EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF A MANDATORY COMPUTER CLASS ON MALE AND FEMALE STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD USE OF COMPUTER LEARNING TECHNOLOGY IN A SAUDI BACCALAUREATE NURSING EDUCATION PROGRAM
Journal Article
Sasmarkandi, Osama A . 2015
رابط المنشور على الويب:
المجلة \ الصحيفة:
International Journal for Research in Health Sciences and Nursing
رقم العدد:
2
رقم الإصدار السنوي:
1
الصفحات:
28-49
مستخلص المنشور:
Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing developing country in the Arab world. It is ranked 20th in the global economy and has an economic base that sustains its development. This overall development was created by the discovery of oil in the late 1930s (Marrone, 1999). In the early 1940s, the Saudi government began planning for the creation and development of the country’s infrastructure and proceeded to address the most fundamental concerns of its people. Included in its strategies for development were key areas that could impact the nation’s people: education, health, transportation, agriculture, and industry were the topics of greatest concern.
As a result of the overall development of the country and the insight to implement the use of computers in daily life, the Saudi government explored the utility of this novel technology. Over the years, Saudi society has been increasingly supportive of and transformed by a wide variety of computer technologies that it uses. As a result of the government’s emphasis on technology, Saudi Arabia has become a technologically oriented nation, where computers can be found almost anywhere including the homes of the Saudi people. As computer technology has grown and developed, the Saudi government has also realized the potential benefits of computer technology in education. Hence, all schools in Saudi Arabia are being equipped with computers, and children and youth are beginning to master the available technology. School systems are developing and enhancing computer literacy programs that will help teachers, students, and others to utilize this technology in a variety of educational settings.
It is crucial that Saudi nurses be prepared with the knowledge and skills that are essential for providing quality care in Saudi Arabia and the world community. Computer knowledge is fast becoming an essential work-related skill. The use of technology in nursing education is a relatively new and novel phenomenon. From the beginning of the high technological orientation in health care in the 1970s to the personal computer in the 1980s and the Internet boom of the 1990s, technology usage has impacted nursing education dramatically (Mallow & Gilje, 1999). In response to this trend, the College of Nursing at King Saud University (KSU) has initiated a requirement that all students must successfully complete an introductory computer class (Tech 227). This requirement began in the mid-1990s. This mandatory two-credit-hour course consists of face-to-face classroom lectures and additional laboratory-based practice with computers. To accommodate the needs of students, and, at the same time, facilitate their acquisition of skills, the college has equipped two laboratories with 40 computers.
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