Faculty Members and Students Perceptions of E-Learning in the English Department: A Project Evaluation

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: With the brisk technology developments, e-learning is revolutionalising the educational industry by leaps and bounds, thus becoming a popular method of education for many universities and colleges around the world. In Saudi Arabian universities, there is a tangible presence of Web-based curricular provisions within the traditional university known as blended learning. There is a growing call advocating the inclusion of online learning in every university to provide distance education. There are many issues that arise problematically. Some of these issues include study overload, lack of technological skills and feelings of isolation, problems in course design and course delivery formats. There are other organizational issues related to accreditation and quality assurance procedures. Approach: This study examines this progressive trend by literature review and survey and whether it is promising for the future of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Saudi Arabia. The study also assesses the effectiveness of and preference for, webbased learning as perceived by faculty and students. Results: Faculty and student responses were generally positive overall and indicated that learning improved in an e-learning environment compared to a traditional approach. Conclusion/Recommendations: The results of this study will inform EFL educators as to whether this mode of learning would serve as viable component of future ELT university programmes in English departments in Saudi universities and guide future research efforts towards more efficient and competitive online learning environments.