Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives on Hybrid Education in the United Arab Emirates

This paper presents some perspectives on undergraduate students’ hybrid education learning experiences in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is recognized that hybrid education involves a combination of both online and face-to-face learning environments. Now, in order to deliver courses in the hybrid mode, instructors have to utilize technology, involving various online learning tools, as well as face-to-face classroom activities – thereby providing a deeper and more effective learning environment, from the students’ perspective. Evidently therefore, the hybrid teaching-learning environment involves various challenges – in social, technological, economic, environmental and political (STEEP) terms. In the UAE, such challenges are further compounded by the students’ inability to project their personal characteristics, or to gain practical skills – thereby creating remarkable negative effects on the students’ persistence, engagement, and academic achievement. The subjects of the present study are the undergraduate students of the Logistics Engineering Technology program at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Abu Dhabi Men's Campus (ADMC). The methodology of the study involved direct discussions, Likert scale as well as an online survey – these being designed in such fashion as to elicit an accurate reflection of the students’ experiences. The results of the study show that hybrid learning involving the use of advanced technologies - Social Robotic Telepresence System (SRTS), 3D Hologram, Spherical Videos (360°), Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) - can be a promising solution to fill some of the identified hybrid learning gaps. The results also show that the effective use of such tools can promote the students’ social interactions, as well as enhance the students’ virtual and realistic experiences.

I. Introduction

Hybrid courses combine educational elements from conventional face-to-face and online course formats. The demand for hybrid courses in undergraduate education has increased rapidly due to the change of student demographics and efforts that make courses are more accessible to students [1]. For example, hybrid learning decreases the travel time for students who live in remote areas resulting in reducing student expense and increasing convenience. This option also appeals to the students who have busy schedules due to home and work responsibilities. As universities are seeking to admit more diverse students, it is conceivable that hybrid courses have the advantage of a personalization learning approach [2].