Uses of Blackboard for Online English Language Teaching

Abstract

The research topic discusses uses of Blackboard for Online English language teaching. The topic was of interest due to the implications of Covid-19, and its consequential educational transformations on all institutions. The aim of this research is to address the following two research questions to compare them with recent findings in relative fields of research, and to further enhance and develop the overall online English language teaching practice at Jubail University College. First, it aims to find how (n=16) teachers of English at Jubail University College from both the female and male branches used Blackboard to deliver their courses online during Covid-19. Second, it aims to address the kind of institutional, technical, and pedagogical support that was available during that critical time of educational transformation. A quantitative research methodology was conducted to answer the priorly referred research questions. Findings indicated five predominantly positive results of Blackboard’s use in relation to the specific literature review provided as 78% of English language teachers used both modes of synchronous and asynchronous modes of online delivery on Blackboard, 86.67% used discussion boards, 92.86% used a combination of multimedia elements, 86.67% conducted formative and summative e-assessments on Blackboard. Institutional support through IT Helpdesk support was reported to be helpful in the design of online English language teaching materials by 87.50% of the teachers involved. On the contrary, allocated teacher training time was reported to be insufficient by 73.33% due to, possibly, time constraints during Covid-19. Implications of this research can inform English language teaching practice via Blackboard, and it indicates the effectiveness of Blackboard’s functions to be utilized in English online teaching during current events in higher education, however, these must be pedagogically informed in relation to subject area content.