Blended Learning Approach in UAE Higher Education: A Selected Annotated Bibliography

Abstract

In the present time, the required value of education can be achieved only by changing the parameters related to technology use and transforming a classroom into a student-centered that meets different students' needs and learning styles. The blended learning (BL) approach to learning has been the object of various studies in the last two decades as a way to achieve the required results. Many higher educational institutes started to prefer BL over traditional teaching, and the UAE universities are not exceptions. There has been an increased recognition of the fact that more attention needs to be paid to this area. Hence, this selected annotated bibliography aimed to find out and describe the primary outcomes of the BL approach research in this country. Emergent themes from the UAE studies include 1) students' and instructors' technology readiness and their attitudes towards E-learning; 2) students' and instructors' views and experiences with BL approach; 3) BL tools and technologies (mobile learning and social-networking sites); 4) BL resources (Blackboard Learn, video content, online discussions, and Google Docs); 5) impact of BL. Twenty studies have been used for this review. The primary audience for this annotated bibliography is BL researchers.