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International Journal of Information Studies. Volume 4 number 2 April

2012. Graduate Students' Attitude towards E-learning: A Study Case at Imam University Abdullah Almobarraz, PhD Ahmed FARAG, PhD

Imam University Imam University (KSA) P.O. Box 25957 Assiut University (EGY) Riyadh 11573 ahmadfarag@yahoo.com Saudi Arabia almobarraz@gmail.com Abstract: In the past few years, a new wave of many technologies, particularly the Internet has emerged with the potential to further enhance the teaching and learning environment in higher education. Many studies in the recent years have shown that E-learning use in the classrooms has increased over the past years. However, the process of E-learning and its applications is limited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Through this empirical study, a limited research was initiated to track the perceptions of the students toward the E-learning. The results indicate an overall positive attitude towards the E-learning. Introduction: The information and communication technology (ICT) have impacted the E-learning process in universities and higher educational institutions and changed the ways people learn. Among all the technologies, the Internet perhaps is the most influential medium in the educational system. One reason can be seen from its popularity and wide spread use worldwide. The Internet breaks the geographical border between the learners and the teachers. The physical presence of students in classrooms is not mandatory to learn and a pre-requisite to obtain a degree. E-learning makes possible to interact among participants and stakeholders, read books, listen to lectures, do homework, and be tested by teachers while students in their home. The general concept of E-learning can be described as a learning environment that applies different types of technology such as computers, multimedia software, Internet applications to enhance the experience of people. Stockley (2006) defines it as “the delivery of a learning, training or education program by electronic means”. E-learning involves the use of a computer or electronic device (e.g. a mobile phone) in some way to provide training, educational or learning material. In the past, the term e-learning referred to any method of learning that used electronic delivery methods. With the advent of the Internet however, e-learning has evolved and the term is now most commonly used to refer to online courses. (Monahan, 2008) E-learning may be exhibited in different types (WorldWideLearn, 2007): The significant among them are the following.

Purely online - no face-to-face meetings Blended Learning - mixture of online and face-to-face meetings Synchronous (videoconference, chat…) Asynchronous (emails, files, forums, blogs…) Online class led by an instructor Self-study method Self-study with subject matter expert Web-based learning

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Computer-based (CD-ROM) Video/audio tape

Although E-learning becomes an essential method in higher education, the implementation of it in Saudi Arabia’s universities is still at the infant stage. The Department of Libraries and Information Sciences of the Imam University, for example, implemented the E-learning process at the graduate level program for a while. However, it was discontinued due to the closure of graduate program in the department. It is important that the E-learning process has to be re-initiated due to its increasing impact. Before doing so, the end-users, the students need to be assessed for their understanding, requirement and perception. Such an exercise will enable a real implementation. Hence, this study examines the perception of students, studying in the graduate program of Libraries and Information Sciences, towards E-learning.

Previous work: The importance of communication and the benefits of E-learning have been highlighted in previous literature (Hamburg et al., 2003; Preece, 2000; Salmon, 2002; Thurmond & Wambach, 2004) The subject of E-learning is one of the vital issues that gains attention from researchers in the area of information, communication, and education. Many studies have been conducted in different regions across countries that discuss the implantation of E-learning in education. We, in this study examine the several previous works that reported the E-learning in different countries of the world. This process enables us to understand the current environment and the relationship among similar studies.

In Iran, Yaghoubi et al. (2008) examines the opinion of virtual students’ attitudes towards E-learning. The study is based on students’ experiences taking an online learning unit offered by the University of Technology, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), and Shiraz University through their websites. The result indicated that students have positive opinion toward E-learning. It also showed that the two highest rated advantages of E-learning system were “flexibility in time and place” and “ease and quick share of learning materials". On the other hand, the highest rated difficulty was “technology issues”. In addition, the finding indicated that 68% of variation in virtual students' perceptions of E-learning was determined by four variables: students’ assessment about competency of E-learning, access to internet, computer and internet usage and assessment of current higher education system’s shortcoming.

In another study, Asandului and Ceobanu (2008) investigated Romanian students’ perceptions concerning E-learning in comparison with traditional educational model from the following points of view: efficiency, intelligibility, amount of knowledge acquired, and updating content. The updating content, efficiency, and the amount of knowledge acquired criteria were very well appreciated while by the intelligibility criterion the E-learning model is lower rated.

Heaton-Shrestha et al. (2007) examined whether student learning style has an impact on use of E-learning technology such as a virtual learning environment (VLE). The authors conducted two rounds of interviews with 71 students. The findings revealed that the most valued features of the VLE were the contents and announcements areas. It also found that, contrary to expectations, flexibility of learning was not a great priority for respondents, most of them were enrolled full-time in conventional, campus-based courses making use of a VLE to support the delivery of the curriculum. On the whole, VLE usage patterns followed conventional studying patterns. Other finding revealed that the VLE was not used principally

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as a means of communication; even discussion boards served more as a resource/logistical function than as a communicative one.

In Singapore, Fang (2007) explored how the cultural characteristics of Singapore students influenced and shaped their E-learning experience in a blended-learning program. The findings suggest that the students’ culture at the national, ethnic and cyber levels could have influenced what they considered useful, enjoyable, and effective. Importance of Study E-education systems are generally considered as one of the recent trends imposed by information and communications revolution in the Arabian environment. The significance of this study, besides its effectiveness on the future directions of the Arab academic societies, is the rarity of similar studies in the Arab world. In addition, the special interest to this study is the measurement of the perception and behavior of postgraduate students toward E-learning systems through three main dimensions: perceiving usefulness, perceiving ease of use, and attitude towards using E-learning. Hence, the researchers hope that this work will be a good beginning and may lead to further empirical studies and consequently fill the gap in this research area. Goals The study focuses on measuring perception and behavior of the students in doctorate program in the Department of Library and Information in Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University towards E-learning. Therefore, it aims to measure:

The extent of benefits of using E-learning.

Perceptions relating to the ease of use associated with the system; and

Attitude of students towards the e-learning system. The main purpose of focusing on these objectives is to know the impact of E-learning to end-users. This study could contribute in supporting the measure of weaknesses in E-learning systems in the library and information departments as well as any other convergences or core deficiencies in these systems. Accordingly, specialists can create a comprehensive view including all the essential factors that lead to more improvement to E-learning method. Research Questions The following research questions will be investigated to meet the aims of the study: 1. To what extent do E-learning meet usefulness characteristics as perceived by students. 2. To what extent do E-learning meet ease of use characteristics as perceived by students. 3. What attitudes do student have toward E-learning? Methodology: The data for this study is based on doctoral students' experiences using E-learning system offered by the Department of Library and Information at Imam University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The department was the sole one in the entire university to implement the system for two classes at doctorate level. The total number of students studying in those classes was 16. Therefore, a total of 16 questionnaires were sent to the target population, out of which and 13 were returned, indicating a response rate of 81.25%. The questionnaire had two sections, one for ‘demographical information’ which was designed by using five closed-end questions on gender, age, computer skills, electronic resources skills, and past experience of using E-learning. The second component was the ‘measurement section’ which has 15 statements based on five point ‘Likert’ scale to measure the variables of the study. The variables are based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989). This section intended to measure E-learning in terms of ease of use, usefulness, and attitudes, which were adapted from Davis (1989).

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Data analysis and results: The characteristics of the participants are summarized in Table 1. As indicated, the overall sample was distributed by gender (76.92% female and 23.08% male). The participants consisted of 7.68% in the age group from 26 to 30 years old, 38.47% in the age group from 30 to 35, 38.47% in the age group from 36 to 40 and 15.38% in the age group over 40 years old. Concerning computer skills, the table shows that 53.84% of participants have a high experience, and 46.16% with average skills. Regarding electronic resources skills, the analysis indicates that 38.47% have an excellent experience and 61.53% average. Past experiences of participants in using E-learning indicates that 38.47% had used E-learning, while the majority (61.53%) used it for the first time. Table 1. Demographic Information of Students

Variables Frequency Percent

Gender Male 3 23.08%

Female 10 76.92%

Age 20 – 25 0 0%

26 – 30 1 7.68%

31 – 35 5 38.47%

36 - 40 5 38.47%

Over 40 2 15.38%

Computer Skills High 7 53.84%

Average 6 46.16%

Weak 0 0%

IR Skills High 5 38.47%

Average 8 61.53%

Weak 0 0%

Past experience Yes 5 38.47%

No 8 61.53%

Descriptive statistics was used to investigate students’ perspectives on each variable of the study. Percentage and mean for each survey item question were reported using 5-point ‘Likert’ scale to measure how strongly participants agreed or disagreed with surveyed items. The researchers classified the ‘Likert’ scale responses as follows: strongly agree = 5, agree = 4, neutral = 3, disagree = 2, strongly disagree = 1.

As shown in table 2, the mean of the agreement with the first statement (“I think it is easy to use E-learning”) ranges from agreement to strong agreement and represents the highest score with 4.61, whereas the second statement, “E-learning needs great efforts to acquire the skill to use”, scores the lowest with 2.92. The statement “Interaction with the E-learning requires a lot of mental effort’” has an agreement score of 3.07, while the last statement, E- learning is not flexible, has mean agreement of 3.76.

Calculating the mean of all statements generates the general mean of the variable

“ease of use”. This process indicates that students’ perception of E-learning regarding ease of use scores 3.59, ranging from neutral to agree.

Table 2. Students’ Perceptions toward ‘Ease of use of E-learning System’

Mean Strongly disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

Variables

4.61 0% 0% 0% 38.46% 61.53% I think it is easy to use

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E-learning

2.92 15.38% 30.76% 0% 38.46% 15.38% E-learning needs great efforts to acquire the skill to use

3.07 7.69% 38.46% 15.38% 30.76% 7.69% Interaction with E-learning requires a lot of mental effort

3.76 7.69% 61.53% 30.76% 0% 0% E- learning is not flexible

3.59 General mean

Table 3 measures the variable of usefulness, reveal that all statement reaches high level of agreement ranging from ‘agree’ to ‘strongly agree’. Among all of them, the statement “The use of E-learning will help to complete the work smoothly” has the highest mean with the score of 4.38, while the first statement, “The use of E-learning increases the student”, scores the lowest with a mean of =4.

Calculating the mean of all statements generates the general mean of the variable “usefulness”. This process indicates that students’ perception of E-learning regarding “usefulness” the scores 4.25, that ranges from ‘agree’ to ‘strongly agree’. This result points out that participants believe the ‘usefulness’ as a crucial factor in motivating them to use E- learning systems.

Table 3. Students’ Perceptions Toward Usefulness of E-learning System

Mean Strongly disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

Variables

4 0% 0% 15.38% 69.24% 15.38% The use of E-learning increases the student productivity

4.30 0% 0% 7.70% 53.84% 38.46% The use of E-learning improving the quality of the work of student

4.30 0% 0% 15.38% 38.46% 46.15% The use of E-learning will help to complete the work more quickly than usual

4.38 0% 0% 7.70% 46.15% 46.15% The use of E-learning will help to complete the work smoothly

4.30 0% 0% 7.70% 53.84% 38.46% The use of E-learning is useful for students

4.25 General mean

Table 4 presents students’ attitude toward E- learning systems. The attitude

represented in the statements “Dealing with E-learning increases interaction between the students with each other” and “Dealing with E-learning increases the interaction between students and professors” found to be the greatest factors according the mean scores which reaches 4.53 for each one of them. The attitude toward the statement “the use of E-learning is an enjoyable experience for students” had the lowest mean with score of 3.99. However, the general mean shows that students have positive attitude toward E-learning (mean = 4.33). Table 4. Students’ Attitudes Toward of E-learning System

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Mean Strongly disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

Variables

4.38 0% 0% 7.70% 46.15% 46.15% The use of E-learning in teaching is a successful idea

4.30 0% 0% 15.39% 38.46% 46.15% The use of E-learning is an appropriate method

3.99 0% 0% 15.39% 30.76% 53.84% The use of E-learning is an enjoyable experience for students

4.30 53.84% 30.76% 7.70% 7.70% 0% 1he use of E-learning does not give in addition to traditional methods of teaching

4.53 7.70% 0% 0% 15.38% 76.92% Dealing with E-learning increases interaction between the students with each other

4.53 0% 7.70% 0% 23.07% 69.23% Dealing with E-learning increase the interaction between students and professors

4.33 General mean

Conclusion and recommendations

The students in the present study had framed well understanding and perception of E-learning. They found the E-learning system as easy to use and useful. Hence, they had a positive attitude toward implementing it in higher education. However, the factor ‘ease of use’ has the lowest rate (3.59%) among the other two factors. The reason can be attributed to the average skills of most students in using electronic resources (61%) as well as to the average skills of about half of the students in using computer. As with any other study, the current study has a few limitations despite its strengths. Among the limitations of this study, the major one is the low number of participants in assessing E-learning. The reason is that the E-learning was implemented for a short span of time. Based on the findings, the following recommendations are presented for enhancing E-learning system in Imam University:

1. There is a need to expand the use of E-learning to more programs in the university. 2. More training for students to enhance the skills of using computers and electronic

resources is necessary. The training will help to increase the level of awareness in using E-learning applications such as: E-learning resources, communication tools etc.

3. E-learning should be implemented in educational programs in an enhanced way by including the modern innovative Internet technologies such as Interactive learning, blogs, list servers, wikis and social web.

4. The present study has applied quantitative method to collect the data. So qualitative research in the use of E-learning is essential to draw other kinds of results.

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