Investigating EFL Students’ Experiences and Perceptions about Blackboard in the Preparatory Year

This study investigated the experiences and perceptions of university students regarding the use of the Blackboard online learning management system in the Preparatory Year at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, KSA. Blackboard has been used as a technological tool to support students' blended learning and seamless involvement by means of a set of integrated features. The study used a mixed-methods descriptive explanatory design including quantitative and qualitative tools. A survey was administered to 225 male and female students from a population of 756 participants with various levels of English language competency (beginner, intermediate and advanced). The results indicated that Blackboard had numerous positive effects on university students' attitudes owing to its convenience, effectiveness, and flexibility in learning without place and time constraints. They also revealed that university students encountered no technical difficulties in using all the built-in features thanks to their prior knowledge of Blackboard. Finally, the study included several recommendations for enhancing the use of this learning tool based on current research findings and students' suggestions.

本研究针对沙特阿拉伯王国达曼市伊玛目·阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·本·费萨尔大学预备学年的大学生使用Blackboard（黑板）在线学习管理系统的体验与感知展开调研。该系统作为技术工具，通过一系列集成功能为学生的混合式学习与无缝参与提供支撑。本研究采用混合方法描述性解释性研究设计，涵盖定量与定性研究工具。研究从总计756名具备不同英语水平（初级、中级与高级）的学生总体中，抽取225名男女学生实施问卷调查。结果表明，得益于Blackboard在学习过程中的便捷性、有效性以及不受时空限制的灵活性，其对大学生的学习态度产生了诸多积极影响。此外，调研还发现，由于学生此前已掌握Blackboard的相关使用知识，他们在使用所有内置功能时并未遭遇技术难题。最后，本研究基于当前的研究发现与学生提出的建议，提出了若干优化该学习工具使用的针对性建议。