Communication, interaction and collaboration by female Saudi secondary school students arising through asynchronous e-learning

Abstract

A considerable current challenge facing Saudi schools is the need to change in order to meet the demands of the future and to develop new and different learning opportunities for the coming generations of learners. This research project is a case study that focuses on the use of an asynchronous e-learning tool, exploring a strategy used in one secondary school in Saudi Arabia to investigate students’ communication, interaction and collaboration. The project reflects upon the challenges of effectively using new learning technology, and encouraging effective communication, interaction and collaboration between students. The study also investigates the effect of using a variety of sources of information in order to pursue a better understanding of the tasks, benefits and challenges associated with using online forum technology by teenage girls being taught in traditional Saudi classrooms.

A qualitative methodology was employed. A group of thirty female students in a school in Boraydah, Saudi Arabia, participated in an online forum to study a specific unit on the Geography curriculum during the second semester of the academic year 2012-2013. Online observation, focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate students’ e-learning experiences and in particular, their communication, interaction and collaboration. Knowledge Building Theory and Communities of Practice were used as theoretical frameworks for the case study. Forum discussions were analysed using Systematic Content Analysis, and focus group and interview data were analysed thematically.

The response of the students indicate that prior to the intervention the level of interaction both inside the classroom and outside the classroom was much lower and that poor level of interaction, they felt, had a negative influence on their learning. They recognise the value of collaboration and the experience of the online forum encourages them to communicate more in school and in the classroom. The research also shows that students using the online forum develop features of a community of practice.

I hope that the results of this research can assist teachers, schools and the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia to identify how to develop new teaching and learning approaches, increase student communication and interaction, and integrate new technological methods in schools for the benefit of the coming generations of teachers and learners.

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Identifiers

ORCID for John Woollard: orcid.org/0000-0002-4518-0784

ORCID for Anthony Kelly: orcid.org/0000-0003-4664-8585

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