Exploring Challenges and Issues Faced by Faculty Members in Utilizing Blackboard within Higher Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (An Empirical Study of King Saud University)

Abstract

This study addresses a crucial issue pertaining to the influence of the design and user interface of a learning management systems (LMSs), known as Blackboard, on the pedagogical performance of faculty members at King Saud University in terms of their employed teaching methods. The study considers system design and user interface as independent variables, while teaching methods are regarded as the dependent variable. The research aims to provide answers to the following specific inquiries:

- How do faculty members at Saudi universities perceive Blackboard as a digital platform that replaces traditional teaching methods? - How do faculty members at Saudi universities critically evaluate the design of the Blackboard system? - How do faculty members at Saudi universities critically evaluate the user interface of the Blackboard system?

Due to the intricate nature of human-computer interactions, interview alone may not offer sufficient information. Consequently, the researcher adopted mixed methodology research techniques, which involved conducting interviews with five teachers from the targeted institution and gathering 77 teacher responses through online questionnaires. The study received approximately 212 responses to the three open-ended questions on the survey which was distributed with the questionnaire.

The data collected from both interviews and surveys facilitated a comprehensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the system design and user interface of each LMS in relation to the employed teaching methods. The findings of the study underscore the substantial impact of LMS designs on system effectiveness and provide evidence of how variations in system design influence the overall user experience. The conclusions assert that the Blackboard system, particularly at the University of King Saud, significantly contributes to the educational process by enhancing both learning and teaching.

The researcher conducted interviews with five teachers who utilized the Blackboard system during the coronavirus pandemic. The data were tabulated using NVivo software, which is regarded as being one of the most effective programs for analyzing text-based data as it has the ability to enhance the qualitative research process by expediting the analysis of textual data, which would otherwise be done manually. In conclusion, the recommendations include prioritizing multilingual support, implementing thorough training for instructors, ensuring prompt system updates and technical support, expanding language alternatives, and establishing a user feedback mechanism within Blackboard. Moreover, there is a call for a longitudinal study on LMS roles beyond the pandemic. This emphasizes the importance of researching how adaptable LMS is to evolve educational requirements and assessing its support for diverse learning methods over time.