Digital readiness: our schools face Corona – Saudi Arabia News

The Corona virus attack was and is still harsh on the whole world, and in response to this situation, the world has directed towards using digital technology to reduce the effects of the virus that has disrupted business in all sectors, including education, and based on this fact, countries have begun to confront this virus to degrees. Different in all levels and fields. And since social distancing is one of the most important methods adopted in fighting and confronting the virus, which led to the closure of educational facilities of all kinds, including schools, institutes and universities, and to find an available alternative that can be used to ensure the continuity of education, distance education had to be adopted as a safe and available alternative, and it was The level of digital readiness in educational facilities and in schools in particular, the main role to ensure that continuity. This topic has attracted the attention of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international organization with a membership of 37 countries, and most of these members are from high-income western countries, and a few are from various other regions of the world. This organization is often called the “club of rich countries”. This organization is interested in development at the level of the whole world because its members influence and are affected by various countries of the world.In one of its reports, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development focused on the digital readiness of education in various countries of the world before the Corona pandemic, because this readiness is a useful means that can be used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of education, and openness to the Internet and its unlimited cognitive data. Then, after Corona, the organization paid attention to the impact of this readiness on confronting this malicious virus. The organization, in cooperation with both the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom and the National Center for E-learning, recently published a report of a study conducted by a team from the organization about the Kingdom that included the level of its digital readiness in 2018, that is, before Corona, and the report evaluated Saudi Arabia’s willingness to deal with school closures compared to other member states In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; It also included another study, after the Corona attack in 2020, on the extent to which this readiness responded to the requirements of facing Corona and to limit its impact on the educational process.

The purpose of this article is to shed light on the study on digital readiness in the Kingdom in 2018 in comparison with the average of this readiness in the OIC countries, because that can show the strengths and weaknesses of this readiness. Thus, those concerned can work to reinforce the strengths and reduce weaknesses. I found that this matter carries great importance for the Saudi Electronic University in particular, as the university is the first house of expertise in e-learning in the Kingdom and for its keenness on digital readiness, which is the backbone that supports flexibility in learning and expanding the provision of education service to all segments of society in the Kingdom And to face crises.

And since the digital readiness of educational institutions is not limited to the availability of technology, this report included an assessment of the level of digital readiness of schools, the readiness of teachers to use digital technology in teaching, the readiness of schools and pupils to learn through digital technology, the digital readiness of students ’homes, and the attitude of students towards learning on their own. And the family’s level of support for the education of its children. The report also focused on three main parties by which schools can ensure continuity of study in the face of crises: one concerned with teachers, the second concerned with school leaders, and the third focused on students.

With regard to teachers, we find that the study showed that 85% of teachers in the Kingdom are open to change, while this percentage at the level of OIC countries reached 74%. The study also showed that 76% of teachers in the Kingdom received, within the framework of their vocational training activities, the skills of using digital technology, while this percentage at the organization level reached 60%. The study also indicated that 75% of teachers in the Kingdom believe that they can support learning through digital means, compared to 67% of teachers in OIC countries. The study also showed that 43% of teachers in the Kingdom participate in networks that link them together in order to develop their professional practices, and this percentage reached 40% in the OIC countries. In addition, 36% of teachers in the Kingdom participated in cooperative professional learning activities in their schools, while this participation rate did not exceed 21% in the OIC countries.

And if we turn to school leaders, we find that the study showed that 72% of school leaders in the Kingdom supported cooperation activities between teachers to find new methods in the educational process, and that this percentage reached only 59% in the OIC countries. The study also showed that 48% of school leaders in the Kingdom cooperate with leaders of other schools in them in order to face various challenges, and that this percentage reached only 37% in the OIC countries.

As for school students, the study showed that 86% of schoolchildren in the Kingdom asserted that their self-confidence and their ability to adapt and deal with difficult times enabled them to overcome academic difficulties, and this percentage comes against the percentage of the OIC countries, which reached 71%. The study also showed that 66% of schoolchildren in the Kingdom aim to acquire the most knowledge in school, and that this percentage is 47% in the OIC countries.

On the other hand, the report referred to the resolute measures taken by the Kingdom regarding the reopening of schools in the interest of students’ safety, and at the same time the measures it takes to follow up and evaluate educational losses and ways to support learners to reduce educational losses associated with switching to virtual education, and praised the Kingdom’s keenness on Supporting students directed to support their transition from school to the labor market, which is not common in other countries, and to the continuous cooperation between education leaders from different schools and educational institutions to deal with the challenges that arise in work environments.

Accordingly, the results of the study clearly showed the Kingdom’s progress over the average of the OECD countries in various aspects of digital readiness. Perhaps the benefit given here is not only that it provides encouraging results received by neutral researchers belonging to a reputable international body on the extent of digital readiness in the Kingdom, but also in the study methodology and the factors that it took into account when evaluating the digital readiness of schools in their countries and around the world. Perhaps we will apply this methodology in the future, in order to follow the progress of digital readiness in our schools to ensure the continuity of education in all cases.

In conclusion, indeed, praise must be made for the continuous and continuous support of the wise leadership headed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince of Education in the Kingdom, and the wise directives for officials to make all necessary efforts to ensure the continuity of education during the Corona pandemic and work to raise the level of education in the Kingdom in line with With the steady progress in the use of technology and patterns of modern education. It is also worth noting the relentless efforts made by His Excellency the Minister of Education and officials in the Ministry to implement these generous directives, which would lead to global competitiveness in education and raise the world’s record and prestigious levels in the digital infrastructure of the education system in the Kingdom.

* President of the Saudi Electronic University

‏[email protected]