Assessment Of E-learning Perceptions

AN ASSESSMENT OF E-LEARNING IN EGYPT THROUGH THE PERCEPTIONS OF EGYPTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A FIELD WORK SURVEY. Mohamed El-Zayat School of Computing & Technology University of Sunderland Sunderland, United Kingdom and Dr. Alan Fell School of Computing & Technology University of Sunderland Sunderland, United Kingdom

Introduction E-learning is one of the fastest growing techniques in the field of educational provision and affords greater flexibility, in terms of how, when and where students can learn. This is particularly relevant at higher education (HE) level since students might often need to travel some distance in order to take up a place at University. Though higher education in Egypt is free, there currently exist only 13 universities, located within major cities, so regular attendance can be difficult or even impossible for those who are located at some distance from these centres. The increased flexibility provided by a wide variety of e-learning techniques, e.g. CD-ROMs, Intranet and Internet, extends the learning opportunities of those students currently excluded from higher education on the grounds of location, physical ability or cost/social status. As a nation, Egypt is only just beginning to engage with e-learning and, as a consequence, it is believed that not many people within the country fully understand or appreciate the power and benefits provided by ICT (information and communication technologies) supported learning. Even within educational circles, there seems to be a broad range in the depth of understanding of the medium. To provide an indication of the nation’s awareness of, and readiness to apply e-learning this research focuses on the current state of the medium in Egypt as perceived by university students. The sample population is seen as entirely appropriate since HE institutions the world over lead the way in researching and championing the adoption and application of electronically delivered and supported education.

Background While the advantages afforded by e-learning have increasing recognition in countries such as the UK, Australia and the United States, Egypt it seems has not really begun to exploit the medium. In their assessment of Egypt’s readiness to adopt e-learning Beckstrom et al (2004) reported that that the Supreme Council of Universities provided no accreditation for any educational programmes supported or delivered through this platform. There appears to have been little or no change in the intervening period. Given the widening gap between the number of university places currently available in Egypt and the growing demand for higher education, e-learning appears eminently placed to offer an economic and more immediate solution to the problem. This is not to suggest that e-learning should be considered as suitable only for distance learning programmes nor to say that Egypt should not focus on a longer term investment with regard to increasing on campus capacity through a planned building programme. Effective application of e-learning techniques in a variety of forms can help to promote more efficient use of on campus facilities and human resource. The steadily increasing number of internet users, internet cafes, ISPs and technology companies reported by The information and decision support centre (2006), see charts 1 to 4, suggests that Egypt is poised for the adoption of e-learning. Egypt has the technology, and is using it, in the workplace and for leisure, but not yet, it seems for education.

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Chart 1

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Increasing numbers of internet users in Egypt (Time series 97-06)

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Increasing numbers of internet cafes in Egypt (Time series 00-05)

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Increasing numbers of Technology Companies in Egypt (Time series 97-06)

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Research Aim The aim of this research was to survey, and provide an insight into, Egyptian university students' perceptions of e-learning and to use this as a further indicator of the nation’s readiness to adopt and apply e-learning. The 4 main dimensions investigated in the study and from which the conclusions are drawn were Egyptian university students’ : 1) 2) 3) 4)

Perceptions of the use of new technologies. Readiness to use electronic learning. View of e-learning visibility in Egypt. Perceptions of the learning community’s readiness for e-learning.

These 4 dimensions were addressed by the following interview questions/prompts, respectively listed below, which relate to factors which suggest the opinion and practices of the students who took part in the survey. Egyptian University Students’ Perception to use new technologies. Are they aware of the relationship between technology and learning? Do they own a PC? How do they use their PC? Do they use their PCs to support their learning? Do they use the internet, and for what? Do they use the internet to support their learning? Egyptian University Students’ readiness to use e-learning. Are they aware or have knowledge of any forms of learning? Have they first hand experience of any form of e-learning? Do they have preference for traditional learning or ICT supported learning? Are they willing to continue learning throughout life? Egyptian University Students view of e-learning visibility. Do students see ICT supported learning as an effective from of learning? What do they see as the main differences between traditional and electronic learning? How do students view the role of e-learning in their learning process? Egyptian university students Community readiness of e-learning. Is there any difference in credibility between e-learning and traditional learning programmes? What was their opinion about the possibility of a new distance learning university in Egypt? Did students think Egypt was ready for a community of e-learners?

Methodology The data collection for this survey was carried out entirely in Egypt through interviews conducted with 60 university students, male and female, from different educational disciplines and levels, who were studying at universities at four different locations across Egypt. The Research tool The research tool employed to collect the data for this survey was semi-structured interviews covering all 17 factors listed above with each interviewee. Semi-structured interviews were chosen as they afford the opportunity to provide deeper, richer data on the aspects being investigated and allow further explanation of any areas with which students were unsure. They also permit further probing to promote clarity of the response provided and, in some cases, to provide validation of the answer given. For example asking a student if they were willing to continue learning throughout life might predictably result in a positive response. Asking the student why they would do so and how they might achieve this ought to provide some degree of validation, or otherwise, of the answer given. All of the interviews were carried out on the campuses of the universities with randomly chosen students.

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The Sample The research sample comprised 60 university students. A breakdown of the sample constituents is provided below with respect to gender, nature of study and location. 1. Gender The Sample included 42 (70%) male students and 18 (30%) female students. The reason for this gender imbalance is due to the reluctance of many female students to take part in the survey. This became particularly apparent when a request was made to record the Interview.

Male 70% Fem ale 30%

2. Nature of study The interview sample included students from different disciplines (Business, Law, Arts, Education, Economics & Political Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Sciences and Computing & Information Technology). These specialties were divided into two categories; theoretical and pragmatic. The theoretical disciplines include: Business, Law, Arts, Education and Economics & Political Sciences. The pragmatic specialties include: Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Sciences and Computing & Information Technology. The reason for this categorization is that, each specialty is approximately similar in it's characteristics with other specialties within the same category. We mean by characteristics the content nature of the material like graphs, mathematical elements, pictures, illustrations and of course text. Also we could say that the sample reflects the real students' community, as the theoretical faculties are much more occupied than the pragmatic faculties. Diagram (2) shows the portion of both theoretical and pragmatic specialties in the whole sample population.

Diagram (1)

Theo retical (B iz, Law, A rts, Edu and Eco 70% applied (Eng, M ed, Dent, Sci and Co m) 3

Diagram (2)

3. Location The Sample included students from 4 universities: Cairo, Ain shams, Mansoura and Zagazig. The first two universities, located in Cairo, are the largest universities in Egypt and are similar in their demographical characteristics. The other two universities, Mansoura and Zagazig, are located in less densely populated areas of Egypt and have demographical characteristics which are different from the first two universities (Cairo and Ain shams). The sample included students from both communities and diagram (3) shows the distribution of the sample among the two communities. as we can see in the diagram the representation of the less developed community is slitly greater than the more developed community, which almost reflects the reality.

C o m m unit y 1 ( c a iro & A in s ha m s ) 4 C o m m unit y 2 ( M a ns o ura & Z a ga zig 5 3 .3 %

Diagram (3)

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Research results The findings from the research have provided interesting results regarding the current status of e-learning in Egypt, from the university students' point of view, which tend to confirm the belief that Egypt has not yet begun to fully apply and exploit the opportunities afforded by e-learning. The following is a quantitative illustration of the results. Factor 1 : Attitudes to Lifelong Learning

For Against,

The interviews began by asking students about their opinion on learning and in particular about lifelong learning, i.e. learning throughout life. The reason for this was to set a benchmark and establish learning as a concept. From this, students’ opinions of learning in general were classified as either a positive or negative attitude. The percentages of students responses to Factor 1 are shown in diagram 4.

A ga ins t

42.60%

For, 58.40%

Diagram (4)

Of the students interviewed, 58.4% said they believed that lifelong learning is a very important, and that it was necessary to continue learning beyond school and university. These students said that they felt there was the need to continue their education through formal higher studies by, for example research degrees and a few went a stage further and said that there was also a need to continue learning professionally in order to have better knowledge and consequently a better economic, cultural and social position. The remaining 42.6% of the sample said they would prefer to stop learning after university and start engaging in work and practical life. The majority of these students said that university should be enough to qualify them for life and that they wanted to apply what they had learned in school and university and gain practical experience.

Factor 2 : Relationship between technology and Learning The interview continued by asking the respondents about their view on the relationship between technology and learning and whether or not technology might be used to enhance and improve the learning process.

P o o r, 15%

Stro ng, 48.40%

Po o r M o d erat e St ro ng

The responses to this question varied and have been graded on a scale of ‘poor’ ‘moderate and ‘strong’ in which poor means the respondent felt that the use of technology would have no effect or only a minor influence on improving the process. Diagram (5)

M o derate , 36.60%

A response classed a ‘moderate’ was used when the student felt that the use of technology would produce some tangible improvement in the learning experience but that this would not be significant. Finally, a ‘strong‘ response is indicated when the student suggested that the interaction of technology with the learning process would produce some significant, positive effect. The classification breakdown of the responses obtained is shown in Diagram 5. It can be seen from the diagram that almost half (48.4%) of the students questioned felt that the application of technology can significantly enhance the learning process. Some of the students qualified their response by suggesting that they felt the improvement might be achieved by presenting knowledge in a more user friendly way that made it more easy to understand. Just over one third of those interviewed (36.6%) said they felt that technology might help in enhancing the learning process but that in some cases it might cause confusion and distract the focus of the learner. For example, when using computers to access information on the internet some suggested that they might become distracted and use the technology to investigate other things rather than their learning. Finally a minority of students (15%) said they believed that the use of technology in their learning might confuse the learner, particularly if s/he was not competent in the use of the technology. In this case they suggested that traditional methods might be more appropriate.

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Factor 3 : Ownership a PC Clearly for a student to be capable of full engagement with e-learning and obtain maximum benefit from the ‘anywhere, anytime’ philosophy which it permits, ownership of a personal computer is an important consideration. As result, determining the number of students who are adequately prepared to take maximum advantage of the benefits of e-learning was a significant aspect of this research. Diagram 6 provides a graphical representation of the breakdown between those who have, and those who do not have a computer of their own. Referring to diagram 6 shows that more than two thirds of the students interviewed (68.4%) currently own a PC.

No, 31.60%

Y es No

Yes, 68.40%

Diagram (6)

Factor 4 : Usage of PCs The general trend in how technology is used by students provides some indication of their ability and readiness to embrace e-learning. To this end, students were asked about the frequency of their usage of computers in general and in their studies specifically. The evaluation of students’ responses to this were graded either as low, moderate or high. Diagram 7 provides a pictorial representation of the responses obtained. The responses to this question revealed that 40 % of students in the sample used computers only occasionally, and that this use was mainly for entertainment purposes, with little or no engagement in learning activities. These students are represented by the red sector in Diagram 7.

High, 16.60% Low, 40%

A similar proportion (43.4 %) use computers regularly for a variety purposes which include entertainment but which also include usage for learning purposes. The learning activities engaged in by these students might typically include searching for specific data or experimenting with a new software program. Only one sixth 16.6 % of the students interviewed use computers regularly for learning activities, research and communication. However these students also said that they consider computers to be an essential learning tool.

Low Moderate High

Moderate, 43.40%

Diagram (7)

Factor 5 : Internet accessibility

Access

No Access,

No Access

In tandem with the above, students’ ability to access the 38.40% Internet provides some indicator of their capability to embrace and apply e-learning. To explore this, students were asked about their ability to access the internet both at home and at university. The responses obtained suggest that more than one third (38.4%) of the students questioned said that they had no access to the Internet. This is presented graphically in Diagram 8.

Access, 61.60%

Diagram (8)

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Factor 6 : Depending on the internet as a source of knowledge To explore factor 6, students were asked about the nature of their internet use. Questions used to explore this factor might typically include, How frequently do you use the internet? How do you use the internet? How dependent on the internet are you for accessing information? These questions were asked as a means of exploring the relationship between students’ internet usage and to determine whether they use it as a source of knowledge. The responses obtained were graded as either low usage, moderate usage or high usage.

Low, 32%

H i gh, 43. 40%

Low Moderate High

Fewer than half the students questioned (43.4%) said that they believe the Internet is a major source of data and use it regularly. A little over a quarter (25.6%) said that they might use the Internet when searching for data but that they don’t depend on it as an information source. Almost a third suggested that they thought it was used primarily for entertainment and didn’t use it all in their learning .

M oder at e, 25. 60%

Diagram (9)

Factor 7 : Knowledge of E-Learning This factor focuses on students’ knowledge of e-learning, what they understand the term e-learning to mean and the information they have about e-learning.

Good Know eldge , 0.00%

Moderate Know ledge , 23.00%

Of those interviewed less than a quarter (23%) indicated in their response that they have some, but only a very superficial, understanding of e-learning. Some within this category suggested that they think it is similar to video conferencing and also believed the learner is always separated from the instructor. The remaining 77% said they had no idea about e-learning or what the term might mean. None of the students claimed to have a good understanding of the term.

Poor Know ledge Moderate Know ledge Good Poor Know eldge Know ledge , 77%

Diagram (10)

No Yes

Factor 8 : Experience of e-learning

Yes, 0.00%

Students were asked about any experience they had ever had with any form of e-learning or e-courses. As can be seen from Diagram 11 none of those questioned said they had any experience of any form of e-learning. No, 100%

Diagram (11)

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Factor 9 : E-learning as a mean of delivery Clearly there is some degree of interdependency between Factor 8 and Factor 9 since, for a student to have a reliable opinion regarding e-learning as a means of supporting educational delivery, it is necessary for them to have had some experience of the medium. Since the responses provided in Factor 8 show that the students’ knowledge of e-learning is largely poor, responses provided in this section cannot be regarded as reliable and might be viewed as speculation. Not withstanding this, a small proportion (3.4%) of the sample said that they believed e-learning afforded a good means of delivery and that it should assist in the overall learning process. As may be expected 56.6% said they were not sure about it because they hadn't experienced it before, but felt that it might be a good learning technique if designed carefully and professionally implemented. A significant number of students (40%) said they believe that traditional face to face learning cannot be replaced by e-learning and that traditional methods are the only way that students can deal seriously with the learning process.

Go o d M e t ho d, 3 .4 0 %

Poor M e t ho d, 40% P o o r M e t ho d M o de ra t e M e ht o d G o o d M e t ho d

M o de ra t e M e ht o d, 5 6 .6 0 %

Diagram (12)

Factor 10 : E-learning Preferences This factor explores students’ preferences with regard to the use of e-learning. Students were asked, if they had a choice between studying online or studying traditionally in a classroom for the same material which would they choose? More than half of those in the sample (58%) suggested that e-learning would be their preferred study mode as it provides much greater flexibility than traditional face to face (f2f) teaching, particularly with regard to where and when they might study. The remaining students (42%) said that they felt that they could not accept anything other than the traditional classroom and face to face tutoring, because they felt they could not study seriously in any other situation. Some of these also suggested that they believe e-learning might be used for training courses or hobbies but not for studying something as important as a degree course.

No, 42%

No Yes Yes, 58.00% Diagram (13)

Conclusion From the results of the study we might conclude that, while there are indicators which suggest Egypt may be poised on the verge of adopting e-learning systems and strategies, there are yet some issues which will act as barriers to this and which should be addressed before the e-learning implementation process begins. Firstly, it appears from comments made in the interviews that there is still some strong support among students for the traditional face to face teaching method of ‘chalk and talk’. To many of those interviewed, the idea of using technology as a learning support tool appears to be alien, and belonging instead to leisure activities e.g. on line chat rooms, downloading music on to mp3s and videos, rather than to scholastic activities. Though the majority of students in the study sample said they believed there is a strong relationship between learning and technology and a significant number of them have Internet enabled PCs

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and use them to access the Internet, very few have used them to support their learning. This might be because there appear as yet to be few, if any, directed actions from schools or universities to encourage students to use the Internet and recognize it as a source of information that might be used to support learning. As a consequence the awareness of e-learning in the sample is very low. Indeed, the only activities engaged in by the respondents of this study which encourage students to access the Internet are those which provide entertainment. It might further be concluded that if Egypt is to engage seriously with e-learning then validation of the medium at national level is essential. e-Learning programmes have so far achieved credibility in many regions across the world, e.g. the UK, USA, Asia, yet there seems to remain in Egypt some degree of mistrust of them. For them to become widely accepted and succeed in Egypt their efficacy and effectiveness needs to be proven. To achieve this, support from, and endorsement by the government is needed. To this end, the government might consider providing encouragement for educational institutions to develop and offer e-learning supported programmes and consider giving official recognition of these programmes.

References Beckstrom, M., Croasdale, H.,Riad, S.M., and Kamel M.M. (2004) Assessment of Egypt’s eLearning Readiness Available at: http://www.ltss.bris.ac.uk/events/egypt/ellen/readiness.doc Accessed (07/12/06) Information decision support Centre (IDSC) Egypt. (2006) Available at: http://www.idsc.gov.eg/indicators/IndicatorsResult.asp?rNds=54&IndicatorName=&IndicatorSector=62&Indic atorSource= Accessed (10\3\2006) Last updated (2\12\2006) (IDSC) The Information and Decision Support Center is an organization established by the Egyptian government presidency to act as an information portal of anything related to Egypt

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