New research from Citrix notes that Saudi Arabian educational institutions have made significant strides in remote learning. However, education sector staff expect investments in upskilling and communication tools.
This research, commissioned by Citrix, surveyed staff members in Saudi Arabia including university C-level executives, IT managers, teachers, and administrators, in June 2021. The study sought to identify the challenges, opportunities, and general sentiments of sector professionals towards the major changes of the last 18 months.
Currently, on average, 77% of teaching is done remotely in educational institutions around the Kingdom. A majority (81%) of staff consider the hybrid learning model will improve the students’ learning experience in the next academic year, with half (50%) thinking this will significantly improve learning.
Furthermore, 67% of those surveyed identify flexible/remote learning as important for their school or university.
Technical issues faced during online learning include connection to video conference platforms (51%), lack of connected devices to the education portal (33%), and security issues (31%).
Over half (54%) believe that communication between teachers and students through collaboration tools must be improved during remote learning. This was followed by access to all applications/materials needed for work (48%), and availability via one platform to access all the courses and manage materials (48%).
Surprisingly, 90% believe the campus or school (physical) experience will be more important to their school or university moving forward post COVID-19 (compared to before the pandemic). In fact, 38% consider that the topic of smart campus will be most important for their school or university.
When asked about IT security within their institutions, an overwhelming 80% of staff surveyed said they were comfortable with their IT security provisions at that time. This is encouraging in light of recent alerts worldwide warning of the increased likelihood of ransomware attacks on education establishments.
For example, 87% of staff think that data centres hosted in the cloud improved security and performance at their school or university. And they do not expect the amount of data hosted in their cloud to decrease – in fact, a significant increase is expected from pre-COVID levels (11%).
“Getting organisational culture right is critical to a successful hybrid learning environment – people trump technology,” adds Mohammed Kiki, Country Manager for Saudi Arabia, Citrix.
“Leadership must champion the move to remote learning, and educators need training on how to make effective use of the tools provided to maximise effectiveness and return on investment. Ultimately, institutions that make such investments for students and staff alike are most likely to succeed in this new education era.”
