Perceptions of female students toward video conferencing technology at AOU-KSA.

Abstract

Educational institutes are incorporating technology in their teaching methods to facilitate their students. The female students in Saudi Arabia, studying at Arab Open University have to attend lectures from male teachers through video conferencing due to religious restrictions. The institutes ensure to facilitate the students in every aspect to make learning process convenient. Whereas, at times there are some issues that may linger on and cause a disturbance in the learning environment. This study aims to find out the opinion of female students at AOU who have to attend classes through video conferences. The purpose is to identify the issues in the video conference technology regarding the environment of the class, the technical facilities available to them, the kind of classrooms they study in how effective the video conference method is in interaction between the male instructors and the female students. Students seem to be neutral or at times satisfied with facilities available to them, however, in some matters, it is a close call, as some of the students may not be comfortable as others.