Abstract:

This paper is an institutional-based study that investigates the efficiency of e-learning at the Arab Open University, Kuwait Branch. It is widely understood that communication skills are the most important skills of the future, and AOU succeeds in creating new learning communities. The AOU is moving at a solid ascending pace. However, AOU-Kuwait needs to promote its productive and positive activity in order to be able to challenge the traditional way of learning. To meet the needs of the growing heterogeneous group of learners, we have to keep abreast with the technological developments in terms of infrastructural and pedagogical matters so as to enhance the learning experience.
AOU has now 7 branches and many study centers in different Arab countries and it is planning to expand its branches to cover more countries. This expansion comes from the fact that e-learning can improve the quality of education. However, for some branches and in some countries, key barriers remain. Funding, infrastructure, staff development and pedagogical concerns are among the impeding elements. The most important challenge is in developing and promoting e-learning skills for the current faculty members. All these issues will be discussed in details and AOU-Kuwait branch will be used as a case study.
Being senior staff members at the AOU, one observes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats this new educational system goes through. Based on an empirical study, on interviews, data survey, theoretical and practical analysis, this paper will ascertain whether the learning infrastructure and teaching pedagogy at AOU Kuwait branch can achieve its planned objectives
The survey confirms the hypotheses that brought about the lack of facilities of establishing and running the e-learning system.
The result of the survey concludes that e-learning at AOU-Kuwait is highly effective in considering the purpose of providing quality higher educational for more than 45 nationalities in more than 7 branches across the Middle East. Few recommendations for sustaining its growth ensue.