Historically and culturally, the Arab countries
have many features in common, in particular from the linguistic and tradition
standpoints; however, it is in many respects highly inconsistent in terms of
population, national income, prosperity, stability, infrastructure, literacy
rate, and information resources. The estimated overall population of the Arab
countries in 2010-2011 was just over 360 million with over half under 25 years
of age. Almost a quarter of the Arab world live in the most populated country
of the region, Egypt. The number of Internet users in 2011 was estimated to be
86 million users (United Nations, 2011). Although distance education has a
short history in the Arab world, for many, within the last ten years, the
interest in distance education in the Arab world was enhanced dramatically as a
result of the changes in society, culture, economy, employment, and information
technology (Al-Harthi, 2005). This interest resulted in a remarkable increase
in the distance education programs and degrees offered by many traditional and
distance education universities in many Arab countries (Mohamed, 2005).
Many efforts have been made in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Lebanon to provide off-campus programs by traditional universities
providing conventional and distance education simultaneously. Many universities
have established open education units (e.g., the Open Learning Center at Cairo University in Egypt), awarding bachelor
and master degrees through distance education mode in a variety of disciplines.
However, with the increased public interest in distance education, new distance
education universities have been established to deliver fully distance
education programs using different types of media and technologies (e.g.,
printed materials, video tapes, and interactive multimedia CDs).
The unique example in this regard is the Arab Open
University (AOU), which was established in 1999, in cooperation with the
British Open University (OU), with the main campus in Kuwait and 6 branches in
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Oman. Making use of modern
information and communication technologies, AOU aimed to make higher education
and continuing education accessible to every willing and capable Arab citizen
(Arab Gulf Program For United Nations Development Organizations, 1999). In response to this development, distance
education has become one of the important alternatives for those who could not
attend or enrol in conventional universities. This rapid
development in online applications and Internet access, in particular, has
begun to create a new paradigm of distribution of distance education programs
from all around the world to the Arab world learners in new, flexible and
accessible ways. The interactive nature of the Internet has attracted distance
students in the Arab world more than any other medium ever, and moved distance
education away from correspondence mode to interactive and networking modes
(Sadik, 2003). This
strong demand was supported by research that compared educational outcomes of
online and conventional programs. Many studies indicated
that online distance education programs are equal to or better than
conventional programs in terms of students’ satisfaction, flexibility and
learning outcomes
(Bernard et al., 2004; Machtmes &
Asher, 2000; Phipps & Merisotis, 1999).
However, Raj and Al-Alawneh (2010) indicated that
there is a common belief in the society that on-campus degrees are better than
off-campus degrees for many reasons, such as residency in the university, real
face-to-face experience, interaction among students, interactions between
students and instructors, in addition to the accessible resources that could be
in the learners’ hands any time. Therefore, Arab employers, families and
students may feel reluctant to accept distance education as a formal
alternative to conventional face-to-face education. Therefore, many students
may enrol in, and often withdraw from, distance education universities.
Al-Harthi (2005) believes that students’ cultural backgrounds and perceptions
toward distance education degrees have a high effect on their willingness and
ability to participate in distance education programs and their concerns can be
traced back to the issue of acceptability of online degree as an employment
credential. Research by Carnevale (2002) and Sikora (2003) has raised the
question of whether the society regards online distance education degrees as
valuable as degrees earned in a conventional way. Sikora indicated that those
who hold online degrees are not judged as having qualifications that are equal
to those of graduates who earn their degrees in a face-to-face program when
seeking employment.
The concept of acceptability has been studied in
very few online learning and distance education research studies. In those
studies, respondents were asked to choose between candidates whose
qualifications differed only in terms of learning mode , that is, whether they earned their credits online or
in a traditional residential program. DeFleur and Adams (2004), for example,
indicated that despite the rapid growth in online education, some educators and
employers cast doubt on the quality of online courses and whether the learning
experience and outcomes that take place over the Internet are equal to those
occurring in traditional academic settings. Adams and DeFleur (2010), Adams and
DeFleur (2006), and DeFleur and Adams (2004) found that there are some problems
associated with the acceptability of online degrees when students apply to
traditional postgraduate programs or faculty position in a traditional
university. Adams, DeFleur and Heald (2007) also found that degrees earned
online are “by no means as acceptable as traditional degrees, and that they can
be regarded as suspect when used as a credential in a hiring situation” (p.43).
They suggested that students should select their online universities with great
care to increase their chances of being hired. In addition, Carnevale (2005,
2007) reviewed many empirical studies in the perceptions of employers toward
online degrees and found that potential employers gave many reasons for not
accepting online degree credentials. These reasons are: lack of rigor, lack of
face-to-face interactions, academic dishonesty, reputation of the
degree-granting institution, and appropriate level and type of accreditation.