Hafedh Al-Shihi

Key factors to instructors’ satisfaction of learning management systems in blended learning

Learning Management System (LMS) enables institutions to administer their educational resources, and support their traditional classroom education and distance education. LMS survives through instructors’ continuous use, which may be to a great extent associated with their satisfaction of the LMS. Consequently, this study examined the key factors that influence the instructors’ satisfaction of LMS in blended learning, and how this satisfaction is related to their intention to continuously use LMS in blended learning and purely for distance education. These investigated factors are related to instructors’ individual characteristics (computer anxiety, technology experience and personal innovativeness), LMS characteristics (system quality, information quality and service quality), and organizational characteristics (management support, incentives policy and training). The findings indicated that computer anxiety, personal innovativeness, system quality, information quality, management support, incentives policy and training are key factors to instructors’ satisfaction of LMS in blended learning. Furthermore, instructors’ satisfaction is a significant determinant of their continuous intention to use LMS in blended learning, and their intention to purely use LMS for distance education.

M-Government Services Initiatives in Oman

Introduction Mobile devices are now becoming part of our daily and business life. At the end of year 2001, approximately 14% of the world population--850 Million people--were mobile phone users. This growth has been spectacular especially in Europe after the telecom industry de-regulation and adoption of Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications (Sadeh, 2002). Now, mobile phones are no longer used only for voice communication but are a convenient way of connecting to the Internet and are used for transferring data, exchanging e-mails, and doing small scale business transactions (Sadeh, 2002). Mobile phone penetration is well above the home PCs usage in Europe and it seems that the trend will continue (Varshney, 2000). Mobile or wireless devices are widely used not only by developed countries but also commonly used by many other developing nations of the world and Oman is not an exception. Mobiles technologies with the introduction of internet enabled mobile phones, PDAs, WiFi and wireless networks have offered their users to enjoy all the benefits of telephones, information accessing, text messaging such as SMS (Clark, 2001; Donegan, 2000; May, 2001). A recent estimate indicated that over half of the Omani populations have mobile devices, while the mobile infrastructure in Oman is currently covering 95% of the country (Ministry of National Economy, 2007). The volume of penetration of mobile devices in the country is paving the path for more offering of m-government services accessible from anywhere and at any time. This lead to mobile government activities reaching a larger base in a more convenient manner. Thus, several organizations in Oman have started to utilize this to open mobile channels with their clients. Muscat Municipality developed an m-parking system which enables motorists to pay parking fees via SMS. In addition, higher secondary school students can now retrieve their end of semester grades (via SMS) by messaging their student seat numbers to a phone number designated by ministry of education. Many other organizations are now sending bulk SMS messages to citizens to inform them about different activities. Despite its early stage, m-government seems to have a substantial influence on the current m-government services initiatives in Oman, which are further needed to be explored. Purpose of the study: In this paper, an attempt is made to review the current m-government services initiatives in Oman and to understand the key factors to its adoption and diffusion. Background to the Study The Sultanate of Oman is a developing country, which is located on the south east of the Arabian Peninsula. Oman occupies an area of 309,500 square kilometers (Ministry of Information--Oman, 2008b). It shares borders with United Arab Emirates to the north-west, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, the Republic of Yemen to the south and the Arabian Sea lies eastwards. Oman is divided into five regions i.e. Ad-Dakhliyah, Adh-Dhahirah, Al-Batinah, Al-Wusta and Ash-Sharqiyah and four governorates i.e. Al Buraymi, Dhofar, Musandam and Muscat. The total adult literacy in Oman is 81% which is very high in the region and per capita income reaching to US

Exploring quality of e-Government services in Oman

9070. Omans real renaissance began with the accession of His Majesty; Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said to the throne on 23 July 1970 (Ministry of Information--Oman, 2008a). Omans government system is monarchy (Ministry of Information--Oman, 2008a). According to the latest estimates (Ministry of National Economy--Oman, 2007), in 2006 Oman had a population of 2.677 million people. However, nearly 693,000 residents, 25.9 per cent of the population, were expatriates. Omans currency is the Rial (OMR) which is about USA

Development and validation of Mobile Learning Acceptance Measure

2.60 per unit. The countrys main revenue comes from oil and natural gas. According to the Ministry of National Economy--Oman (April 2008), Omans 2006 GDP reached OMR 13,737 million (provisional), compared to OMR 104 million in 1970. …

Mobile Services in Oman: A Feedback on SMS-Parking Service

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the customer perception of service quality with respect to the e-Government services in Oman and conduct an investigation in order to determine the key factors that affect the quality of e-Government services in Oman. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data relating to the variables affecting quality of e-Government services and demographic profile data are collected using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was designed based on literature review and focus groups. Factor analysis method is employed to identify and rank the important factors affecting service quality. Findings – The study found that the four factors listed in the descending order of importance, reliability, responsiveness, efficiency, and security are primary determinants of the quality of e-Government services in Oman. Practical implications – This research enables government organizations to enhance their understanding of customer perception of e-Government services. The cust...

A model for mobile learning non-functional requirement elicitation

ABSTRACT The growth of Smartphone usage, increased acceptance of electronic learning (E-learning), the availability of high reliability mobile networks and need for flexibility in learning have resulted in the growth of mobile learning (M-learning). This has led to a tremendous interest in the acceptance behaviors related to M-learning users among the information systems researchers. Despite a large amount of significant research in the field of M-learning, the measurement of user acceptance of M-learning has not received attention. This research study intends to develop and validate a survey that measures users’ acceptance of M-learning. A total sample of 806 university and higher college students from different institutes in Oman participated in this study. This research study was conducted in two stages. The first stage using a sample size of 388 students initiated a generic questionnaire, and examined factorial validity and reliability. The second stage that was conducted using different sample of 418 students employed confirmatory factor analysis to establish factorial validity and measurement invariance. A correlated six-factor model (Flexibility, Suitability, Enjoyment, Efficiency, Economic and Social) was fit using maximum likelihood estimation. The internal consistency and item reliability of Mobile Learning Acceptance Measure was found to be at acceptable level for both samples.

Practicing M-Application Services Opportunities with Special Reference to Oman

Mobile technology has evolved quite rapidly over the past few years. Many experts argue that the future computer technology rests in mobile or wireless computing. As the number of mobile phone users is increasing worldwide, different organizations are offering their services using these mobile devices Oman is a developing country that strives to adapt M-services. The emerging mobile technology is impacting and becoming the main element that moves Oman forward and helps in its national development process. Internet penetration in most developing countries like Oman is still low as opposed to mobile dissemination. Despite the government plans and strategies to enhance internet diffusion, Internet subscribers comprise about 2.5% of the general population of Oman. In contrast, the number of mobile phones holders increased substantially since the launch of these services in 1996. Prepaid mobile services and SMS were introduced in 2001 and both are currently popular with subscribers. Such fine appeal influenced many government organizations to go mobile with their services. This paper reviews the current m-government initiatives in Oman and the feedback of the users on the SMS-Parking Service, introduced recently by a joint venture of the Muscat Municipality and the Oman Mobile company offering mobile services to its citizens. This study shows that in spite of all these initiatives still the users of mobile are cautiously adapting to M-services as reported on SMS-Parking System.

Neural network approach to predict mobile learning acceptance

Mobile learning M-learning applications are gaining high momentum and popularity in easing the learning process. However, engineering M-learning applications contain several challenges, specifically in terms of engineering requirements. Despite of a large amount of significant research in the field of M-learning, there is not much research focused on the requirements from a quality perspective, mainly the non-functional requirements that would allow the evaluation of M-leaning applications. This paper proposes a model that captures M-learning non-functional requirements from three dimensions: pedagogical and educational, social and cultural, and business and economical. This model allows the assessment of the quality of M-learning applications. Four different M-learning applications Edmodo, Schoology, Moodle and Blackboard have therefore been used to discuss the model. This effort is part of a number of expected outcomes of funded research project that investigate the development, adoption and dissemination of M-learning in Oman.

Proposing New Mobile Learning (M-Learning) Adoption Model for Higher Education Providers

Mobile technologies are opening new channels of communication for people and organizations. According to a survey by the World Bank (2012), no other technology has been in the hands of so many people in so many countries in such a short period. Mobile phones have become a “musthave” electronic gadget for daily business. These devices are likely replacing the need for laptops and desktops. Mobile phones are used for social networking, location-based services, navigation/local search, instant messaging and many other applications. Mobile devices are widely used not only by developed countries but also used by developing nations like the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of which Oman is a member. A recent estimate indicated that over half of the Omani population has internet accessible mobile devices. The mobile devices are continuously getting more sophisticated and advanced; people are getting benefit of these devices in their everyday lives. This progression in mobile technologies has created opportunities and influenced various government organizations to go mobile with their services including Oman and its neighbouring countries. This research presents a synopsis of M-application services offered by many countries with special reference to Oman.

Generic requirements for M-Learning Software Development

The proliferation of mobile computing technologies is playing major role in the growth of mobile learning (M-learning) market around the globe. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research model in the lines of commonly used models the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by incorporating constructs namely flexibility learning, social learning, efficiency learning, enjoyment learning, suitability learning, and economic learning that can predict M-learning adoption in a developing country. The data were collected from 388 students from all major universities/colleges in the capital city (Muscat) of Oman. The neural network modeling was employed to predict M-learning adoption. The neural network modeling results showed that flexibility learning, social learning, efficiency learning, enjoyment learning, suitability learning, and economic learning variables have significant influence on the intention of students to accept mobile learning. The key outcomes of this study suggest important determinants that can assist academic administrators and telecommunication service providers to enhance the adoption of M-learning with the help of suitable strategy.