A strategic approach to the implementation of quality distance learning in Saudi Arabia : an embedded case study

New technological advancements in media and communication have made informationincreasingly accessible and have offered an environment for distance learning to expand as analternative mode for delivering education and instruction. The advantages of this mode ofdelivery have encouraged educational institutions around the world to expand theireducational approach and offer the opportunity for more students to join their programmes ata distance. In light of the variety of methods and technologies that are used to deliver suchprogrammes, challenges concerning the quality of these programmes have started to emerge.In response, organisations and agencies have begun to develop quality standards for distancelearning in order to assess the implementation of these programmes. Calls for the use of suchstandards in assuring the quality of distance learning programmes are on the rise. By 2002,many Saudi Arabian universities had begun to offer a range of distance learning programmesto meet the demand from a growing number of students. Although the Saudi governmentinvested huge financial and human resources into the implementation of distance learning,the quality of such learning has been widely disputed. Through a case study approachinvolving a leading university in Saudi Arabia that offers a variety of distance learningprogrammes, this study aimed to develop a strategic approach for implementing qualitydistance learning. The study utilised a mixed methods design for assessment purposes fromthree different perspectives (administrators’, faculty members’ and students’). The studyfound that the quality of distance learning in the country faces many barriers at sixlevels/dimensions. These barriers, in most respects, ensued from the ambiguity of theMinistry of Higher Education regulations that organise distance learning in the country,which has incapacitated the Deanship of Distance Learning role as the centre of distancelearning operations at distance learning Saudi universities. It concluded with a strategicapproach that is mainly focused on the elimination of the aforementioned barriers. The studyfindings provide Saudi universities authorities with a comprehensive tool for evaluating thequality of their distance learning programmes and solutions to implement quality distancelearning in the country to avoid the shortcomings of the perceived poor distance learningquality.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral (Level 8)

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Alsoliman, BS

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1407601

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1407601