The Use of E-Learning in Highly Domain-Specific Settings

This study examines the general perceptions of Saudi Arabian faculty members and Saudi female students toward e-learning, as well as their perceptions toward potentially replacing the current closed-circuit distance technology in use for female students studying at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with an online, learning management system-based technology. Data were collected during spring 2016 using an online survey at PNU in Saudi Arabia (n = 204 female students and n =102 faculty members). An analysis of the data revealed that the majority of participants held positive perceptions toward the use of e-learning were it to be implemented at PNU. The study also revealed high levels of support within these groups for the implementation of e-learning-based course delivery in the case when male instructors teach and interact with female students, a common practice in Saudi Arabian higher education. After presenting the study’s findings, several proposed recommendations are developed and presented for use by both decision-makers at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University and at other universities in Saudi Arabia operating under similar cultural and organizational circumstances.