EXPLORING BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF USING BLACKBOARD COLLABORATE AS A REMOTE LEARNING TOOL AMONG QASSIM UNIVERSITY EFL INTENSIVE COURSE PROGRAM STUDENTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, using Blackboard platform as a learning tool has dramatically increased in Saudi universities. Still, learners lack effective knowledge of using Blackboard platform. Accordingly, there is a pressing need to concentrate on using Blackboard platform during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve learning outcomes. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the benefits and challenges of using Blackboard Collaborate as a learning tool by EFL ICP students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus group interviews were used to collect data from a purposive sample of 15 Saudi male ICP students who took part willingly in this study. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The findings showed that using Blackboard Collaborate as a learning tool can help the students enhance online cooperative learning, flexible learning in a variety of ways other than traditional classes, having access to a wide range of information for academic purposes and ability to use technology effectively. Additionally, the findings showed that the challenges faced by ICP students include insufficient technical knowledge and training, limited and poor internet connection, inability to upload and download large size files and problems with logging in password. It was intended that this research would be useful to all higher education institutions stakeholders in general. However, with only a few participants, this study was limited to EFL ICP students at Qassim University. Further research may use a quantitative or mixed-method approach to provide generalizable results.