Overview of Technology Integration in Saudi Arabia
With an increasing attention to higher education in Saudi Arabia, higher education institutions and universities rely on technologies to provide a high-quality of learning and teaching experience. Among the technological tools used in HEIs in KSA, there are collaborative eLearning, ICTs (information and Communication Technologies), and CTS (Correspondence Tracking System) for monitoring student enrolment at universities and administrative procedures. The modern learning and teaching trends are mandatory to support faculty members with IT skills to overcome the new challenges. With the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, Saudi Arabia implements the National Plan for Information Technology (NPIT) to empower Saudi with e-learning in lifelong education. To this end, the Kingdom established the National Centre for E-Learning & Distance Learning (NCeDL) in Riyadh (Mirza, 2007).
The use of computers at universities in Saudi Arabia began in the 1996. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) established the Computer and Information Centre (CIC) that provided ICT services for educational institutions. MOHE started the project in 2000 that sought to provide schools in KSA with e-content to facilitate learning and teaching (Oyaid, 2009). This project was followed by the establishment of WATANI Schools’ Net project in 2001, to connect educational directorates and schools KSA-wide with the wide area network (WAN). With the partnership of Intel, Semanoor – a local software company – created an electronic curriculum, Semanoor browser, e-classroom systems, digital library for all government K-12 public and private schools.
In addition, Al-Khalifa (2009) points out other projects such as Obeikan Education with the web platform “Skoool” for over 250 interactive lessons for K-12 students. The Jehazi project targets at enhancement of teachers’ technological competence in KSA and provision of teachers with laptops. In 2008, MOHE in Saudi Arabia launched the initiative of Google Educational Program which equipped 1,200 schools and 20,000 teachers with personal emails to access office applications programs and personal websites. Moreover, MOHE along with Intel and Microsoft launched various educational, training and e-learning projects for Saudi students and teachers. Consequently, KSA became the largest ICT market in the Middle East, with a special focus on science and mathematics (Al-Asmari, 2005).