A Hybrid Instructional Delivery System in UAE Graduate Education

E-ISSN： 1447-9540|19|3|119-127

ISSN： 1447-9494

Source： The International Journal of Learning: Annual Review, Vol.19, Iss.3, 2013-01, pp. : 119-127

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Abstract

This case study investigated the student-perceived benefits and drawbacks of an experimental multi-site, hybrid instructional delivery system for post-graduate education in the United Arab Emirates. Five courses as part of a Master of Education program were taught simultaneously from four separate locations. The classes were linked electronically via videoconferencing technology that allowed class members to see one another and lecture materials in real time. The instructor was physically present at each of the four sites on a rotating basis, and was supported by location-designated tutors who remained at each site permanently. This method of delivery was intended to allow students in remote locations to participate in degree programs, increase the offerings available, and utilize the full potential and expertise of the teaching staff. Initial research had been done when the hybrid delivery model unified two cohort sites. With the doubling of the number of cohort sites, and with institutional interest in further expansion of the system to even more sites and its use to support other academic programs, the researchers decided to return to previously explored research questions. With a new set of subjects and under the new dimensions of the program the research was conducted to see if student perceptions had changed as the system had become more complex. The data indicated continued student satisfaction with the hybrid delivery system and identified several benefits of, and drawbacks to, the delivery structure.