E-learning in the Arab gulf: Responding to the changing world of education

Abstract

E-learning is an umbrella concept for self-paced or instructor-led online learning in and outside schools worldwide. E-learning refers to computer-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. It concerns a variety of electronically supported learning and teaching activities. The information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet serve as mediums and provider for the e-learning process. In the last two decades, the e-learning domain is rapidly growing, since the Internet was made widely available to the public and industry in the 1990s. Nowadays, e-learning activities such as content transfer, training exercises, and communication may be enabled via the Internet or the intranet of a school or university. Electronic means like audio, CD ROMS, video, TV, or the latest mobile (phone) devices may further facilitate the e-learning environment and create connectivity almost everywhere you go.