E-Learning Readiness among Palestinian Lecturers

1. E-Learning Readiness among Palestinian Lecturers by Fuad A. A. Trayek

2. THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE TODAY • Mobility of students and lecturers severely restricted by • checkpoints, roadblocks and • gated passages manned by heavily armed Israeli soldiers and guarded with tanks • Lecturers and students take hours to get to universities although it’s nearby • These travel restrictions are negatively affecting the education of Palestinian people.

3. THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE TODAY • School children and young adults are frequently “forced to take dangerous routes to their schools and universities. Hundreds of students have been detained, shot or injured on their way to school. In addition, Israeli forces sometimes order schools to be temporarily closed –occasionally these closures have lasted for a year or longer” (If Americans Knew Website, 2013, p. 2). • Israeli occupation has denied the Palestinian people their right and access to education.

4. STATEMENT of THE PROBLEM • E-learning may be a workable solution for Palestinian students and lecturers who are unable to make it to universities because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. • Lecturers are the key figure in the implementation of e-learning in Palestinian education. • However, the readiness of lecturers to deliver content via e-learning is not known due to a lack of empirical research in this aspect.

5. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Human resource readiness Financial readiness Technological skill readiness Readiness to adopt E-learning Environmental readiness Equipment readiness Psychological readiness Sociological readiness Content readiness Dimensions of E-Learning Readiness Adapted from Chapnick (2000)

6. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Technological Readiness Equipment Readiness External Variables Lecturers’ Readiness to adopt E-learning Psychological Readiness Anxiety The Study’s Theoretical Basis

7. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES • To assess the readiness levels of Palestinian lecturers to adopt e-learning in 4 important dimensions, i.e. (psychological readiness, technological readiness, equipment readiness, anxiety) • To examine the impact of the independent factors on Palestinian lectures’ readiness to adopt e-learning. • To establish the major determinants which significantly influencing Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt e-learning. • To investigate the significant differences in the E-learning readiness among Palestinian lecturers based on selected demographic variables (gender, age, and academic qualification)

8. RESEARCH QUESTIONS • What is the level of E-learning readiness among lecturers in Palestine? • What are the major determinants which significantly influencing Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning? • Do variables such as technological readiness, equipment readiness, psychological readiness, and anxiety affect Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning? • Are there any significant differences in the level of E-learning readiness among Palestinian lecturers based on selected demographic variables (gender, age, and academic qualification)?

9. HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY Hypothesis 1: External variables such as gender, age, and academic qualification indirectly influence Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning. Hypothesis 2: Technological readiness directly influences Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning. Hypothesis 3: Equipment readiness directly influences Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning. Hypothesis 4: Psychological readiness directly influences Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning. Hypothesis 5: Anxiety directly influences Palestinian lecturers’ readiness to adopt E-learning. Hypothesis 6: Anxiety directly influences psychological readiness of Palestinian lecturers.

10. Thank you for listening