Status of e-Learning at Several Major Universities in Saudi Arabia.
Although e-Learning in Saudi Arabian universities is still relatively new,
many universities are making great strides in implementing good infrastructure and using elearning
to extendthe reach of education beyond conventional limits. These universities,
being pioneers, are learning from the practices of others and adopting these to suit their
situations with varying results. In order to better understand the status of e-learning
practice in Saudi Arabia,a comprehensive survey was conducted in early 2010 at several
major universities by a team of international and local consultants over a period of two
weeks. The survey revealed that all the universities are well equipped in terms of
technology infrastructure. However, almost all the universities face challenges such as the
lack of capable human resource support in areas such as e-learning pedagogy and content
production. The universities adopt various initiatives to overcome the challenges and some
of the initiatives can be useful to other universities facing similar challenges. It was also
found that the extent of adoption of best practices varies greatly among the universities.
This paper presents the results of the survey and discusses some of the outcomes.
