Issues and Prospects of E-Learning in Oman
Issues and Prospects of E-Learning in Oman
复制标题
阿曼电子学习的问题和前景
DOI：
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发表时间：
2002
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Ali Sharaf Al Musawi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ali Sharaf Al Musawi
The paper describes the issues and prospects of e-learning in Oman educational system. Technology has transformed the practice of education in many countries and Oman is set to modernize her education to align with the rest of the world. The issues which need immediate attention include quality, security, and credibility of web-based learning. Other concerns which include infrastructural readiness, language and related issues in e-learning are being addressed as policies are formulated and the requisite foundations are being laid in preparation for the national distance education program in Oman. Introduction The Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman has continued to put the education of both girls and boys high on her priority list. During the Five-Year Plan 1996-2000, a total of 107 new schools were built as the Ministry has a comprehensive plan to modernize the education system to meet with meet the needs of the 21 st Century. By the year 2000 about 565,856 boys and girls, aged 6-18 years were in schools (Ministry of Information, 2000). In 1994, there were about 3,600 students, in the various specializations at the only university, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) with 56% females and 44% males. Only a small fraction of high school graduates get admitted into SQU. E-learning is of interest in Oman because of the apparent inability of the only public university to cope with the large number of students who qualify for higher education but cannot be offered places. Research and experience around the world have shown that e-learning can bridge this gap. CanningWilson (2000) reports experts’ prediction that in the next few decades, over 50% of student population will be educated using on-line learning and/or technology. What then is e-learning? The most important concerns at this point in Omani educational development are whether or not elearning is the best alternative in order to increase University admissions of Omani high school graduates? To what extent can policy-makers and educators trust e-learning in producing high quality university graduates? What are the criteria for assessing the quality of e-learning to accord it the reasonable credibility for acceptance? What are the issues involved in e-learning security? These concerns are, in a sense universal. A survey entitled "The States of E-Learning in the States" found that the current challenges most frequently cited by the States are the costs of developing content and training instructors; the necessary enlargement of infrastructure capacity; the quality of courses and content; agreements on articulation and residency; the responsiveness of traditional institutions; and issues of privacy and intellectual property rights. The report shows that States rank quality issues as their highest concern (NGA, 2001). IT Status and Prospects of E-Learning in Oman The Sultanate of Oman recognized IT as an enormous untapped wealth and began to focus her efforts in setting up IT business parks and Information Technology institutions. Apart from IT adoption in Governmental and the private sectors, educational institutions have embraced IT on a large scale. In the last few years, there had been a proliferation of the Internet Cafes in major cities of Oman and IT literacy continues to improve with many citizens using the email facilities and surfing the Web for needed information on a daily basis. It is important that Oman is able to keep pace with the rest of the world. Al Balooshi (2001) asserts that e-learning is the “now big thing” and not the “next big thing” and that e-learning must be viewed with some seriousness in the Gulf region. On-line learning is the future of education and it is certain that those teachers who are still trapped in the in the chalk and talk tradition will be left behind as
