Smart Learning Gateways for Omani HEIs Towards Educational Technology: Benefits, Challenges and solutions

Authors

  • Qasim Alajmi College of Arts & Humanities, Department of Education, A’ Sharqiah University, Oman.
  • Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi Faculty of Computing, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia.
  • Amer Abuali IT Department, Taibah University, KSA.

Abstract

Globally, higher education institutions (HEIs) is completely transformed with the growth of information and communication technology. This change is due to the advancement of information technology in the world, which has led to the creation of conceptual frameworks that design the smart learning environment across the globe for Educational Technology. Therefore, a great deal of today's teachings relies heavily on the information and technology resources where most HEIs are starting to digitize their courses curriculum. The smart learning matter has gained a global trend for the past few years but still did not discuss thoroughly in the Omani environment. This research aims at providing innovative ways of using information and technology in higher education learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges that higher learning students encounter in higher education institutions with the implementation of technology-enhanced learning, the benefits of the smart learning environment in Oman, and to identify the solutions for the smart learning environment in students of high education Oman. Finally, this paper gives recommendations on how the universities in Omani HEIs can minimize and conquer the challenges that higher education' students in Oman face in becoming a smart learning environment.

Author Biographies

Qasim Alajmi, College of Arts & Humanities, Department of Education, A’ Sharqiah University, Oman.

Qasim Al-Ajmi, Ph. D is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology, A’ Sharqiah University (ASU). He served as Assistant Dean for Administrative and Financial Affairs of Oman College of Management and Technology, also taught Management Information Systems (MIS) and Computer Science (CS) in the same college. He was also a former Information Technology Supervisor and IT Teacher in Ministry of Education.

Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi, Faculty of Computing, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia.

Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi currently a research fellow at Faculty of Computing, College of Computing and Applied Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Pahang. He received the MSc degree in Management Information System from Yarmouk University, Jordan. He is a certified recognized reviewer by several leading journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. His current research interests include IS/IT adoption, E-learning, online social networks and technology management

References

Al-Emran, Mostafa, and Timothy Teo. 2019. 'Do knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing really affect e-learning adoption? An empirical study', Education and Information Technologies: 1-16.

Al-Qaysi, Noor, Norhisham Mohamad-Nordin, Mostafa Al-Emran, and Mohammed A Al-Sharafi. 2019. "Understanding the differences in students' attitudes towards social media use: A case study from Oman." In 2019 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD), 176-79. IEEE.

Al-Sharafi, Mohammed A., Ruzaini A. Arshah, and Emad A. Abu-Shanab. 2019. "Questionnaire Development Process to Measure the SMEs’ Continuous Use behavior towards Cloud Computing Services." In Proceedings of the 2019 8th International Conference on Software and Computer Applications, 50–55. Penang, Malaysia: Association for Computing Machinery.

Alajmi, Q. A., A. Kamaludin, R. A. Arshah, and M. A. Al-Sharafi. 2018. 'The Effectiveness of Cloud-Based E-Learning towards Quality of Academic Services: An Omanis' Expert View', International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 9: 158-64.

Alajmi, Qasim, Ali Sadiq, Adzhar Kamaludin, and Mohammed A Al-Sharafi. 2017. "E-Learning Models: The Effectiveness of the Cloud-Based E-Learning Model over the Traditional E-Learning Model." In 8th International Conference on Information Technology, ICIT'2017, 12-16. Aman, Gordan.

AlFalahi Manal, Albishiri Eman, Alajmi Qasim. 2019. "Smart Learning environment for HEIs in Oman." In 2nd students research conference, edited by SQU, 37. SQU: SQU.

Atkins, DE, J Bennett, JS Brown, A Chopra, C Dede, B Fishman, and B Williams. 2010. 'Transforming American education: Learning powered by technology', E–Learning and Digital Media, 114: 39.

Bernard, H Russell, and Harvey Russell Bernard. 2012. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (Sage).

Churchill, Gilbert A, and Dawn Iacobucci. 2006. Marketing research: methodological foundations (Dryden Press New York).

Creswell, John W, and J David Creswell. 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Sage publications).

Dörnyei, Zoltán. 2007. Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies (Oxford University Press).

Ercan, Tuncay. 2010. 'Effective use of cloud computing in educational institutions', Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2: 938-42.

Kobayashi, T., K. Arai, H. Sato, S. Tanimoto, and A. Kanai. 2017. 'An Application Framework for Smart Education System Based on Mobile and Cloud Systems', Ieice Transactions on Information and Systems, E100d: 2399-410.

Lee, C. 2016. "Handbook of Research on Cloud-Based STEM Education for Improved Learning Outcomes." In IGI Global.

Lee, J., H. Zo, and H. Lee. 2014. 'Smart learning adoption in employees and HRD managers', British Journal of Educational Technology, 45: 1082-96.

Low, C. Y., Y. H. Chen, and M. C. Wu. 2011. 'Understanding the determinants of cloud computing adoption', Industrial Management & Data Systems, 111: 1006-23.

Mufadhal, Mokhtar Esmail, Noor Azida Sahabudin, and Mohammed A Al-Sharafi. 2018. 'Conceptualizing a Model for Adoption of Online Social Networks as a Learning Tool', Advanced Science Letters, 24: 7747-50.

Picciano, Anthony G. 2012. 'The evolution of big data and learning analytics in American higher education', Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16: 9-20.

Qasim Alajmi, Ruzaini Abdullah Arshah, Adzhar Kamaludin,Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi. 2019. "Current State of Cloud-Based E-learning Adoption: Results from Gulf Cooperation Council's Higher Education Institutions." In 2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON), 569-75. Canada: IEEE.

Riffai, MMMA, Peter Duncan, David Edgar, and Ahmed Hassan Al-Bulushi. 2016. "The potential for big data to enhance the higher education sector in oman." In Big Data and Smart City (ICBDSC), 2016 3rd MEC International Conference., 1-6. IEEE.

Sarrab, M., L. Elgamel, and H. Aldabbas. 2012. 'Mobile Learning (M-Learning) and Educational Environments', Fifth International Conference on Advanced Computer Theory and Engineering., 3: 513-20.

Sarrab, Mohamed, Hafedh Al-Shih, and Osama M Hussain Rehman. 2013. 'Exploring major challenges and benefits of m-learning adoption', British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 3: 826.

Sarrab, Mohamed, and Laila Elgamel. 2013. 'Contextual M-learning system for higher education providers in Oman', World Applied Sciences Journal, 22: 1412-19.

Siemens, G. 2013. 'Learning Analytics: The Emergence of a Discipline', American Behavioral Scientist, 57: 1380-400.

Teater, Barbra, John Devaney, Donald Forrester, Jonathan Scourfield, and John Carpenter. 2016. Quantitative research methods for social work: Making social work count (Macmillan International Higher Education).

Zhu, Zhi-Ting, Ming-Hua Yu, and Peter Riezebos. 2016. 'A research framework of smart education', Smart learning environments, 3: 4.

Downloads

Published

2020-05-01

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

Authors submitting articles to the IJITLS warrent that the work is original and that she/he is the author of the submission together with the named co-authors; to the extend the submission incorporates text passages, figures, data or other material from the work of others, the submitting author has obtained any necessary permission.


Articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY 4.0).


By submitting an article, the author grants to this journal the non-exclusive right to publish it. The author retains the copyright and the publishing rights for his article without any restrictions.