Keywords

1 Introduction

In January 2020, the world was struck with a pandemic that led to the closing of schools all over the globe. According to the United Nations (2021), the pandemic created the most significant disturbance in the history of education, affecting over 94% of the world’s student population in more than 190 countries. Like many countries, the national education system in the UAE was disturbed by the lockdown. However, as campuses closed their physical operations, it was expected that the delivery of the curriculum would continue. Nevertheless, a rapid transition from face-to-face teaching to entirely online and remote delivery was precipitated, where students learned from home and faculty taught from home. From faculty perspectives, the preparation, planning, and newly acquired skills have been exceptional. However, as higher education gradually progresses to fully reopening campuses, there is a need to ensure a consistent, seamless, and efficient blend of on-campus and remote learning where learning outside the classroom supports the limited contact time spent in the classroom. In this research site, English classes that were entirely delivered through face-to-face instruction shifted to blended learning. During this transition, faculty faced several challenges such as insufficient resources, lack of IT skills, and inadequate training. Despite the challenges, the recent educational crises resulted in academics being forced to depend on technology as the main teaching resource regardless of their prior technology-related views and practices.

Initial research exploring the potential uses of blended learning has mainly focused on comparing blended learning to traditional instruction (Bazelais & Doleck 2018; Mali & Lim 2021). In addition, much of the research in the field of blended learning has been based on students’ perceptions, mainly using quantitative measures such as surveys and questionnaires (Napier, Dekhane & Smith 2011; Clark & Post 2021; Saboowala & Manghirmalani Mishra 2021). While the overall student-based studies are important for understanding the potential value of blended learning, not enough studies have detailed instructors’ perspectives, views, and attitudes toward blended learning. Understanding how instructors actually experience blended learning environments is essential to inform future developments in learning design in the UAE higher education sector. Thus, there is a need for more qualitative research from the UAE where blended learning has recently been introduced and is still in its infancy.

1.1 Research Aim and Questions

This small-scale qualitative study seeks to gain insights into instructors’ perspectives of blended learning in an ESL program at a federal college in the UAE.

To fulfill this purpose, the following research questions guided the study:

RQ1: What benefits did instructors perceive while implementing blended learning in ESL classrooms?

RQ2: What are the possible barriers instructors perceived while implementing blended learning in ESL classrooms?

2 Related Work

The term blended learning is not a recent development in education; as it has been around for more than a decade. As blended learning environments continue to evolve, various definitions have been found in the literature (Müller & Mildenberger, 2021). The most prominent definition arises from Graham’s (2013) work, who defined blended learning as the combination of traditional face-to-face instruction and computer-mediated instruction. Sharma and Barrett (2007) posit blended learning as an appropriate balance of traditional teaching and web-enhanced learning. The problem with this definition is that it is broad, and it covers almost all learning systems. The third perspective to blended learning is the most common point of view in the literature. For Garrison and Kanuka (2004), blended learning is the thoughtful integration of the best features of classroom-based face-to-face instruction with the best features of online learning. This definition is important because it recognizes that such combinations must be pedagogically sound. In the literature, some scholars refer to blended learning as ‘hybrid learning’, ‘flipped’ or ‘inverted’ learning (Rasheed, Kamsin & Abdullah 2020). In this paper, the term ‘blended learning’ is used in its broadest sense to refer to the integration of classroom face-to-face instruction with some online and distance teaching, making it possible to blend the best features from both teaching methods.

Blended learning has been found to improve students’ academic performance (Graham 2013), enable students’ autonomy (Bruggeman et al., 2021), improve self-efficacy (Graham 2013), and increase students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. Other advantages include increased access to courses while providing academic institutions greater access to the student population. These benefits are also echoed by Smith and Hill (2019), who report that blended learning demonstrated potential for personalized learning, enhanced learner outcomes, and promoted self-directed learning. Other benefits cited in the literature (Bruggeman et al., 2021; Banihashem et al., 2023) include pedagogical benefits, increased efficiency, and improved learning outcomes.

Despite the numerous strengths of blended learning, several weaknesses have been documented in the literature. Past studies (Osguthrope & Graham 2003; Owston 2013) have indicated that time constraints and re-design of the course are barriers to effectively implementing a blended learning model. Lomer and Palmer (2023) agree that stimulating students’ engagement, lack of materials and technical problems are critical challenges in online contexts. Furthermore, Boelens, De Wever, and Voet (2017) cited stimulating students’ interaction as a key challenge in online contexts. Similarly, Youde (2020) argues that among the shortcomings of blended learning, online peer-to-peer interaction is difficult with instructors. Another major criticism associated with blended learning is faculty’s technical skills and literacy. Researchers suggest that in order to deliver a blended program, teaching academics are not only required to have content and pedagogical knowledge, but are also expected to possess technological skills. Therefore, continuous professional development is important, as faculty need to develop new technological and pedagogical skills to successfully deliver a blended learning model. Researchers conclude that failing to provide sufficient opportunities for professional development may lead faculty to fail to fully embrace an effective blended format and eventually, they will replicate their conventional teaching approaches (Garrison & Vaughan 2013). A review of the literature revealed that despite the widespread use of blended learning after the outbreak of COVID-19, research on instructors’ views, attitudes, and perspectives of blended learning remains scarce, especially in the Middle Eastern context. This limited focus risks a somewhat narrow and impaired understanding of how blended learning is used in tertiary education in the region. To address this knowledge gap, this qualitative study focuses on the benefits, challenges, and barriers instructors perceive of blended learning pedagogy during the pandemic.

3 Research Methodology

This small-scale qualitative study is based on a constructivist approach that views reality as a shared social experience to gain in-depth insights into the lived experiences of instructors’ blended learning experiences. Therefore, a case study design (Yin 2009) fits the purpose of the study. The study was carried out at a tertiary college in the UAE during the academic year 2020–2021. A convenience sample of eight instructors (female N = 3; male N = 5) with an average of 12–15 years of experience volunteered to take part in this study. In this English course, students studied reading, writing, speaking, and listening over a course of 12 weeks. The program consists of a combination of online and on-campus classes, with a final on-campus online exam. In this blended model, the time students spend in the classroom will introduce them to new content skills, assign projects, and set out guidelines for the work to be completed at home.

Data were collected using semi-structured interviews following an interview guide to ensure consistency. Interviews were chosen as the primary data collection tool due to their ability to generate rich insights aligned with the research questions (Merriam 2009). Participants were interviewed individually for about 40 – 50 min. Each interview was audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Sample of interview questions include: In your opinion, what makes a successful blended/hybrid learning program? To sustain credibility, member checks were used to validate the accuracy of the data. Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analyses were followed to determine patterns and sub-themes generated from the data. The thematic analysis allowed to reveal patterns across the data, which helped to understand different aspects of the phenomenon that participants experienced. First, data from the transcripts were reviewed and categorized to identify common themes and recurrent patterns. The sub-themes were grouped into three categories.

3.1 Ethical Considerations

All procedures performed in this study involving human subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the field. Ethical considerations suggested by Patton (2015) were practiced throughout the entire study. Informed consent was obtained from all of the participants prior to data collection. Furthermore, no names were used when reporting data from the interviews to protect participants’ identities. The researcher also kept a journal to record rationales, notes, and personal reflexivity insights throughout the data collection and analysis of the research.

4 Findings and Discussion

The findings are presented based on the research questions. Three main categories emerged from the interviews. Table 1 outlines the subthemes discussed in the findings.

Table 1. Summary of the sub-themes that emerged from the semi-structured interviews
Full size table

4.1 RQ1: What Benefits Did Instructors Perceive While Implementing Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms?

Theme 1. Accessibility, flexibility, and convenience

In line with previous studies (Graham 2013; Smith & Hill 2019), data analysis revealed that almost all of the participants found blended learning to offer increased accessibility and flexible and convenient teaching. Some participants also mentioned that attendance tracking was more efficient online. In addition, blended learning was reported to ‘reduce lecture time’, ‘support meaningful learning’, and facilitate students’ self-directed learning. Comments include “Students were accessing materials from their homes, cars and anywhere”. “It is very convenient for students. They are able to do tasks on their own time”.

Theme 2. Timely and Continues Learning

A general analysis of the data revealed that the notion of ongoing learning outside the classroom is stressed, and it appears that there is a consensus that blended learning may foster active learning. Participants also stated that the biggest advantage of blended learning is that it enhances students’ autonomy. One participant explained, “Students are no longer passive learners. They are making quizzes and PowerPoints and helping their peers access materials”. However, one participant disagreed, “We struggle with students who are coming fresh from high school with zero autonomy…it is their first time to study from a distance. The participant further commented “We have a new culture to deal with”. Another participant agreed that “They are 100% responsible for their education”. These views are reinforced by Graham (2013) who acknowledged the benefits and the challenges of blended learning. More importantly, at least two participants reported that blended learning could empower instructors and learners by transforming teaching and learning methods from highly teacher-dominated to student-centered. Moreover, some participants had different opinions. One participant mentioned, “Even if students are in class, they are still working online. We can’t do group work. I don’t think it is working!” These findings are supported by previous research (Bruggeman et al., 2021; Thabet, Hill & Gaad, 2021) who recognized these issues in blended learning contexts.

Theme 3. Pedagogical benefits

Instructors confirmed that one of the pedagogical benefits of blended learning is increased efficiency. Nevertheless, one participant disagreed and expressed that “Students were often passive online, and there were a lot of moments of silence.” Another participant confirmed, “Language learning does not happen in isolation”. Some participants emphasized the importance of providing workshops, webinars, and enough materials for students to help them learn how to research and look for information independently. Moreover, some participants noted that blended learning facilitated self-directed learning and fostered peer-to-peer interaction. In contrast, a few participants had a different opinion. Several instructors mentioned that students’ lack of ‘independent study habits’ was a problem. One participant noted, “Students assumed fewer classes meant less work.” On the other hand, few participants mentioned that blended learning could provide students with valuable skills that the markets recommend. Thus, such technology creates opportunities for students to develop their creative skills, cognitive skills, critical thinking skills, and other higher-order thinking skills.

4.2 RQ2: What Are the Possible Barriers Instructors Perceived While Implementing Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms?

Theme 1. Increased academic workload

The majority of the participants mentioned that the academic workload increased with blended learning “We have to edit, adapt, and create new materials to use in our online lectures”. This indicates pedagogical challenges, which are principally associated with the absence of standardized content. Another participant expressed frustration and thought, “The demand on the teacher is too much”. Teaching faculty went on to state that “We have to be creative and spend a lot of time preparing supplementary online materials”. One participant mentioned, “I find myself doing two jobs. One at the campus and one at home”. It appears that with work from home (WFH), instructors reported longer and unlimited working hours as much of their time was spent on content-creating and providing students with feedback in online Zoom meetings. Based on the data, technological problems associated with Wi-Fi and the unreliability of the internet are the primary challenges of blended learning.

Theme 2. Technical issues

Based on the data, technological problems associated with Wi-Fi and connectivity are the primary challenges of blended learning. All of the participants confirmed that internet connectivity is one of the key challenges that face the effective implementation of a blended learning model. Some participants also mentioned that the technical difficulties are primarily linked to the unreliability of internet connections and the lack of required electronic devices for many students. Other issues underlined by participants were privacy, safety, and copyright materials. Prior studies (Clark & Post 2021; Mali & Lim 2021) confirmed these challenges in online environments.

Theme 3. Lack of professional development

Many of the participants agreed that the lack of professional development is one of the critical issues that should be addressed, as it could create an obstacle in fully adopting the blended learning system. Faculty stated that they needed time and support to implement change. Participants’ comments include: “I realized that I am a good teacher in the classroom, but online I am different.” Another participant suggested: “It could have been helpful to have several PDs on how to use the new tools before moving online.”

5 Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Work

This small-scale qualitative case study reported the views, attitudes, and perspectives of eight instructors teaching in an ESL program at a federal college in the UAE. Data from semi-structured interviews show that faculty may deliver blended learning classes more efficiently with appropriate resources and training. The findings from the study show that instructors welcome the use of blended learning due to flexibility and convenience. However, it appears that instructors’ views on learning autonomy and self-directed learning are inconsistent, as the majority of them did not feel that blended learning has improved students’ learning outcomes. There are a number of potential limitations to this study. Foremost, the relatively small sample size may limit the generalizability of the findings. Second, the findings focus only on instructors’ experiences in a single language program; therefore, caution should be observed in extending the study findings to other populations, settings and contexts. This study extends previous research by investigating instructors’ perceptions of blended learning environments in a college in the UAE. By highlighting instructors’ early experiences of blended learning, this paper contributes to the literature by improving our understanding of the term ‘blended learning’ environments. Furthermore, this qualitative study adds to the literature as it focuses on the benefits, challenges, and barriers instructors perceive of blended learning pedagogy during the pandemic. This study provides general implications for policy, practice, and higher education programs. The pandemic has sparked a revolution in UAE higher education, extending the policy to practice. Future studies should conduct a large-scale empirical study to measure the effectiveness of blended learning environments across higher education. In addition, the results from this study may provide stakeholders with data regarding the effectiveness and usefulness of the blended/hybrid academic delivery model, which could inform the design of programs across higher education in the UAE.