Utilizing Distance Learning Technologies to Deliver Courses in a Segregated Educational Environment

Abstract

In a society where the intermixing of genders is not allowed within most educational settings, the Master of Health Informatics program at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences utilizes modern telecommunications tools towards the simultaneous delivery of courses by its mainly male faculty to both male and female students. This paper presents an ongoing study to determine the implications on students of the application of distance learning techniques in a segregated learning environment within the Saudi Arabian society. Even though students express their appreciation of the use of technology in the delivery of education, they still believe that having an actual presence of a faculty member, even of the opposite sex, is more beneficial to the learning experience.