Saudi Teachers' Perceptions Of Transitioning To Online Learning To Teach Islamic Studies.

Abstract

This study aims to examine Saudi teachers’ perceptions of transitioning to online teaching to teach Islamic studies during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire was employed to collect the data in this study. The participants were drawn from within intermediate schools in Saudi Arabia and the analysis included responses from 45 Islamic studies teachers. The theory of connectivism guided the research process. The results showed that the teachers support transitioning to online teaching for Islamic studies and that they also have a positive attitude towards it. Nonetheless, they believe that they are currently facing several challenges pertaining to additional training and support to handle and use electronic devices. Online teaching is hampered by a variety of obstacles that need to be surmounted in order to ensure that both students and teachers can access and benefit from this particular approach. These obstacles include cost, a lack of teacher training, access to technology, etc. However, many teachers intend to benefit from this specific method and to incorporate it into online teaching. Moreover, they perceive it to be an appropriate strategy that can be used during the pandemic and in the future to work with students. These results have been used to provide recommendations for future practice.