the E-

Learning Training and Resources Centre. The organisation publishes its technical and vocational

courses in both Arabic and English on the web” (Al-Khalifa, 2010, p. 1). The urgent need for e-

learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has come about because of the growing population

compared with the shortage of teachers in both quantity and quality. e-learning has quickly picked

up pace since it began in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2002 (Hassan, 2008), while also

resulting in increased enthusiasm among educational institutions, and scholars as well as learners;

however, the enthusiasm has grown at a more moderate pace (Al-Asmari & Rabb Khan, 2014;

Sait, Al-Tawil, Ali, & Ali, 2003). E-learning in higher education is competing with a worldwide

35
pattern of introducing advanced education through the online model (Mirza & Abdulkareem,

2011, 2011; Reuben, 2008). Several educational establishments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

have fundamentally expanded their emphasis on e-learning and are aiming to transform their

entire educational course programs through the use of learning materials used for e-learning into

the already existing modules of education ( Mirza & Abdulkareem, 2011; Al-Nuaim, 2012).

Universities, such as King Saud University (KSU), King Abdul Aziz University (KAU),

Al-Baha University, Taiba University, Qassim University, King Khalid University (KKU), and

Madinah Islamic University, have recognised agreements with the National Centre for e-learning

and Distance Learning (NCeDL) to introduce e-learning technologies and mechanisms into their

educational programs (King Abdul Aziz University, 2016; University World News, 2008). The

E-Learning Centre, in the Deanship of Academic Development at King Fahad University of

Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) (KKU Deanship, 2011), which was established in 2003, offers

combined admittance to online resources through the use of WebCT (Course Tools) (Ramady,

2005). It delivers over 80 courses, covering subjects such as design, (Mirza & Abdulkareem,

2011; Sait, Al-Tawil, Ali, & Ali, 2003) sciences, and mechanical administration (Fraser, 1998),

both in English as well as the local dialect Arabic, by using the Confederation of Open

Courseware as a delivery mechanism. Alfaisal University also joined this confederation later (Al-

Nuaim, 2012). King Saud University has also introduced a number of innovative projects, in

conjunction with their existing e-learning program (Al-Draiby, 2010). A few delivery

mechanisms that were part of this initiative were the “e-learn private university—the fourth stage

of the Smart City project, the university’s electronic learning homepage and virtual television

studio of its production and documentation centre” (Fazeelatunnisa, & Maniyar, 2013, p. 4). The

Deanship of Distance Learning, which was set up at KAU in 2005, has completely left offline

36
course conveyance, including both a print medium and a postal mechanism. KAU utilises a

dialect administration framework as a LMS as well as virtual classrooms in order to provide

additional learning to support the students’ progress during the first two years of the course,

particularly in science courses (Al-Nuaim, 2012). KKU have introduced a comprehensive and

expansive e-learning framework aimed at helping their more than 50,000 enrolled learners by

aiding them to adjust, collaborate, obtain, and develop through different e-learning activities

(Alwalidi & Lefrere, 2010). With the means to acquire world-class frameworks and learning

procedures, KKU has recognised the capability for both educators and learners by facilitating

enhanced proficiency and coordination, and access to coursework irrespective of the time and

place of learning (King Abdul Aziz University, 2016).

In 2007, KSU built the Deanship for e-learning and Distance Learning, while the e-

learning division at the King Faisal University was established a year later. King Fahd University

and Effat University, both in Saudi Arabia, have likewise settled e-learning focuses to utilise

online strategies to increase the instructive encounters of their learners as well as researchers

(Sait, Al-Tawil, Ali, & Ali, 2003; Al-Asmari, 2005). Many universities in the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia have outfitted their premises with intuitive whiteboards, information tools, e-platforms,

Polycom video-conferencing arrangements, and multimedia focuses. The arrangements have

incorporated an exhaustive learning administration framework, virtual classrooms, joint effort

instruments, content composing and capturing apparatuses, and computerised vault frameworks

(Jethro, Grace, & Thomas, 2012). The Knowledge International University (KIU) was established

in the KSA in 2007 and is devoted to the utilisation of e-learning materials and resources. The

Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has established a vault for e-learning material to help

universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia adopt e-learning and eBooks. They will introduce

37
this for building, medicine, and software engineering subjects, and academics will be able to

receive training on this (Al-Asmari & Rabb Khan, 2014).

There is an established relationship between the requirement for e-learning and growth in

the Saudi population. For example, one study has demonstrated that during the last decade, the

“Saudi populace under 20 developed by 52.88%, which implies an increment of 48.57% in

instructive establishments. This has resulted in packed out classrooms and a diminishment in the

level of learning” (Sharples & Beale, 2003, p.5). The population in remote territories, where the

foundation of new schools and Universities is difficult, indicates there could be an expanded

requirement for e-learning. Likewise, living expenses for students that travel to cities for

continuing education are similarly high, and parents are reluctant to send their children to urban

areas (Al-Draiby, 2010)., especially if they are female (Alaugab, 2004). It has been suggested

that these issues require a workable arrangement such as e-learning in schools and Universities

(Al-Draiby, 2010). Within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there is immense pressure to offer extra

educational opportunities to an expanding population, in addition to a desire to increase the

education rate (Albalawi, 2007). However, owing to the reasons cited above, and several other

reasons, there is limited progress within existing universities in Saudi Arabia, along with limited

development of a technologically feasible and unique option for formal classroom learning (Al-

Asmari, 2005).

Given the fast expansion of universities frameworks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

along with a desire to improve educational standards (Bates, 2009), the Saudi Arabian

government, in 2008, set aside USD10 Billion for education for the following few years (Bates,

2009). In addition, universities are in urgent need of highly qualified and experienced staff and

are trying to employ teachers from other nations, for example, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Sudan,

38
and Pakistan (Chatin, 2016). Another related issue is the increasing costs of university and school

administration (Lungu, 2016). Many research studies have proposed a community-oriented

method of dealing with e-learning in universities. There are a number of issues including a

significant lack of female teachers in institutions; over acceptance of students for foundation

courses, which results in students being given course materials and sent home to concentrate on

studying individually, and requests for low maintenance study options. While the universities

have good technical facilities, there is a need for better utilisation to facilitate quality instruction

(Al-Asmari & Khan, 2014).

The e-learning industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was estimated to reach US $125

million by the year 2008 and was set to develop at a compounded yearly rate of 33% through the

subsequent five years, which implies it will have reached USD 1 Billion by the end of 2016

(Gazette, 2008). In accordance with its intention to build on the advantages of e-learning

advances, Edutech Middle East collaborated with Saudi-based Effat University to arrange the

sixth Annual Learning Technology Symposium at Jeddah in April 2008. The issues discussed

included the potential need for, and use of e-learning. A few universities planned to proceed

through, for example, providing video and sound recordings of lectures, including collaborations

between staff and students, and computerised capturing of lectures and additional whiteboard

work, to transform the students’ experiences (Joiner, Nethercott, Hull & Reid, 2006). To foster

and support the execution of e-learning in Saudi Arabia, the National Centre for E-learning and

Distance Learning was set-up in 2005 with the purpose of creating a corresponding instructive

framework that uses e-learning advancements (Ministry of Education, 2007). This initiative has

focused on different methods to support the implementation of e-learning in Saudi Arabia, for

example, the Saudi Digital Library Project. Regardless of the increasing availability of innovative

39
education (mostly e-learning) and the focus on its potential ability to upgrade learning results,

lecturers still face difficulties in utilising existing e-learning (Alaugab, 2004).

Al‐Harbi (2011) indicated that e-learning in Saudi Arabia is still in its infancy. Even in

situations where e-learning had been undertaken in Saudi Arabia, there was no quantifiable

evidence of its efficacy, nor any clear system or approach to support its development in Saudi

Arabian universities (Hassana, 2008). Saudi Arabia needs to create a clear plan for implementing

this new technology within the educational system (AlSultanny, 2006). Past efforts have been

unsuccessful, not due to a lack of determination, but rather because its implementation was not

completely planned (Al‐Wakeel, 2001). The execution of a successful e-learning framework

within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an essential step towards achieving government goals in

the data innovation area (Alsurehi & Youbi, 2014).

Enthusiasm for e-learning has grown over the previous decade or so in the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia, for various reasons (Albalawi, 2007). To begin with, the interest in advanced

education has far surpassed its supply, such that foundation courses are overcrowded and there is

a lack of university facilities such as offices and teachers for the delivery of a conventional style

of education. The e-learning has been proposed as an approach to efficiently address these issues.

Secondly, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers a huge geological region, with a large number of

groups living in remote areas; e-learning offers the possibility to deliver education to these areas,

thereby diminishing incongruities over the different locales and ranges. Thirdly, in Saudi Arabian

universities, males and females are instructed separately for social and religious reasons; this puts

increased pressure on the relevant departments and on the Human Resources (HR) department.

It has been observed that women are regularly among the firmest supporters of e-learning, which,

understandably, more easily enables them to pursue higher education (Bates, 2009).

40
 There is a focus at present on training in Saudi Arabia due to the exceptionally liberal

government grant program; the ordinary techniques for Learning and Teaching (L&T) are not

going to be adequate for Saudi society. Atypical individuals, such as full time workers, those

living far from college grounds, older people, individuals with disabilities, and a large number of

females believe they can further their education through ‘separate learning modes’ rather than the

usual format of L&T. For these groups of people, distance learning is a compelling technique for

self-learning (Lungu, 2016). Technological innovation is driving universities from across the

world to offer distance learning programs alongside their conventional programs (Moore & Tait,

2002). For instance, a large number of learners are now opting for distance learning with the

assistance of the Internet, and audio and visuals. Over time, even the best systems require

examining and improving; an effective establishment needs to assess how effective it’s teaching

and methods are (Al-Draiby, 2010). Therefore, distance learning programs should include a

thorough quality assurance program, taking into account constant data from all stakeholders,

including teachers and students.

2.2.3 Need for further research on e-learning and learning objectives of courses offered

by academics in Saudi universities

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia witnessed an increasing use of e-learning in the 1990s,

when the use of computers and computer aided learning became more widespread (Al-Asmari &

Khan, 2014). Due to the growing prevalence of e-learning in the universities of Saudi Arabia

information and instructional technologies (ICTs) has been influential in teaching and learning

and has brought about significant changes in academic environment (Al-Asmari & Khan, 2014).

Unsurprisingly then, there is a lot of research that has been undertaken to understand the different

dimensions of e-learning in Saudi Arabia. In the context of this research, it is also important to

41
see how much of this research actually answers the principal question that is raised in this

research, which is, how well do cloud-based e-learning systems serve tertiary learning

requirements in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Offerings of e-learning in Saudi Arabia are admittedly increasing, however, there is little

research as to how these offerings are received by learners and how these offerings match the

course needs of the academics. In other words, there is a need to put the focus on the academic

learning providers. It is essential to understand this in greater depth, if the e-learning programmes

are to be effective in reaching out and meeting learning outcomes of the different courses that are

offered by institutes of higher learning. This research seeks to understand the nexus between e-

learning courses and the actual learning needs that are sought to be met in institutes of higher

learning from the perspective of the providers.

Despite the increase in use of e-learning in the universities in Saudi Arabia, there is

research that shows that there is still a low degree of public awareness of ICT and e-learning in

Saudi Arabia (AlMegren & Yassin, 2013). In the context of this study, there have been some

survey based studies, that have attempted to shed light on e-learning or ICT related topics. For

example, in 2007 a nationwide CITC survey was carried out with 7,500 respondents, which found

that a large portion of the Saudi Arabian society remains unfamiliar with e-learning technical

advancements and concepts (Mirza & Al-Abdulkareem, 2011). The survey found that only 49 %

of respondents were aware of e-learning, out of which only 5 % of respondents actually used it

themselves (Mirza & Al-Abdulkareem, 2011). This survey was not however addressed

specifically at university learners or learning providers. If the universities in Saudi Arabia too

demonstrate low levels of awareness on e-learning, then that would indicate the manifestation of

challenges or barriers to e-learning. There are some studies that have undertaken Saudi Arabian-

42
specific research for e-learning. One study found that the backbone infrastructure across Saudi

Arabia for Internet accessibility was good and the Internet accessibility and infrastructure was

good in the universities as well, however, the study reported that some universities did not have

wireless access (Bates, 2009). The study suggested that Saudi Arabian university students

continued facing obstacles in accessing the Internet because “many students do not have reliable

and cheap Internet access from home, and because campus IT security makes it difficult for

students off campus to access the servers on campus” (Bates, 2009). Again, while this study

provides valuable insight into the challenges faced by learners in Saudi Arabian universities in

the context of e-learning, it does not address the issue undertaken in this research, that is, how do

e-learning programmes address the learning needs of the courses offered by academics?

Further research into the prospects of e-learning programmes in Saudi Arabia and how

they meet the actual needs of the learning providers is required. This will help to gain better

insight into the area of research. The study therefore proves useful in shedding some light on the

specific problem areas and challenges faced by learning providers in Saudi Arabia. Similar

projects have been undertaken to understand learners’ problems and challenges in Saudi Arabia

(AlMegren & Yassin, 2013). However, there is a paucity of such research for learning providers.

2.2.4 Gaps in e-learning systems and changes required to bridge these gaps

This section presents an overview of the difficulties or gaps faced in traditional e-learning,

web-based methods. There is a lot of debate about the advantages and disadvantages of

integrating information and communication technologies in education through e-learning

techniques. The aim of this literature is to bridge the existing gap that exists between the

theoretical understanding of learning and its current reality, while also helping to answer several

pivotal question such as, if a creative framework can be obtained from both virtual, as well as

43
personal, learning atmospheres, will using cloud computing further improve the process of

education and learning (Abu El-Ala, Awad, & El-Bakry, 2012). This study will also review and

comment on various smart cloud based learning products. Current research explores the various

issues to be focused on, including challenges in cloud based e-learning and the benefits of e-

learning based on cloud computing (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014).

The expansion of a variety of e-learning systems will completely change the higher

education system, especially with respect to the quality of e-education services and support

processes (Barik & Karforma, 2012). There are so many varied systems of education that have

been ranked as the best globally, and most of them today have adopted distance learning or an e-

learning systems into their processes (Chatin, 2016; Mollis & Marginson, 1999).

These new systems enable universities to meet a broad range of requirements of students,

through including conventional methods of teaching, and providing both direct and online

learning opportunities. This enables students to learn, irrespective of where they are and when

they would like to dedicate time to the task. They also offer several opportunities for engaging in

new connections, while also providing opportunities in terms of effective resource distribution

(Commission, 2014). The major advantages of e-learning include the following (Patnaik, Putta,

& Ismail, 2014):

 Flexibility

 Learning at one’s own pace and time

 Time savings

 Reduced paper usage

 Improved interactivity

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  Environmental friendliness

 Ease of accessibility

Academic faculty and leaders are discovering that e-learning can improve teaching and

learning, consistent with the popular belief that online courses can improve pedagogy without

sacrificing quality. Any concerns the faculty might have about technological issues can be

addressed with a good developmental program. However, persuading faculty to use these

programs/e-learning initiatives remains a challenge for many institutions (Bichsel, 2013).

It is envisioned that in the next few years, cloud computing will have a substantial

influence on learning and education (World Economic Forum & Accenture, 2010), eventually

helping students, educational professionals, and various other stakeholders involved in the

process “to perform their tasks effectively with less cost by utilizing the available cloud-based

applications offered by the cloud service providers” (Madan, Pant, Kumar, & Arora, 2012, p. 3).

Cloud computing has played a crucial role in the enhancement of educational systems in

the last few years (Malik, 2014), despite there being a lack of a standard definition for cloud

computing in specific relation to e-learning. The National Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST) defines cloud computing as a model for enabling suitable access to networks and

applications and a common set of configurable computing resources (Chapman & Thomas, 2007)

(e.g., networks, servers, storage, and applications) that can be offered almost instantaneously,

seamlessly, and without the need for too much involvement (Hashemi & Hashemi, 2013). Cloud

computing offers services that are remote and accessible from any device with Internet access, in

a way that is convenient to the user. Various cloud computing service providers exist: Google, for

example, among others (Abu El-Ala et al., 2012). The basic idea of cloud computing is to provide

access to a pool of virtual computing resources, with a focus on large-scale computing resources

45
that are connected to a network and allow “customers to share dynamic hardware, software

resources and data, and according to their actual usage, paying costs” (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail,

2014, p. 68). Hence, cloud computing is like any other merchandise that can be purchased and

traded using a network at an economical price (Hashemi & Hashemi, 2013).

Apart from saving the considerable amount of money that would otherwise be spent on

upgrading hardware and procuring software licenses, cloud computing is also beneficial in that it

does not require periodic maintenance. In addition, it has been found to provide a high level of

security and privacy (Abu El-Ala et al., 2012; Stuart, 2012).

Researches have suggested that the introduction of cloud computing into e-learning is

practicable and can considerably enhance investment and management efficiency (Jethro, Grace,

& Thomas, 2012). This can facilitate the development of profitable e-learning systems and

achieve win-win situations for suppliers and customers (Laisheng & Zhengxia, 2011).

2.3 Cloud deployment models

A cloud deployment model is a specific type of cloud environment that is primarily

differentiated by ownership, size, and access (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014). The different cloud

models are the following:

1. Public cloud—These services are available to the public. Applications, resources, and web

services available over the Internet provide the infrastructure necessary for

implementation (Gereffi, 2001).

2. Private cloud—These services are developed for individual organisations. Everyone

within the organisation can access the services and applications, but no one outside the

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 organisation can access them. The infrastructure for a private cloud keeps an

organisations’ information protected and secure (Malik, 2014).

3. Grouped cloud – A cloud group is designed for a specific group of customers, and its

infrastructure is shared between several organisations and addresses the specific security

needs of the group. However, sharing between organisations within the group may lead

to concerns (Malik, 2014).

4. Hybrid cloud – This is possibly the most recent development in the field of cloud

computing. Hybrid clouds are blends of two or more public, group, or private clouds. In

a hybrid cloud setting, internal and external cloud services are offered by several service

providers and used by multiple users at a time (Hashemi & Hashemi, 2013)

Educational clouds provide apt solutions for educational institutions and organisations

that want to switch to e-learning systems. They offer the choice to either build a private cloud or

use a cloud service provider and share resources after defining their parameters. Before

employing a cloud-based e-learning system, it is important that an institution first identifies the

services that it requires and create a service catalogue to describe the organisation’s needs to

service providers (Baran & Davis, 2010).

Cloud-based e-learning includes the hardware and software resources required to develop

traditional e-learning infrastructure systems. Cloud-based e-learning architecture consists

primarily of the following five layers (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014):

 Hardware layer

 Software resource layer

 Resource management layer

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  Service layer

 Business application layer

2.3.1 Differences between cloud-based software and traditional e-learning

software

A wide variety of Internet-based computing services are described as cloud computing.

The difference between cloud-based and conventional software is that when the cloud is accessed,

the device that is being used—a laptop computer or smart phone, for instance is not the device

that does the actual computing. The computing happens in a large data centre outside the

organisation; the user merely sees the outcomes of the computing on the screen of the device

being used. Most cloud computing services are accessed through a Web browser, such as Internet

Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. Cloud services can be used through a

dedicated mobile application or a browser on a smartphone or tablet. Therefore, cloud services

do not require users to have sophisticated computers that can run dedicated software. The term

‘cloud computing’ usually refers to an Internet-based alternative to an organisation’s in-house

computer system, (Lynch, 2015). An example is a webmail service, which is an Internet-based

alternative to an institution hosting its own email server (Lynch, 2015).

2.3.2 Benefits of cloud computing for educational institutions

Some of the main advantages of implementing cloud computing in the education sector

are the following (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015):

1. Personalised learning: Cloud computing offers boundless learning choices for students.

Cloud computing exposes students to a wide variety of software tools and resources in a

rich and flexible environment.

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 2. Economies: Continual upgrades of software and hardware put unavoidable pressure on

the budgets of educational institutions. This scenario makes cloud computing a viable

option. Cloud computing provides software computing and other resources on a pay-per-

use basis, which enables educational institutions to accelerate the use of new technologies

and focus on imparting quality education.

3. Elasticity and scalability: The major advantage of cloud computing is that consumers are

not confined to a specific set of resources. Institutions can scale up to more resources and

storage when the user load increases or scale down when the need decreases.

4. Accessibility: Users can access resources from anywhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a

week, 365 days a year. This is possible because of the quality of service provided by

superior resources and skills.

5. Reduced carbon imprint: Cloud computing enables educational institutions to reduce their

power consumption, which reduces carbon emissions. Cloud providers are also making

efforts to create eco-friendly data centres, which will further reduce carbon emissions.

6. Standardisation: Cloud computing provides standardised software for use by individual

or networked educational institutions. For example, an institution can develop its own set

of applications and solutions and re-use them several times. This can reduce costs and

reduce implementation time, with a resultant increase in reliability.

2.3.3 Concerns and challenges in cloud-based e-learning

Given the large assortment of e-learning technologies, staffing and business models,

administrative configurations, compensation strategies, and opportunities for meeting

student/consumer needs, part of the problem of identifying the most modern and well-suited e-

learning options is that e-learning is a moving target. Because of differences between institutions,

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what works for one institution does not necessarily work for another. There are several concerns

and challenges that institutions may face in deploying effective e-learning strategies, including

the following (Bichsel, 2013):

 Privacy: Data privacy protection in cloud computing faces many challenges,

including issues of access, compliance, storage, retention, destruction, auditing,

monitoring, breaches and controversies associated with several global legal

structures. “Cloud computing has a vital impact on privacy. In addition, privacy

concerns should be seen not only as a technical issue but also as a legal problem.

In cloud computing, exploring this issue is quite complex because of the basic

nature of the cloud computing model” (Alghali, Najwa, & Roesnita, 2014, p. 2).

 Security: Security plays an important role in e-learning. If data are stored in the

cloud, the question of security on unknown cloud servers arises (Alghali et al.,

2014). Security, in relation to the concept of cloud computing, encompasses a wide

range of topics, including “user authentication/authorization, protection of private

information from unintended access, and protection of data integrity (guarding

against data corruption by attackers” (El-Khatib, Korba Xu, & Yee, 2003, p. 7).

These and various other risks and threats can be minimised by using encrypted

file systems, security applications, and security hardware to track unusual attacks

across servers (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014).

 Scalability: E-learning systems are weak in scalability at the infrastructure level.

Various resources can be deployed to accomplish specific tasks so that when a

high work load is received, the system can add and configure new resources of the

same type. However, this makes resource and cost management very expensive,

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 and how to use resources effectively and efficiently without sacrificing

performance levels remains a concern (Fernandez, Peralta, Herrera, & Benitez,

2012). The service agreements of cloud service providers are not adequate to

guarantee availability and scalability. Thus, organisations are likely to be reluctant

to switch to cloud computing without strong quality guarantees (Patnaik, Putta, &

Ismail, 2014; Zairi & Youssef, 1995).

 Reliability: For educational institutions in developing countries that seek to

implement cloud computing, reliability is a great concern. “Most of the cloud

service providers in the United States and Europe may be reluctant to offer

sufficient resources, such as technical support, bug fixes etc., to the smaller

markets in developing countries” (Alghali et al., 2014, p. 4).

 Legal issues: Any organisation that wants to take advantage of cloud computing

systems and services has to make clear which countries are hosting its private data

and what are the country’s laws that govern that data (Alghali et al., 2014).

 Financial challenges: Business agility is mainly determined by the costs an

organisation incurs (Garg, 2011). Businesses may save money on hardware but

may need to spend more for the bandwidth necessary to deliver intensive and

complex data over networks. Therefore, many clients are waiting for a reduction

in cost before switching to cloud-based computing (Alghali et al., 2014).

However, there are a few self-service-based, on-demand, public, inexpensive

cloud computing solutions that have served as a wake-up call for many

organisations. Low-cost price plans marketed by public cloud vendors have

encouraged organisations to become more familiar with resource allocation

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 models, exact costs, and the variety of cloud models, including public, private,

and hybrid models (Garg, 2011).

 “Currently cloud service providers are adopting proprietary APIs to implement

their applications”, noted Patnaik, Putta and Ismail. (2014, p. 69).

 The transition of services from one service provider to another has therefore

become extremely complicated and time-consuming (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail,

2014).

 Enterprises and institutions may not be aware of where cloud servers are located.

From a technological perspective, the location of data is not relevant. However,

this has become a critical issue with respect to data governance requirements

(Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014).

 Vendor lock-in is another concern. Most cloud providers provide access to their

resources through web interfaces, proprietary application programming interfaces

(APIs), or command-line tools (Garg, 2011). Institutions face the threat of dealer

lock-in, wherein they face obstacles to considering alternatives to a particular

vendor’s products. It can be quite complicated for an institution to migrate to a

new system even if some other cloud provider develops a better product. This can

create a significant financial burden on the institution (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

 Cloud computing vendors typically provide services on standard terms, including

limited warranties, which tend to be structured for their own benefit. For example,

a cloud provider can delete a customer’s data or take down a customer’s

application for days or weeks at a time for breach of contract, including non-

payment. This can create many problems for institutions or organisations. The fear

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 of non-availability of cloud-based applications is compounded by the risk of cloud

outages (Garg, 2011).

 Time to market: Cloud computing can reduce the time to market from months to

weeks or even days, depending on the size of the institution. A self-service-based,

on-demand, and real-time monitored cloud-based application offers the following

advantages:

o Eliminating procurement delays for computing software and hardware

o Expediting computing power at times when existing applications need to handle

peak loads

o Eliminating upfront time and capital investment for procuring hardware for

proof-of-concept work or rapid application development (Garg, 2011).

 Data virtualisation: Virtualisation of data is not a new concept. It is the integration

of data from multiple and contrasting sources across an enterprise/institution or

external sources for on-demand consumption by a wide range of applications in a

virtualised manner. Certain mandates require institutions to have a data

virtualisation strategy in place to provide single sources of reference data, such as

security master data, book and counterparty data, and single views of positions

and holdings. “Risk and analytics calculations rely on many varied sources and

types of data, including the relational, dimensional, and new big data types”

(Garg, 2011, p. 9). Leveraging large volumes of data from such sources makes

query performance a significant success factor. However, combining distinct data

from public and private domains is a challenge. Thus, accessing data from a single

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 virtual source drives data consolidation and mash-ups within institutions (Garg,

2011).

 Enterprise technology standardisation: There is often a lack of standardisation in

the architecture and technology approaches used by different groups within an

institution. Software solutions may be similar in nature, but the configurations and

components of application environments may be noticeably different. Duplication

of effort can be reduced by standardisation of technology and architecture

approaches. Additionally, the different units of cloud computing infrastructure,

such as templates, architecture patterns, and virtual machine images, allow teams

to create standardised environments (Cheung, 2010). The cloud also imposes

development life-cycle standardisation across different teams once they start to

access it through the same interfaces (Garg, 2011).

 Access: Many of today’s business users want mobile access different types of

reports pertaining to risk and analytics, performance attribution, and trading

summaries. They see the advantages of being able to access this type of

information via their email, smart phones, and tablets, almost anywhere and

anytime. They desire similar interfaces for applications specific to student

performance services. The development of such interfaces has started taking shape

because the cloud enables users to access systems and infrastructure using a web

browser or customised client software, regardless of location and time (Garg,

2011).

 Specialised technical skills: Last but not least, the teachers and staff in most

institutions do not have the technical skills required to fully exploit cloud-based

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 computing. Teachers in higher education institutions must receive training in the

relevant digital technologies and pedagogies as part of their initial training and

their ongoing professional development (Commission, 2014)

2.4 Key considerations

As barriers to technology adoption decrease and the education industry seeks to leverage

technology to exploit business advantages, the following are key questions for organisations to

consider (PWC, 2014):

 Is there a business case for the cloud?

 Which cloud deployment model or service is the most suitable for my

organisation?

 How can one profile, prioritise, and design services to migrate to the cloud?

 How can the cloud help me as I plan for a technology restoration or data centre

expansion?

 How should I structure my vendor selection process, contracts, and service-level

agreements?

2.5 Survey justification

The principal question raised in this research is: How well do cloud-based e-learning

systems serve tertiary learning requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? In order to really

answer this question, the research uses a survey to analyse the perceptions of learning providers.

Surveys have been found to be useful in similar such research studies in the past, as they are

capable of bringing out the perceptions of users.

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 The survey is described as a quantitative method or a numeric description of perspectives,

attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of this population, where by using the

data collected and analysing them, the researcher draws inferences to the population (Creswell,

2014). The survey method is recognized to be useful in gathering both qualitative as well as

quantitative data (Gill, Stewart, Treasure, & Chadwick, 2008).

There have been many studies related to e-learning that have used survey methods to

collect data. Online surveys can also be used for such studies (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill,

2009). Online surveys are generally considered to be cost-effective, because of the use of an

electronic medium instead of paper (Szolnoki & Hoffman, 2013). Online surveys also eliminate

expenses that are usually incurred in paper surveys due to postage, printing, and data entry

(Llieva, Baron, & Healey, 2002). Nonetheless, depending upon the types of features and services

selected, more modern online survey creation software and web survey services expenses can

accrue substantial costs, although this is not excessive in comparison with the price of distributing

common paper surveys (Hohwu, et al., 2013).

Previous survey based research has been able to establish many useful facts and

perceptions about e-learning. For example, a study surveying the universities that provide

MOOCs such as, Harvard, MIT and Stanford, found that MOOC learners in these universities

have access to education from Ivy League universities while not really physically being present

in the universities. However, clearly this survey did not address the concerns of learning

providers. In a survey of attitudes and perspectives of participants of the MOOC, CCK08, the

MOOC characteristics of autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity were

tested by the researchers (Williams, Karousou, & Mackness, 2011).

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 Similarly, a survey on participation in an open HPI course on “Internetworking” was

conducted with 1,000 participants, which established that only less than 20% of the users found

the discussion forum helpful, thereby calling into question the outreach potential of the

programme (Grunwald, Meinel, Totschnig, & Willems, 2013). Another research showed that 12%

of the participants targeted network collaborative learning as it helped them establish

collaboration and support groups for learning (Yousef, Chatti, Schroeder, & Wosnitza, 2015). As

indicated above, these research studies addressed the learners and not the learning providers.

Student attitudes towards e-learning have been examined through surveys but there is a

paucity of similar surveys for learning providers in Saudi Arabia. However, survey method for

this study can be justified on the basis of its success in similar studies for learners in the past.

There are some studies that have used surveys in the past towards similar purpose, although a

survey into tying up the course offerings and learning needs of Saudi Arabian academic courses

may shed light that is relevant only to this population. Earlier studies are related to similar such

projects undertaken for other countries. A survey was conducted in Pakistan’s Virtual University

in 2002 and it showed that 90% students had positive perceptions of e-learning. Another study

used survey method in the Libyan students’ context (Rhema & Miliszewska, 2014). Yet another

survey based research was able to uncover the Iranian students’ attitudes towards e-learning

(Omidinia, Masrom, & Selamat, 2011).

There are a number of factors that may be related to e-learning efficacy and which may

come to light with the use of a survey of about 100 or more participants. For instance, in a similar

study, computer literacy and skill on mobile devices were found to be key to positive perceptions

towards e-learning (Selim, 2007). In other research contrary outcomes have been noted for

students without computer skills (Vrana, Fragidis, Zafiropoulos, & Paschaloudis, 2006). If a

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similar survey is carried out in the context of Saudi Arabia with special focus on learning

providers, it may prove valuable to uncovering important areas that relate to e-learning and course

outcomes of academic courses.

Saudi Arabia is a developing country and, as such, many of the outcomes of e-learning

may be impacted by issues related to infrastructure, accessibility to Internet, etc. Accessibility to

ICT infrastructure is an important issue that has been reported as an impactful factor in e-learning

experiences in developing nations. It is also possible that traditional methods of learning may

prove to be more popular in the context of developing nations (Rhema & Miliszewska, 2014). It

is also possible that survey may manifest a popularity of traditional learning methods as compared

to e-learning as it may be seen as more sustainable and reliable in developing countries (Gulati,

2008). At the same time, some surveys have pointed to higher use of ICT for learning in

developing nations as well (Omidinia, Masrom, & Selamat, 2011). In the context of Saudi Arabia,

there are specific studies that relate to e-learning but these studies do not relate specifically to

learning providers’ experiences. For example, in a study conducted into the effect of supporting

a traditional course with e-learning material on the performance of English course students in

Saudi Arabia in comparison with students taking the same course through solely traditional means

of course delivery, the traditional course was preferred (Alkhalaf, Drew, AlGhamdi, & Alfarraj,

2012). Again, this study does not delve into the learning provider perspectives. In another Saudi

Arabian study, it was found that the younger age group (15-25 years old) showed more

willingness to adopt new technologies than the older one (Al-Gahtani, Hubona, & Wang, 2007).

Would this have implications for learning providers who fall in the older age group? In other

words, a deeper research is required to understand the perspectives and problems of the learning

providers as this will help to consolidate knowledge on this issue and help to gain insight. Such

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insight will help to formulate suggestions and recommendations for the better implementation of

e-learning programmes in Saudi Arabian universities.

2.6 Summary

E-learning removes dependence on a traditional classroom model for learning. However,

an individual must connect to a Local Area Network (LAN) or have server access, in one form or

another, to use e-learning tools. Movement of storage and a shift in IT architecture to cloud-based

applications have liberated today’s online learners. Students are in a position to access e-learning

tools from anywhere that they can access the Internet. Cloud computing has evolved as a

technology that works strictly on a pay-per-use basis. This technology has proved to be beneficial

for educational institutions, which would otherwise need to spend large amounts of money to

procure the latest hardware and licensed software (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015). Thus, one can

view cloud computing as an empowering tool that helps educational institutions to create an

enriched learning experience for students pursuing different courses and that can be offered at an

affordable price (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

However, there are some issues associated with the use of cloud computing. Security,

reliability, and inter-operability are some of the major problems that need to be addressed if cloud

computing is to be implemented in the education sector (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015). Cloud

computing provides a great opportunity for educational institutions in developing nations to

improve their teaching and learning methodologies and performance. Educational institutions in

developing countries should take advantage of the opportunity to implement cloud technologies

to enhance the overall quality of learning (Alghali et al., 2014).

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 Some of the challenges of cloud-based e-learning have not yet been addressed. In fact,

these issues are more complicated in developing countries (AlMegren & Yassin, 2013).

Nonetheless, the pace of development of cloud-based e-learning applications is not expected to

slow (Madan, Pant, Kumar, & Arora, 2012).

Cloud-based computing is expected to be the next major trend in the development of

efficient e-learning systems because of the features and capabilities of cloud-based computing

and the advantages that it offers over traditional e-learning systems from technological and cost

perspectives (Alghali et al., 2014). As cloud computing technologies become more refined and

applications of cloud computing become increasingly widespread, users of cloud-based e-

learning increasingly benefit (Madan, Pant, Kumar, & Arora, 2012).

There are a range of educational institutions around the world that do not have the money

to invest in costly on campus technologies to enhance education. Cloud computing is the most

appropriate solution to helping these organisations in terms of technological advancement in the

process of learning and education delivery.

This literature review has presented information pertaining to a variety of aspects of e-

learning tools, the numerous benefits that they offer to clients and users, and ways in which the

cloud-based architecture can be effectively integrated into existing educational technologies. The

focus of this literature has been primarily on the advantages of cloud computing, with specific

relevance to e-learning, and effective management of the wide range of challenges that this

technology poses to users.

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Chapter Three: Methodology

3.1 Introduction

This chapter defines and justifies the mixed methodology used in this study. A mixed

methods approach was adopted to investigate how well cloud-based e-learning systems serve

tertiary learning requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study used an anonymous

survey to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A full explanation of the survey progress and

plan is presented, followed by the ethical considerations addressed in this study.

3.2 Purpose of the study

The overall purpose of this study was to enhance the e-learning environment in Saudi

Arabia by answering the following question: How well do cloud-based e-learning systems serve

tertiary learning requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? This investigation set out to

determine the cloud-based e-learning requirements in Saudi Arabian universities.

The study aimed to identify many factors, such as:

- The current e-learning systems used in Saudi Arabian universities.

- The changes required to bridge e-learning system gaps.

- The optimum cloud deployment model.

- The differences between cloud-based and traditional e-learning systems.

- The benefits of cloud computing for educational institutions.

- The concerns and challenges facing cloud-based e-learning.

These factors offer an insight into the prospects of e-learning and cloud computing as they

relate to the enhancing of tertiary educational processes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, the intended outcomes of this research may help universities in the Kingdom of Saudi

61
Arabia to make better investment or technological selection decisions by basing them on the

findings of this study. Furthermore, if the results of this study were to give rise to a better match

between the technology systems and the learning or teaching needs, it will benefit those who rely

on e-learning systems.

3.3 Research methodology and justifications

Creswell (2014) defined multi-method research approaches as schemas and courses of

action for research which cover the stages of a process from wide-ranging assumptions to a

comprehensive "method of data collection, analysis, and interpretation" (p. 31). This includes

various decisions with the ultimate decision determining the approach that should be taken to

conduct the research. The selection of the research approach depends on several factors:

 Type of research problem or the matter being addressed.

 Researcher's experience.

 Target audience of the study.

Any research study can become more quantitative than qualitative, or vice-versa.

However, mixed method research combines the components of the qualitative and quantitative

approaches. Three advanced types of research approach are qualitative, quantitative, and mixed

methods. The distinction between qualitative and quantitative types of research often lies in the

use of words (qualitative) rather than figures (quantitative), and the use of closed-ended questions

(hypotheses quantity) rather than open-ended ones (qualitative questions).

Between the late 19th and the mid-20th centuries, the quantitative approach prevailed as

the dominant form of research. By the end of the second half of the 20th century, research had

62
shifted to a qualitative approach. This coincided with the development of the mixed method of

research (Creswell, 2014).

3.3.1 Research approaches

Qualitative research is a means of identifying and comprehending a problem. This type

of research involves raising questions, determining courses of action, collecting data from

participants, constructing data analysis inductively, covering specific to general themes, after

which the researcher interprets the meaning of the data (Creswell, 2014).

A quantitative approach often involves a simple analysis, and thus can be generalised for

application to participants’ wider demographic group. In addition, it can be understood and

interpreted by participants easily, which allows them to respond quickly when time is limited

(Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009).

The mixed methods research methodology integrates both quantitative and qualitative

data collection and analysis (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, & Turner, 2007). Creswell (2014) defined

the mixed methods research as an approach to investigation which includes the gathering and

subsequent integration of quantitative and qualitative data. The fundamental presumption of this

investigation involves the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to obtain a

more detailed comprehension of the problem being addressed than would be possible with any

single approach.

The appropriate research approach can be determined based on the research problem.

Therefore, the quantitative approach is preferable if the problem requires the determination of

elements which have a direct effect on the consequences, when a tool is involved, or when setting

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 out to determine the best results likely to be obtained. Moreover, this approach can be good for

clarification and for gauging a theory.

From the other perspective, a qualitative approach can be used when little research has

been done on a notion or phenomenon, and there is need to explore and comprehend it. This

approach is helpful when the researcher is not yet aware of the major variables to be studied. This

approach might be taken when the research area is new, or when the topic has never been involved

in a paradigm, and available theories cannot be applied to any examples or collections as part of

the research (Morse, 1991).

When research uses only a quantitative or qualitative approach, but this is insufficient to

comprehend the problem in question, the combination of both research approaches and data into

a mixed method can facilitate the highest level of comprehension.

3.3.2 Justification for adopting the mixed methods approach

The research methodology used to conduct this research project was the mixed methods

approach. As part of this approach, the researchers chose a survey tool to be used (Leedy &

Ormrod, 2013). The mixed methods approach was selected as the best fit given the aims and

constraints (time and location), since the study was conducted in New Zealand and the target

audience was located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

3.3.2.1 Strength of the mixed methods approach

The reason for taking this approach was to provide the most comprehensive insight into

the research topic. At a general level, this study started with some quantitative closed-ended

questions to enable the outcome of the research to be generalised to a wider population, and

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incorporated qualitative, open-ended questions to gather detailed opinions from the participants.

Moreover, this reduced the limitations inherent to both approaches by combining them.

At the procedural level, this is a useful research approach when it is necessary to achieve

the following:

 Complementing strengths and overcoming the limitations and weaknesses of a single

design.

 Comparing various perspectives extracted from both approaches.

 Explaining and interpreting one approach result by using another approach to collect data

and perform analysis.

 Developing and testing a new instrument.

 Understanding the perspective of individuals at different levels and merging their results

(Creswell, 2014).

The mixed methods approach has rapidly become the preferred method for researchers in

the field of information technology (Gable, 1994; Kwan & Ding, 2008) and, according to

Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner (2007), is used in many disciplines.

In this study, relevant information was gathered from participants including demographic

data, e-learning experiences and perspectives, and learning demands. By using the mixed

methods approach, we were able to extract these data due to the following characteristics of the

method:

 It collects numeric data from quantitative questions and rich data from qualitative

questions.

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  It provides the strength needed to elicit sufficient information from both types of collected

data (Creswell, 2014).

 It is able to successfully interpret the data authenticity (Onwuegbuzie & Teddlie, 2003).

 Regardless of the approach, the processes of data collection and analysis must be strictly

observed (e.g. adequate sampling, sources of information, data analysis steps).

 The incorporation of two data forms occurs in analysis design during the amalgamation,

connection, or inclusion of data.

 Mixed methods design has a very useful feature in that it "includes the timing of the data

collection (concurrent or sequential) as well as the emphasis (equal or unequal) for each

database" (Creswell, 2014, pp. 217).

3.3.2.2 Limitations of the mixed methods approach

This approach has some known weaknesses and limitations, as follows:

 The undertaking of a meaningful study of a phenomenon by applying two independent

methods incurs greater demands on researchers in terms of effort, time, and experience.

 It may be difficult to compare the results of the two analysis outcomes if they are based

on two different data forms.

 It can be difficult to decide when to proceed in a sequential process.

 The researcher may not be able to resolve discrepancies among different types of data,

while collecting data, checking the original data, and getting new perspectives from the

differences between the data that address the discrepancy (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007).

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3.3.2.3 Implementation sequence of data collection

The data collection and analysis performed as part of this study used both quantitative

and qualitative data to corroborate the findings made within the study. Integration was performed

for those findings in which the results of the qualitative or the quantitative data dominated. A

theoretical perspective was adopted to bring both data forms results together in the findings and

discussion (Creswell, 2014).

Exploratory research was undertaken as part of this study. The use of an exploratory

approach is beneficial because of the flexibility that it can offer the researcher undertaking

research based on needs (Zikmund & Babin, 2006). By using the exploratory research approach,

the researchers can shape a methodology to focus on investigating a phenomenon existing at

multiple levels within the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The design strategy taken in this approach was originally planned to follow a sequential

exploratory strategy with a survey, followed by in-depth interviews, which would call for more

time and extra approvals to complete each data collection phase. However, a concurrent

triangulation strategy was ultimately used, with this choice being based primarily on the timing

of data collection, with both data types being collected concurrently. Moreover, as Creswell

(2014) states, this most closely corresponds to a sequential exploratory strategy where the two

methods are used to confirm, cross-validate, or corroborate findings within a study. Data

collection is concurrent, and both quantitative and qualitative data are collected to overcome a

weakness that would arise when using just one method. The mixing of data strategies will appear

during the interpretation or discussion.

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3.3.2.4 The data collection instrument

This study used a mixed methods approach with an online anonymous survey that

contained a mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions provided to staff at Saudi Arabian

Universities between August and November, 2016. Surveys are one of the fundamental means of

collecting data in research efforts. However, it is important that a survey be constructed in such

a way as to make it “valid, reliable, and unambiguous” (Richards & Schmidt, 2013, p. 478).

Surveys can be divided into three main types, namely, closed-ended questions, also known as a

structured survey, open-ended questions, also known as an unstructured survey, and a mix of

closed-ended and open-ended questions. Researchers can collect quantitative data from closed-

ended questions and qualitative data from open-ended questions. Therefore, open-ended

questions can complement closed-ended questions, and vice-versa, when both are included in a

survey (Zohrabi, 2013).

3.4 Survey

This section describes the survey process and contains information about the survey tool,

type, design, and testing. It will also cover data collection and the analysis approach.

3.4.1 The survey instrument

The research used an online semi-structured, self-administered survey based on the

Qualtrics survey platform. Survey questions were divided into three sections: demographic

questions, which were closed-ended; e-learning questions, which were a mix of closed- and open-

ended questions; and learning needs questions, which were open-ended.

The survey could be taken in either English or Arabic to suit respondents, as shown in

Appendix E. The survey can also be accessed at the following URL:

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https://aut.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe5/form/SV_cTiem86ZOWdITXv

3.4.2 Qualtrics

Qualtrics is an instrument platform that can be used over the Internet to create and

distribute surveys, as well as analyse the collected data. It is considered easy to use and supports

an extensive choice of methodologies (Ginsberg, 2011).

The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has purchased a full-featured license for

the Qualtrics online instrument and is therefore available to all AUT students and staff free of

charge, through the university web site.

Qualtrics allows users to import questions from a Word document, includes advanced

question types and design features, incorporates a wide range of help documents, translates

between languages using the Google translation tool, and provides training options (Auckland

University of Technology, 2016).

In this study, Qualtrics was used as an online instrument for creating survey questions and

distributing them to university staff in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who responded to an

advertisement that was circulated to university staff by email.

3.4.3 Self-administered survey

Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2009) stated that self-administered surveys can be as

valid as a survey directly administered by the researcher. The participants’ responses to this

survey were collected via a URL using the Qualtrics instrument.

The study focused on Saudi Arabian universities. However, the researcher was based in

New Zealand. Due to the geographical distance between the researcher and the study participants,

an online, self-administered survey was determined to be the best means of collecting the data.

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This helped the researcher and participants to save time, and provided an easy way to access the

survey instrument. In addition, it allowed the participants to respond at a time that was suitable

to them, in their chosen language, while the researcher could collect many responses within a

short time. This decision was influenced by Dillman, Smyth, & Christian (2009), who claimed

that using an online survey reduces the time needed to execute the survey and improves the

response rate.

3.4.4 Survey design

The aim of this survey was to be descriptive which enabled to understand participants’

opinions and their perceptions, rather than concentrating on a statistical summary. Also, to

identify the issues and perspectives of e-learning users, as well as their self-identified key learning

needs.

This survey consisted of 28 questions in three sections. The first section asked the

participants four demographics-related, closed-ended questions to gather data about their age,

gender, job role, job title, and number of years spent in the role.

The second section focused on e-learning questions and consisted of 10 mixed, open, and

closed-ended questions. These questions asked the participants about their experience in e-

learning, including the number of years of experience, the type of e-learning user, the e-learning

systems and platforms they had used, methods of teaching using e-learning systems, the tasks,

features, or functions they had used most in their e-learning systems, the features or functions

they had wished to use but were not available in their e-learning systems, and the difficulties

faced with their systems.

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 The third section asked participants nine open-ended questions that related to their

learning needs. It included key benefits of using an e-learning system, the key disadvantages of

using an e-learning system, and the aspects of learning that they believed were well supported,

or not supported, by an e-learning system. They were also allowed to rate their current system.

3.4.5 Pilot test

To increase the efficiency and correctness of the results, the researcher had the option to

pilot test the survey before the data collection stage (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). A

survey pilot test offers many advantages, such as determining the average time the survey will

take to complete, checking that there is no bias or encoding errors in the questions, ensuring that

the survey is easy for the participants to follow, and whether any error has been made in, or

during, the survey design (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009). Five subjects undertook the

survey pilot test and, based on their feedback, changes were made to some of the questions such

as question 13 was asking about the e-learning user experience and a comment box was available

for participants to fill in, however, from the pilot study it was suggested that if it stated as a level

choices of experience were offered then it would be easier for participants to choose the answer

that best described their experience rather than trying to explain it in some words.. The

respondents who participated in the survey pilot test indicated that the time frame to complete

the survey was accurate, the questions were clear and easy to understand, and it was easy to

respond to the questions.

3.4.6 Data collection

Creswell (2014) explained that the mixed methods approach consists of collecting

qualitative and quantitative data consecutively. It was anticipated that gathering various types of

data would result in a better comprehension of the research problem, which features some issues

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that encouraged the researcher to conduct this study. These included the fact that Saudi Arabia

covers a large geographical area and has a large population, its population growth, and the fact

that foundation courses are over-subscribed to by students. Other issues included the increase in

the cost of university administration, students’ living and commuting costs, and the willingness

of Saudi universities to improve their education systems. The survey begins with wider,

quantitative questions to better generalise the outcome and then concentrates on particular,

qualitative, open-ended questions designed to gather more detailed opinions from participants

(Creswell, 2014).

The target population of this research were the teaching and administrative staff of Saudi

Arabian universities.

Prior to data collection, to ensure that the research would be relevant to Saudi Universities

and to acquire the official support of Saudi Universities, consultation was undertaken with

Dammam University in Saudi Arabia. An ethics application was also approved by both the

Auckland University of Technology (ref: 15/407) and the Ethics Committee of Dammam

University. Data were collected from August 15, 2016 until November 26, 2016 through the

anonymous online survey instrument.

The survey link was sent to the Saudi universities’ teaching and administrative staff, and

they were also asked to share the link with their colleagues – giving rise to so-called “snowball

sampling.” Dillman, Smyth, and Christian (2009) explained that snowball sampling is helpful

when it is difficult to reach the participants. This study collected data from many universities in

Saudi Arabia and, due to the complexity of reaching individual participants in each university, a

snowball sample was used in this research.

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3.4.7 Data analysis

A researcher can acquire a wider understanding of a problem by using a mixed methods

approach rather than a single method (Creswell & Clark, 2007). Therefore, a quantitative and

qualitative process was used to collect and analyse the data obtained from the responses to the

closed-ended and open-ended questions. This study used descriptive analysis to comprehend and

organise participants’ views and perceptions, instead of concentrating on a statistical summary

(Much, 2005). Once the data collection was complete, the data were prepared for analysis by

being exported into an Excel file. The researcher cleaned the data by eliminating any incomplete

responses, and checked each response manually to make sure that all of them were related to the

questions. According to Sarantakos (2005), when performing data analysis, the method used to

find the paradigms and pertinent links to research questions must be compatible with the research

fundamentals. In this regard, the data analysis process was designed to allow the researcher to

understand the views of the staff of the Saudi universities. This helped the researcher to base his

interpretation on a clear understanding of the participants’ experiences as e-learning system users.

3.5 Ethical considerations

For studies that involve human subjects, the researcher has an obligation to preserve the

participants' rights, needs, values, and desires (Creswell, 2014). Participants should be provided

with a detailed explanation of the aims of the research and how the data will be used. In addition,

the researcher must receive written permission before starting any study (Creswell, 2014).

The ethical application for this study was approved by the Auckland University of

Technology Ethical Committee (AUTEC) (ref: 15/407) on 13 April, 2016 (Appendix A).

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 This research involved mature adults who were provided with an information sheet

(Appendix C), which presented a description of the study. This information sheet was provided

at the beginning of the online survey and was followed by a consent form (Appendix D). The

sheet detailed the process of the study, and the measures whereby privacy and confidentiality

would be preserved. It also stated that if the participants felt uncomfortable responding to any of

the survey questions then they were under no obligation to do so, and they could choose to

abandon the survey at any stage prior to completion simply by closing the survey window. None

of the questions were designed to be discomforting or embarrassing, however. It also stated that

every possible care would be taken to keep responses anonymous and not attributable to any one

person.

The AUTEC approval stated that, if the study required management approval from an

institution or organisation for the research, then this would need to be obtained. Since the study

targeted academic staff at universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an ethical application was

submitted to the Ethics Committee at Dammam University, which took care of all

communications and sent the survey advertisement to every Saudi University. Approval was

granted with reference number (IRB PCS‐ 2016‐ 09‐ 107) on 9 June 2016 (Appendix B).

Finally, the information sheet also stated that, if there were any concerns about the nature

of the study, the participants could notify the Research Supervisor, Dr Stephen Thorpe, in the first

instance, and if there were any concerns regarding how the research is conducted, they could

notify the Executive Secretary of AUTEC. All the communication details for both the supervisor

and ethics committee were provided in the information sheet.

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3.6 Summary

This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the experiences of e-learning

users at Saudi Arabian universities with the goal of investigating whether cloud-based e-learning

systems will be able to successfully serve the tertiary education platform. An anonymous online

survey was designed using the Qualtrics instrument containing both closed and open-ended

questions. An invitation was sent to the participants by coordinating with the Information and

Public Relations Department at Dammam University in Saudi Arabia. In response, 114 survey

responses were received online. However, after removing blank responses and cleaning the data,

only 55 surveys were compiled for analysis. A consideration of the ethics of this study was

undertaken, and an ethics application was approved by the ethics committees of both AUT in

New Zealand and Dammam University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study used a

descriptive statistics method to analyse the collected quantitative data. The next chapter presents

the data analysis, and presents the results.

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Chapter Four: Data analysis and results

This chapter presents the analysis and results from a study investigating staff use of e-

learning systems at universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The analysis covered

quantitative and qualitative data gathered from an online survey of 55 participants from Saudi

Arabian universities. It contained a description of the data preparation and cleaning processes, as

well as descriptive statistics for quantitative data and a detailed description of the results.

4.1 Data preparation and cleaning

The data preparation stage began once raw data was exported from the Qualtrics online

survey tool to an Excel spreadsheet. The process of data preparation included deleting incomplete

or empty rows, categorising the data, cleaning unrelated responses from it, and checking for

missing data (Fink, 2006). The process was as follows:

- Export data from Qualtrics into an Excel spreadsheet.

- Manually check for any missing data that could have been lost during exportation.

- Delete incomplete rows approximately 59 rows were deleted.

- Organise the rest of the data by ensuring that data from participant responses was

completed, consistent, related and ready to use.

- Translation of Arabic respondents' texts into English: see an example below in Appendix

F.

- Clean unrelated answers.

- Create tables and charts for closed-ended questions and use multi-choice answers as

criteria to obtain the overall percentage.

- Organise open-ended questions and categorise them by putting similar answers together,

and grouping and categorising the answers to each question.

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4.2 Quantitative and qualitative analysis

4.2.1 Data inclusion

Once data collection was complete, a quick overview showed that Qualtrics had recorded

114 ‘submitted’ responses and more than 300 responses were ‘under process’. Of the 114

submitted responses, only 55 were usable because the other 59 responses were empty or

incomplete: for example, incomplete responses had only the first few demographics-related

questions answered, and the rest were empty. Participants had the right not to answer any of the

questions. Of the 55 responses used in the analysis, some participants had not answered one or

two questions; overall, however, these 55 responses were included, as the respondents had

consistently answered at least 19 of the 21 questions posed. The data collected is discussed more

fully in the following subsections.

4.2.2 Demographic questions

Q1. What is your age group?

The overwhelming percentage of those who responded were between 30-39 years (40%)

and 40-49 years (32.73%) of age. The categories 20-29 years and 50 years or older constituted a

much smaller percentage of respondents, with 14.55% and 12.73%, respectively. Table 4.1

presents the total number and percentage of participants in each age group; these are also shown

in Table 4.1

Table 4.1 Age group

Criterion Total Percentage

19 or younger 0 0.00%
20 - 29 8 14.55%
30 - 39 22 40.00%

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 40 - 49 18 32.73%
50 or older 7 12.73%
Total 55 100%

Q2. Your gender?

The survey results, as displayed in the bar chart in Figure 4.2, show that two-thirds of the

participants were female.

Gender

Female 33 Participants
Criterion

Male 22 Participants

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.70%

Percentages

Figure 4.2 Respondents’ genders

Q3. What is your job role?

Respondents were asked to categorise the types of role they were employed in at the

university. The results of this question are displayed in Table 4.2. The vast majority of respondents

were employed in an academic role: 48 of 55 (87.27%). This was followed by administrative staff

(7.27%), whereas technical staff and uncategorised staff categories contributed the lowest number

of respondents.

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 Table 4.2 Job roles

Criterion Total Percentage

Academic 48 87.27%
Technician/Technical 1 1.82%
Administrative 4 7.27%
Other (please specify) 2 3.64%
Total 55 100%

Q4. What is your job title?

Respondents to Q4 were able to choose from a variety of predetermined responses or, if

not listed, specify their job titles. As displayed in Figure 4.3, the majority of the respondents were

lecturers (40%) or assistant professors around (25%). Fewer respondents were associate

professors around (11%), teaching assistants around (9%), and professors around (7%). There

were also four uncategorised responses around (7%): secretary, clerk, and two other respondents

preferred not to say.

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 Job title
Other (please specify) 4 Participants

Professor 4 Participants
Criterion

Teaching Assistant 5 Participants

Associate Professor 6 Participants

Assistant Professor 14 Participants

Lecturer 22 Participants

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50%

Percentages

Figure 4.3 Job title

Q5. How long have you been in this role?

The majority of participants, around 58% as displayed in Figure 4.4 Number of years in

the role, had not been in their roles for more than five years, while nearly one quarter had six-10

years of experience. A total of eight participants around (15%) had been in their roles for 16 or

more years, and the lowest percentage of respondents around (5%) had spent 11–15 years in their

roles.

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 Number of years in the role

16 years or more 8 Participants

Criterion

11 - 15 years 3 Participants

6 - 10 years 12 Participants

1 - 5 years 32 Participants

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.70%

Percentages

Figure 4.4 Number of years in the role

4.2.3 E-Learning questions

Q6. How many years have you been using e-learning?

As Table 4.3 Number of years using e-learning systems shows, approximately two-thirds

of participants had been using e-learning for one to five years. under one-third had been using e-

learning six to 10 years, while only four participants had been using e-learning for more than 16

years.

Table 4.3 Number of years using e-learning systems

Criterion Total Percentage

1 - 5 years 35 63.64%
6 - 10 years 16 29.09%
11 - 15 years 0 0.00%
16 or more 4 7.27%
Total 55 100%

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Q7. Would you describe yourself as an e-learning user?

Participants had to choose the best description of themselves as e-learning users see

Figure 4.5 The highest percentage approximately (51%) identified themselves as intermediate

users. This was followed by experts around (27%) and novice users around (22%).

e-Learning user description

Expert 15 Participants
Criterion

Intermediate 28 Participants

Novice 12 Participants

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50% 0.60%

Percentages

Figure 4.5 E-learning user description

Q8. What e-learning platform have you used?

Respondents to Q8 were able to choose from a variety of predetermined platforms or, if

not listed, specify the platform they had used. As a result, around three-quarters of participants

indicated that they had used Blackboard as an e-learning platform, and approximately 15% had

used Moodle as well as Blackboard. Single respondents had used varying combinations of

Blackboard, Moodle and WebCT; one participant had used Smartboard, and one elected not to

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answer this question. Table 4.4 E-Learning platforms used shows the number of respondents and

percentages of each e-learning platform they select.

Table 4.4 E-Learning platforms used

Criterion Total Percentage

Blackboard 41 74.55%
Blackboard - Moodle 8 14.55%
Moodle 2 3.64%
Blackboard - Moodle - WebCT 1 1.82%
Blackboard - WebCT 1 1.82%
Smart board 1 1.82%
No answer 1 1.82%
Total 55 100

Q9. What e-learning system have you used?

Respondents were able to choose from a variety of predetermined responses or, if not

listed, specify the e-learning system they had used. The respondents had used a variety of e-

learning systems, some respondents had used more than one system as displayed in Table 4.5 The

highest percentage of respondents had used Quick Lesson around (47%), followed by the Easy

Generator and the Smart Builder systems around 38% and around 35% of respondents,

respectively. The other systems had been used by five around (9%) or fewer respondents. These

were added to find the percentage that had used each system, as displayed in Figure 4.6 E-

Learning systems’ usage.

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 Table 4.5 E-Learning systems used

Criterion Total each Total

Easy generator 11 11
Quick Lessons participants 11
8
Smart Builder 8
participants
Easy generator -Quick Lessons 4
4
Quick Lessons -Smart Builder 4
participants
Other (please specify) 4
Easy generator - Quick Lessons - Smart Builder 2
Easy generator -Elucidat - Quick Lessons - Smart 2
2
Builder participants
No answer 2
Cameo by Yukon Group 1
Easy generator -Elucidat - Lectora Online by Trivantis 1
Easy generator -Elucidat - Quick Lessons - Smart
Builder - Artisan by Bankers Edge -Lectora Online by 1
Trivantis
Elucidat - Quick Lessons - Smart Builder - Atlantic Link 1 participant
1
by Assima
Lectora Online by Trivantis 1
Lectora Online by Trivantis - Cameo by Yukon Group 1
Quick Lessons -Smart Builder - Liquid Authoring by
1
Landmark e-learning
Total 55

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 e-Learning systems usage
Atlantic Link by Assima
Artisan by Bankers Edge
Liquid Authoring

Criterion
Cameo by Yukon Group
Lectora Online by Trivantis
Elucidat
Smart Builder
Easy generator
Quick Lessons

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50%

Percentages

Figure 4.6 E-Learning systems usage

Q10. In your role, what methods of teaching do you use e-learning mostly for?

As Figure 4.7 Methods of teaching shows, more than half the participants around (58%)

indicated that they had mostly used both hybrid and online courses for teaching. A smaller

percentage around (24%) had used hybrid courses and around 15% had solely used online

courses. A few participants indicated that they used other methods of teaching but did not specify

what these were.

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 Methods of teaching

Other (please specify) 2 Participants

Criterion On-line courses 8 Participants

Hybrid courses 13 Participants

Both hybrid & on-line courses 32 Participants

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.70%

Percentages

Figure 4.7 Methods of teaching

Q11. What tasks do you typically perform when using e-learning?

Respondents performed a wide variety of tasks during e-learning. The most common had

been tests, uploading lecture materials, and assignments. This was followed by discussions,

notifications, grading, teaching and communication. A smaller percentage of respondents had

uploaded learning resources, study plans, assessments, and had used e-learning for the flipped

classroom. Figure 4.8 displays each task the participants had mentioned as typically using during

e-learning.

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 The usual tasks performed

Emails
Live streaming
YouTube
Blackboard
Surveys
Lecture recording
Criterion

Assessments
Research
PowerPoints
Communication
Grading
Discussions
Assignments
Tests
0.00% 0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30% 0.35%
Percentages

Figure 4.8 The usual tasks performed

Q12. What features or functions of e-learning do you use the most?

The majority of respondents had used the tests function of their e-learning systems. This

was followed by discussions, notifications, uploading lecture materials, homework, submissions,

communication, PowerPoint, auto-correction and the uploading of files. Figure 4.9 contains many

other features or functions of e-learning that the participants had mentioned—functions they

identified as having used, but had very low percentages compared to the rest.

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 Features or functions of eLearning use the most

Brochures
teaching
students follow-up
grading
media center
blackboard
Criterion

lecture recording
Turnitin
Assignments
Create course contents
correction
communication
upload lecture materials
Discussions
Tests
0.00% 0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30%
Percentages

Figure 4.9 Features or functions of e-learning used the most

Q13. How do these support your learning outcomes or goals?

Some lecturers agreed that e-learning systems had always made communication between

students and lecturers easier, more rapid and direct. Some agreed that e-learning systems helped

them to deliver and receive information, including lecture materials, and also enabled these to be

shared with their students.

From the respondents’ perspectives, e-learning systems helped students keep up to date

with their learning material and receive feedback, and find out about their grades. Students could

also track the submission deadlines of their assignments and retrieve any assignment or

homework they might have missed. They also believed that these systems can be a good resource

pool for students learning as all relevant information in one database. They allow students to be

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responsible for their own learning by familiarising themselves with the learning materials, and

helped them to deal with it by developing their skills.

The respondents believed that e-learning systems helped them to organise the learning

process, and with evaluations and automatic grading of online tests. They also mentioned that it

had helped them to ensure that the course material was kept up to date efficiently and quickly, as

well as to create a knowledge base in one organised place. They believed that distance learning

was one of the advantages of e-learning systems. They also mentioned that these systems had

helped to support students, and had improved their learning outcomes and ability to deliver

education to students by assisting them in a mentor-student environment.

The respondents commented that students these days prefer a modern and convenient

method to obtain information. They spend a lot of time on their laptops and smartphones. This

helped them to develop technological skills needed for university-level education and provided

an opportunity to deliver learning in a way they enjoyed. These systems helped classes be easy,

interesting, active, enjoyable, and effective. It also made access easier, saving time, facilitating

the educational process, optimising contact time and saving students’ and teachers’ rights of

achievements alike.

They also believed that a boon of these systems is that they can be further improved, for

example through debugging. The majority of respondents said that these systems were well

supported and provided an excellent service. They said it created common ground between

teachers and students, which helped them to coordinate effectively with one another in terms of

both time and course content.

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Q14. What features or functions that are not currently available in your e-learning system

would you like to use?

There was a variety of response to Q14 regarding features or functions respondents would

have liked available in the e-learning system they had been using. While a large number of

participants said that they did not know, or that there were no extra features they wanted to use,

many respondents mentioned some functions they would like to use that were not available in

their systems. These were as follows:

 Full integration with smart devices, such as phones and tablets; for example, using a

camera on a device for live video broadcasting had not been available.

 Interaction with social media.

 Support for functions for analysis, which are available in Excel and SPSS.

 A comprehensive question base (a feature that currently has to be purchased through

Blackboard) was not supported by all universities.

 Electronic attendance taking.

 Knowledge sharing tools.

 The ability to submit large files when posting videos: this was identified as resulting from

insufficient computer labs and systems not supporting badges, like Moodle.

 System errors detector.

Moreover, one respondent mentioned that she was not familiar with all functions of their

Blackboard system, and were hence unsure about what the complete set of available features was.

Q15. What aspects of using e-learning systems do you find most difficult?

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 Participants identified a number of aspects that they had found troublesome with the e-

learning system they had used. Some of these aspects are as follows:

 Difficulties in training students to use the system.

 Issues with system orientation.

 Presenting the course through the Learning Management System (LMS) was difficult, in

particular maintaining discussion and themes for each course.

 The notification function was not in real time.

 Appropriately designing course material or surveys.

 Marking, correcting and grading tests, in particular correcting essay questions, and other

assessments.

 Technical difficulties when marking tests via Blackboard.

 The system (Blackboard) was not considered user-friendly, and the interface was difficult

to use.

 The length of time taken to navigate and explore the features of the e-learning system:

for example, the Control Panel was not easy to use, and had too many puzzling options.

 Updates to the system that introduced new features or added new technology functions

created disorganisation with respect to the order of available functions or features for

some users.

 Live streaming, virtual classes and uploading lecturing videos were challenging, and

worsened if there was a technical fault.

 Other technical issues, such as updating in general, or when students submitted their work

or updated their information but the system did not update correctly.

Some respondents stated that they had had no difficulties with their e-learning systems.

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4.2.4 Learning needs questions

Q16. & Q17. What are the key benefits and the key disadvantages of using e-learning

systems to meet learning needs?

In response to these two questions, the participants mentioned some benefits and

disadvantages of using e-learning systems to meet learning needs. Table 4.6 summarises the key

benefits, as well as key disadvantages identified by the respondents. The main key benefits

identified were saving time and effort, having a communication channel, the availability to learn

at anytime, anywhere as well as ease of access. On the contrary, the key drawbacks identified

included slow Internet connectivity, technical problems, a lack of training and expensive

licensing costs.

Table 4.6 Key benefits and key drawbacks of using e-learning systems

Using e-learning Systems to Meet Learning Needs

Key benefits Key disadvantages
Saving time and effort Poor Internet connectivity
Communication channel Technical problems
Learning availability anytime anywhere Lack of adequate training
Facilitates the learning process Lack of human interaction
Ease of access High cost of licences
Abreast of technology Limitation of tools
Attraction

Q18. In your experience, what aspects of learning are supported well by e-learning systems?

Respondents identified various aspects of learning as being well supported by e-learning

systems, as follows:

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  Uploading lecture materials, as well as recording and uploading lecture videos, and

attaching documents to any post.

 Using a projector.

 Submitting homework.

 Using e-references.

 Including quizzes, tests, research and activities.

 Communication methods.

 Discussion forums and announcement notifications.

 Evaluation, grading and feedback to students.

 Theoretical aspects.

 Easy access (from anywhere), time saving and facilitating the learning process.

Some respondents replied that it would depend on how the lecturer had constructed the

Blackboard panel. Moreover, some lecturers stated that some features of Blackboard were well-

supported, but some users did not know how to use them.

Q19. In your experience, what aspects of learning are not supported well by e-learning

systems?

Various aspects of learning were identified as not being well-supported by an e-learning

system. These were as follows:

 Interactive learning, such as Flash, animation support, online tutoring and voice-recorded

lectures.

 Lack of discussion.

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  Technical aspects, including saving data, were not well supported and the Internet

connection was always slow and would cut out.

 Visual education.

 Application and practical aspects of courses, and maybe cognitive skills, were not well-

supported.

 Students’ interactions, such as group work, communications skills and practical skills.

 Direct encounters with students were sometimes unpleasant, potentially due to Internet

connectivity issues.

 Student statistics, feedback, online exams and teaching methods.

 The interface was not user-friendly.

Q20. How well do you believe the e-learning systems serve the tertiary learning

requirements at your university?

The great majority of lecturers believed that e-learning systems served tertiary education

in their universities to a significant extent. They commented that it is an effective way to keep

students on the right track. e-learning systems can save time, help students practice and gain more

knowledge. They can also provide a flexible education option. Some respondents believed e-

learning systems contributed to meeting higher-education requirements. Overall participants

assigned a percentage rating of 75% or more, insofar as they thought e-learning systems were

serving the university’s tertiary learning requirements. Finally, many believed that e-learning is

the future of education.

Q21. How would you rate the current e-learning system in serving the tertiary learning

requirements at your university?

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 Participants rated their current e-learning system out of 10 based how on how they saw it

serving the tertiary learning requirements of their university. A score of 10 was excellent and 1

was very poor. The results were as follows for the 55 respondents:

The maximum rated value was 10, the minimum value was 3, and the median was 7; the

mode, or most frequently occurring value, was 8. The standard deviation was 1.91. Table 4.7 Q21

spread of responses, presents the participants’ ratings and Figure 4.10 Current e-learning systems

ratings, depicts the results. Criterion 10 represented a very high level, indicating excellent

performance, and Criterion 1 a very low one, indicating poor performance.

Table 4.7 Q21 spread of responses

Count Minimum Maximum Median STD Deviation Mode

55 3 10 7 1.91 8

Table 4.8 Participant ratings of current e-learning systems

Criterion Total Percentage

10 5 9.09%
9 8 14.55%
8 11 20.00%
7 11 20.00%
6 7 12.73%
5 6 10.91%
4 5 9.09%
3 2 3.64%
2 0 0.00%
1 0 0.00%
Total 55 100

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 Current eLearnig system rate

1 0 Participants
2 0 Participants
3 2 Participants
4 5 Participants
Criterion 5 6 Participants
6 7 Participants
7 11 Participants
8 11 Participants
9 8 Participants
10 5 Participants
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00%
Percentages

Figure 4.10 Current e-learning systems’ ratings

Q22. What improvements are needed or could be made to improve the current system to

match with learning requirements?

The survey participants believed improvements could be made to improve the current

systems to better match the learning requirements, such as increasing tools and equipment to

undertake the educational process. They identified that the systems’ design stage needed to

consider improvements to a greater extent to render it better suited for the desired educational

outputs and enable more virtual classes. The ideas of moving the server to a wider network, like

a cloud computing space, and better infrastructure were also proposed.

Most lecturers agreed there should be intensive training for both lecturers and students,

and they should be encouraged to interact with technology. Many believed that their e-learning

system was not user-friendly, and hence suggested making these systems easy to use and more

flexible, with the aid of computing and online tools.

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 Some survey participants believed that the Blackboard system should be linked to people

who design the software, who should also build templates for use. Another lecturer mentioned

that they could integrate a survey tool for feedback from users. Other ideas regarding technical

improvements included developing improved Internet connectivity, making the network

available, and increasing the capacity and speed of downloading and uploading of content.

Other suggestions included online office hours for lecturers, a function to check

assignments for similarity and plagiarism and improvements in communications. One respondent

stated that distance learning (occurring online using only e-learning systems) should be

recognised by the Ministry of Civil Services in Saudi Arabia as legitimate study.

Some participants commented that they had nothing to add, and provided no suggestions.

4.3 Summary

The total number of respondents who submitted their surveys online through the Qualtrics

instrument was 114. However, once data was exported from Qualtrics to an Excel sheet, checked

row-by-row to ascertain if anything was missing during exportation, and was cleaned by

removing incomplete or entries considered irrelevant, 55 complete results were obtained for

inclusion in the analysis.

The majority of participants were female in their 30s and 40s. The majority were working

as lecturers in an academic field, and had been in their roles and using e-learning for no more

than five years. They considered themselves predominantly intermediate-level e-learning users,

and mentioned that they mostly used Easy Generator, Quick Lesson e-learning systems and

Blackboard as an e-learning platform. Most participants taught both online and traditional

courses, and believed that e-learning systems supported the outcomes or goals of learning. They

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identified both the advantages and disadvantages of using e-learning systems and provided the

average evaluation of their e-learning systems as 7 out of 10.

Further potential developments of e-learning systems will be signposted through the

discussion in Chapter 5.

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Chapter Five: Discussion

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate prevalent e-learning systems in universities

in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to determine how well cloud-based e-learning systems served

tertiary learning requirements. The aim of this investigation was for the outcome to provide

guidelines for an enhanced learning environment in Saudi universities.

5.1 Interpretations and opinions

5.1.1 Participants’ profile

There was potential for uncovering different results from different slices of the participant pool

from the data collected. However, this was not a strong outcome except that the 55 participants

of the study were primarily female and between 30 and 40 years of age. The vast majority of

respondents served in an academic role, and most of them were lecturers and assistant

professors who had served in their positions for no more than five years. They had an

intermediate-level e-learning experience with fewer than five years on the job. Since the study

was conducted in government universities only, it was clear that most respondents used the

Blackboard online education platform at their university, which confirmed the findings of the

study by Alharbi (2013). He had claimed that government universities in Saudi Arabia mostly

used Blackboard, whereas private universities typically used Moodle as their e-learning

platform.

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5.1.2 E-Learning in Saudi universities

A total of 58% of the respondents indicated that they had used both hybrid and online

courses side by side during teaching. They stated that they performed many tasks through e-

learning, including uploading lecture materials, assignments, establishing discussions forums,

notifications, grading, teaching, communication, uploading learning resources, uploading study

plans, assessments, and for flipped classrooms.

The respondents expressed the belief that these tasks mostly supported learning outcomes

by making classes easy, interesting, active, enjoyable, and effective. E-learning also provided

easier access, saved time, facilitated the educational process, helped optimise contact time, and

preserved students’ and teachers’ rights of achievements alike. They believed it created a common

ground between teachers and students, which helped them to coordinate effectively with one

another in terms of time and course content, and made communication between teacher and

students easier, more rapid, and direct. This supported the learning outcomes by organising the

learning process, which helped them to deliver and receive information, including lecture

materials, and enabled these to be shared with students in a way they enjoyed. It also helped

teachers with evaluations and automatic grading of online tests. Learning outcomes were also

supported by allowing students to take responsibility for their own learning by familiarising them

with the learning materials and enabling them to deal with it by developing their skills with

technology and computers. The systems helped students to keep up to date with their learning

materials, receive feedback, and look up their grades. The respondents also stated that these

systems could be a good resource pool for students learning, as all relevant information is

available on one database. This helped respondents to ensure the course material was kept up to

date efficiently and quickly, and created a knowledge base in one organised place. This finding

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showed how often e-learning was used in Saudi Arabian universities, and permitted from multiple

and comprehensive tasks the inference that Saudi Arabian universities currently have a good e-

learning infrastructure to support learning outcomes. This outcome of having a good e-learning

systems was expected from this study, since Al-Asmari & Rabb Khan (2014) have claimed that

many Saudi Arabian universities are well-equipped with e-learning supportive tools and

technologies that enhance the learning process. Moreover, this quality of e-learning use in Saudi

universities reflects the significant development in e-learning in the country since 2010, when

Al-Draiby (2010) and in her study “E-learning and its effectiveness in Saudi Arabia,” and Al‐

Harbi (2011) in her study “E-Learning in the Saudi tertiary education: Potential and challenges,”

stated that e-learning in Saudi Arabia was still in its infancy. Al-Harbi had cited the lack of

information concerning its use as the reason.

5.1.3 Advantages of shifting current Saudi e-learning to cloud

This study also found that the respondents wanted some functions or features unavailable

in their university e-learning systems. These functions or features included

 Allow user to have full integration with smart devices

 Include a comprehensive set of test questions, which is highly expensive currently

 Include knowledge-sharing tools for users

 A system errors detector

With regard to smartphone integration, Garg (2011) claimed that users these days want

access and to multi-task via their smartphones; at the same time, cloud-based systems provide

this opportunity by allowing user access through a Web browser anywhere and at any time.

Cloud-based systems enjoy this benefit because they do not require sophisticated computers to

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run dedicated software, where no computation occurs on the user’s device, but instead on another

device outside the organization in a large data centre (Lynch, 2015).

This study also found that the cost of adding functions to the system was one of the

respondents’ concerns. In this case, while organizations may save money on hardware, they may

need to spend more on other services, such as the Internet, to deliver intensive and complex data

over networks. Therefore, many clients are awaiting reductions in cost before switching to cloud-

based computing (Alghali et al., 2014). Since cloud computing is like any other merchandise that

can be purchased and traded using a network at an economical price (Hashemi & Hashemi, 2013),

public cloud vendors have marketed low-cost price plans which encouraged organisations to

become more familiar with resource allocation models, exact costs, and the variety of cloud

models, including public, private, and hybrid models (Garg, 2011). Another advantage of cloud

based e-learning systems is that cloud computing provides services on a pay-per-use basis, which

allows universities to speed and advance the use of new technologies and focus on imparting

quality education (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

Furthermore, this study found that the system errors detector function was a desire for

Saudi Arabian university staff, and can be seen as needed for technical support, since e-learning

systems require technical support like any other system. Therefore, a cost-saving feature that

reduces the required maintenance needs is among the advantages of cloud computing because it

does not require periodic maintenance like conventional e-learning systems, which require

upgrading hardware and procuring software licenses annually (Abu El-Ala et al., 2012; Stuart,

2012).

Since respondents wanted to learning shared tools, cloud-based systems can meet this

preference. The basic idea of cloud computing is to provide access to a pool of virtual computing

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resources with a focus on large-scale computing resources connected to a network which enables

clients to share these resources. (Patnaik, Putta, & Ismail, 2014). Moreover, Anand & Kamiyani

(2015) stated that cloud computing provides unlimited learning selections to students by exposing

them to an extensive diversity of software tools and resources in a rich and flexible environment.

Laisheng & Zhengxia (2011) have claimed that the introduction of cloud computing to e-

learning is practicable, and can considerably enhance investment and management efficiency.

This can facilitate the development of profitable e-learning systems and achieve win-win

situations for suppliers and customers.

5.2 Research implications

In response to the research question “How well do cloud-based e-learning systems serve

tertiary learning requirements?” the outcomes of this study present many benefits from e-

learning systems, such as:

 Saves user time and effort

 Communication channel between users

 Learning available anytime, anywhere for users

 Facilitates the learning process

 Ease of access

 Helps users keep abreast of technology

 Attracts students

Cloud-based computing is expected to be the next major trend in the development of

efficient e-learning systems because of the features and capabilities of cloud-based computing

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and the advantages that it offers over traditional e-learning systems from the perspectives of

technology and cost (Alghali et al., 2014).

The participants’ responses consistently match with what the literature about shifting e-

learning in Saudi Arabian universities to the cloud may allow universities to retain these benefits

and add more, such as:

- Personalised learning by offering a boundless learning choices which expose students to a

wide variety of software tools and resources in a rich and flexible environment.

- Economic benefits. Software and hardware require continual upgrades that tax the

universities’ budgets. Cloud computing can reduce cost by offering its services on a pay-

per-use basis, which enables universities to accelerate the use of new technologies and

focus on imparting quality education.

- Elasticity and scalability, such that universities can scale up to more resources and storage

when user load increases, or scale down when need decreases. This can be considered a

major advantage of cloud computing when consumers are not confined to a specific set of

resources.

- Accessibility: Users can access resources anytime and anywhere. Hence, the quality of

services provided through superior resources and skills make this possible.

- Reduced carbon imprint, since cloud computing allows universities to reduce carbon

emissions by reducing power consumption. Cloud providers are also making efforts to

create eco-friendly data centres, which will further reduce carbon emissions.

- Standardisation, since cloud computing provides standardised software for use of

individual or networked universities. For example, universities can develop their own

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 collections of applications or solutions and re-use them. This can help to reduce cost and

implementation time, with a consequent increase in reliability (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

The time is right for Saudi Arabian universities to consider a shift in their e-learning

systems to the cloud particularly its government universities. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has

recently generated a new vision for the future called the Saudi Vision 2030. It is a package of

social and economic policies designed to free the kingdom of dependence on oil exports, and

build a prosperous and sustainable economic future by focusing on the country's strengths and

policy. Part of this vision is to develop education in Saudi Arabia by reshaping and modernizing

the academic and educational systems. Alongside this, the Saudi Arabian government is looking

to advance the education sector in line with growing market needs (Kingdom of Saudi Arabian

Vision 2030, 2016). Therefore, adopting cloud-based e-learning systems is a positive contribution

to this vision as it advances education and reduces the costs of hardware maintenance, systems

upgrades, renewal of software licenses, and adds features (Abu El-Ala et al., 2012; Stuart, 2012;

Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

5.3 Study limitations

Some factors need to be considered as research limitations. Using a single survey to

collect data may result in the common method bias (Sharma, Chhabra, Cheng, Brownell, Liu, &

Yan, 2009). The initial research design for the collection of data in this study was to run an online

survey followed by interviews. However, the time needed to obtain formal approval from Saudi

Arabian universities to conduct the study involving their staff, and the distance to the location

were limitations, since the study was based in New Zealand and the participants were in Saudi

Arabia. In the end, this study used a single survey to collect a range of quantitative and qualitative

105
data. Further research can improve the depth of the study by conducting one with a longer

timeframe including interviews to mitigate the time limitation.

Another factor that may have limited the results of this study is the small sample size of

55 respondents, which may not be sufficient to be considered representative of the actual

population of Saudi Arabian academics when generalizing the results. However, the survey was

designed to include many open-ended questions that could allow respondents to explain their

thoughts in a rich manner; hence, the results could be potentially reflective of the wider

population of Saudi Arabian academics.

5.4 Future research

This study concentrated on the usability of current e-learning in the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia, and investigated the possibility of adopting cloud-based e-learning, and whether this

could better serve tertiary education in the country. Since the study found that shifting current

systems to the cloud will be useful, to tackle issues of dropouts and connection issues, future

research may be needed to conduct a more comprehensive investigation into the Saudi Arabian

telecommunications infrastructure. This study showed that respondents had complaints about

Internet connectivity. Since cloud e-learning is completely reliant on effective Internet

connectivity, the researcher agrees with Al-Draiby’s (2010) suggestion that the need for

investigating e-learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on the reasons of need, such as

that the country has a wide geographical domain that makes it difficult for people in remote areas

to access universities (Al-Draiby, 2010). Moreover, additional pressure on the system is expected

due to the growing population in Saudi Arabia (Albalawi, 2007).

Future research can investigate, through interviews, the demands of people in remote

areas of the country as well as staff at Saudi Arabian universities to explore possible e-learning

106
delivery methods based on their capabilities. A comprehensive survey can then be circulated

among Saudi Arabian telecommunication companies, followed by in depth interviews if needed,

to locate issues of Internet connectivity and identify possible improvements for faster Internet

services with a wide coverage across all Saudi regions, including rural areas.

Therefore, it is proposed that the following topics be considered for future research:

- How well can the Saudi telecommunication infrastructure serve cloud e-learning systems

in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

- What is the impact of Internet connectivity efficiency on cloud e-learning systems in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

- How can the adoption of cloud e-learning systems contribute to the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia Vision 2030?

5.5 Summary

This chapter discussed several aspects of the overall study, including respondent profiles from

the study results, which showed the most respondents were female academic staff in Saudi

universities between 30 and 40 years of age with intermediate e-learning experience. They had

not been in their roles for more than five years. It also discussed e-learning in Saudi Arabian

universities from the respondents’ perspectives. Past literature has reported that Saudi Arabian

universities have equipped their campuses with technological tools that help the performance of

e-learning tasks throughout the learning process. These enhancements show how well Saudi

Arabian universities have developed the use of e-learning since 2010. Moreover, the traditional

client-server modes of e-learning and cloud e-learning were discussed from the point of view of

respondents with regard to their preference for features or functions not available in their systems.

Therefore, it was concluded that cloud-based e-learning systems can serve tertiary educational

107
requirements in Saudi Arabia in an enhanced way through cloud computing due to its flexibility

of time and location, potential for cost reduction, and unlimited device support. It can thus

contribute positively to the Saudi Vision 2030. This chapter also proposed some implications of

using cloud e-learning in Saudi Arabian universities, whereby it can help retain the current

benefits of using e-learning systems, such as saving time and effort, making communication

between educator and learner easier, and ease of access, and can add other benefits of cloud

services, such as providing unlimited learning choices, cost reduction, and allowing access from

anywhere at any time.

The limitations of the study and possible directions for future research were also

presented. A possible study involving personal interviews can address the limitations of this study

over a longer timeframe. Future research can also focus on the Saudi Arabian telecommunication

infrastructure, since technical issues and Internet connectivity are important issues that influence

e-learning in Saudi Arabian universities.

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Chapter Six: Conclusion

Reliance on the learning model of traditional in-person classes at universities has been

evolving with the advent of e-learning. However, the user still needs to be attached to, or have

server access to, a local network to effectively use e-learning services. These days, online learners

have become more freely engaged because of the shift of IT infrastructure to cloud-based

systems. Thus, as long as students have Internet access, they can access e-learning services

anywhere and at any time. The technology of cloud computing has been developed to work on

the basis of pay per use. Universities can benefit from this approach to provide technologies to

its staff and students and save a significant amount of money that they would otherwise spend on

hardware maintenances and software licenses. Therefore, cloud computing can be seen as a useful

tool which can enable universities to create an enhanced learning experience for students to enrol

in various courses at affordable cost. However, security, reliability, and inter-operability are major

problems associated with cloud computing, and need to be addressed if it is to be adopted and

implemented in universities (Anand & Kamiyani, 2015).

Cloud computing can be the next major e-learning systems development trend because of

its superior features and capability over conventional server-based e-learning systems from the

perspectives of technology and cost (Alghali et al., 2014). Nonetheless, the pace of development

of cloud-based e-learning applications is not expected to slow down (Madan, Pant, Kumar, &

Arora, 2012).

The literature review in Chapter Two presented information pertaining to a variety of

aspects of e-learning tools, the numerous benefits that they offer to clients and users, and ways

in which the cloud-based architecture can be effectively integrated into existing educational

technologies. The focus of the literature has been primarily on the advantages of cloud computing,

109
with specific relevance to e-learning, and effective management of the wide range of challenges

that this technology poses to users.

A mixed method approach was used in this thesis to obtain e-learning users’ experience -

to investigate how well cloud-based e-learning systems serve tertiary learning requirements in

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study used an anonymous online survey using Qualtrics

instruments to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 114 surveys responses were

collected online. However, after removing blank responses and data cleaning, only 55 surveys

were included for analysis. Ethics applications were secured for this study. Approvals were

obtained from both the Auckland University of Technology Ethics Council, where the researcher

conducted the study, and from Dammam University, where the data was collected from. The

ethical approvals are attached in Appendices A and B.

The majority of participants in the study were female in their 30s and 40s, working as

lecturers in an academic environment with five or fewer years of experience of e-learning. They

considered themselves intermediate level e-learning users, and mentioned that they mostly used

Blackboard as an e-learning platform. Most participants’ teaching methods involved online and

hybrid courses, and they believed that e-learning systems supported the outcomes of learning.

They identified both advantages and disadvantages of using e-learning systems from their points

of view, and provided an average score of 7 out of 10 to their e-learning systems, with a standard

deviation of 1.9. The findings of this study show the extent to which e-learning systems are being

used with success in Saudi Arabian universities. This strong result might be an indication of a

good e-learning grounding based on the rapid development of e-learning since Draiby (2010) and

Al‐Harbi (2011) mentioned in their study that e-learning was still in its infancy.

From this study we now know that:

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(a) E-learning in Saudi Arabian universities has been quite successful in the last five years.

(b) The staff in Saudi Arabian universities is interested in using e-learning, especially early

career female staff.

(c) Cloud e-learning can contribute to advancing Saudi Arabian education as well as forwarding

the Saudi Vision 2030.

Al-Wakeel in 2001 considered the efforts of e-learning in Saudi Arabia as unsuccessful

due to incompletely planned implementation. Draiby in 2010 and Al‐Harbi in 2011 claimed that

e-learning in Saudi Arabia was still in its infancy. This study can confirm that e-learning in Saudi

Arabia appears to have successfully developed over the last five years because of the enthusiasm

in the growth of e-leaning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Albalawi (2007) claims this is because

of the interest in advancing education. Moreover, the need for e-learning arose because student

admissions in foundational courses were well exceeding their limits. Another reason was the

inability to deliver conventional education because of their low level of facilities such as offices

and teachers.

Chapter Five included some aspirations of survey participants to see functions currently

unavailable in their university e-learning systems. This study pointed out that these functions are

available in cloud-based e-learning systems. Moreover, the study recommends that shifting to

cloud-based e-learning rather than a client-server approach in Saudi Arabian universities might

contribute to the learning outcomes of tertiary education due to its flexibility of time and location

as well as unlimited support for devices usage. In addition, the adoption of cloud-based e-learning

systems in Saudi Arabian universities might contribute to the Saudi Vision 2030 by advancing

learning technology as well as reducing the cost of using educational technology. Chapter Five

also included some implications of using cloud e-learning in Saudi Arabian universities. The

111
study limitations and possible future research were discussed. Possible future studies involving

personal interviews can address a limitation and deepen understanding. It can also focus on the

Saudi Arabian telecommunications infrastructure, since technical issues and Internet connectivity

were identified as problems that influenced participants’ experience of e-learning in Saudi

Arabian universities.

This study involved the perspectives of academics and university staff on the question of

how e-learning systems are serving tertiary learning requirements within the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia. This study had hoped to develop a new framework; however, sufficient data was not

available for this purpose. Subsequent work to establish a framework can be based on some of

the findings of this study. It contributed a number of new aspects to the conversation on when, or

if, a move to the emerging opportunity of cloud-based e-learning systems will better serve Saudi

Arabian universities. It is hoped that this study can provide a useful perspective for university

decision makers.

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APPENDICES

Appendix A:

A. Ethics approval (Auckland University of Technology)

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Appendix B:
B. Ethics approval (Dammam University)

128
Appendix C:

C. Participant information sheet Page 1

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C. Participant information sheet Page 2

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C. Participant information sheet Page 3

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Appendix D:

D. Consent form

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Appendix E:
E. Survey Questions Page 1

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E. Survey Questions Page 2

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E. Survey Questions Page 3

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E. Survey Questions Page 4

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Appendix F:

F. Translation example of Arabic text into English for one question of the survey Page 1

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F. Translation example of Arabic text into English for one question of the survey Page 2

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F. Translation example of Arabic text into English for one question of the survey Page 3

139