The first round of the Delphi Survey

On the first round of the Delphi survey, 13 experts were asked to rank items of the survey based on a 1-7 point Likert scale. An optional space was added for the participants‟ comments (see Appendix 3). Items that received a rating median of 2 or less (50% of the experts indicated their agreement on the factor by either choosing strongly agree or agree) and achieved an IQR of 1.5 or less (indicating a minimal variation) were considered agreed upon and excluded from the second round. On the other hand, items that received a rating median of 6 or above, and achieved an IQR of 1.5 or less were considered disagreed upon and excluded from the second round. In the first round, only 10 experts returned the survey out of the 13 experts contacted.

The experts‟ responses indicated an agreement consensus on 15 items, and no consensus was achieved on any item to indicate a consensus on disagreement. Some of the remaining seven items were near consensus with a median value of 2 or less (items: 3) or an IQR of 1.5 or less (items: 11, 16, and 21) but didn‟t achieve the determined threshold (a median of 2 or less/6 or above + IQR of 1.5 or less). However, they achieved consensus on the next round (see Table 6.15 on the next page). Table 6.16 (also on the next page and the page after it) shows items that achieved consensus on the first round.

Table 6.15: Items that achieved near consensus in the first round of the Delphi survey

No Statement (proposed solution) Median IQR Consensus 3

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that communicate the importance and validity of DL certificates in the job market is necessary to attract more DL students and faculty members, which in turn enable the university to create more degrees

2.00 2.00 2nd round

11

The recognition of the Deanship of Distance Learning role and full responsibility for providing adequate training for DL students and faculty members helps promote DL activities related to the use of DL applications (e.g. levels of synchronous communication, participations in course-related forums… )

2.50 1.25 2nd round

16

The promotion of the Deanship of Distance Learning role (as the central authority for all DL regulations at the university) enforces cooperation between DL departments and colleges, and entails more consistency in the DL regulations which helps the Deanship of Distance Learning to unify the registration process for DL students.

2.50 1.50 2nd round

21

The introduction of clear regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that address budgets provides administrators with the wherewithal to ensure an evaluation scheme that is parallel to TL schemes in terms of consistency, regularity and procedures.

2.50 1.00 2nd round

Table 6.16: Items that achieved consensus in the first round of the Delphi survey

No Statement (proposed solution) Median IQR 1

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that define the Deanship of Distance Learning role in Saudi universities is a necessity in order to solidify the Deanship of Distance Learning role as the legitimate centre for DL regulations in Saudi universities in order to promote the consistency of DL regulations at the university and enforce cooperation between DL colleges and departments.

1.50 1.00 2

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that regulate a national marketing plan is necessary to attract more DL students and faculty members and to enable the university to create more degrees.

2.00 1.25 4

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that address DL budgets helps the Deanship of Distance Learning to receive a designated financial budget to improve the current implementation of DL marketing and course scheduling schemes.

1.50 1.00 6

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that encourages regional college relationship helps to provide greater accessibility to a variety of electronic reserves across all Saudi universities.

2.00 1.25 7

The establishment of a designated course development department and the employment of the so-called Saudization plan, present cost-effective solutions that help organise course development and the restoration process in Saudi universities.

2.00 1.50 9

The active engagement of faculty members in the development process for DL courses which entails the provision of training, assistance, and time for them to

design and use the technology that meets the courses‟ needs. 2.00 1.25

12

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that communicates recognition and provision of time for faculty members to engage in DL activities related to DL instructional methods contributes to encouraging faculty members to provide a timely response to DL student and to engage in DL- related activities.

No Statement (proposed solution) Median IQR 13

The promotion of the Deanship of Distance Learning role (as the central authority for all DL regulations at the university) promotes the Deanship of Distance Learning‟s ability to reward faculty members for their participation, innovation and performance in the DL field.

1.50 1.00 14

The introduction of clear regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that address DL faculty members‟ rewards promotes the Deanship of Distance Learning‟s ability to reward faculty members (career-wise) for their participation, innovation and performance in the DL field.

1.50 1.00 15

The introduction of regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that address DL budgets promotes the Deanship of Distance Learning‟s ability to financially reward faculty members for their participation, innovation and performance in the DL field.

2.00 1.00

17

The promotion of the Deanship of Distance Learning role (as the central authority for all DL regulations at the university) enforces cooperation between DL departments and colleges and entails more consistency in the DL regulations which helps the Deanship of Distance Learning to oblige DL colleges to communicate any activities related to students‟ career and professional developments to the Deanship of Distance Learning to be able to disseminate such activities to DL students in the concerned colleges.

1.50 1.00

18

The promotion of the Deanship of Distance Learning role (as the central authority for all DL regulations at the university) enforces cooperation between DL departments and improves recognition and responses to students‟ needs through student service departments.

1.50 1.00

19

Online testing services on the part of the Deanship of Distance Learning ought to benefit from enforcing cooperation between DL departments and colleges and the Deanship of Distance Learning by providing a controlled channel that allows online products (that include online testing) to be enhanced based on collaborative efforts between the DL technological department and DL colleges and service departments.

2.00 0.25

20

The introduction of clear regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education that address DL evaluation schemes provides administrators with the wherewithal to ensure an evaluation scheme that is parallel to TL schemes in terms of consistency, regularity and procedures.

2.00 1.25 22

Providing freedom to faculty members to actively engage in development processes in terms of designing assessment methods and courses for their DL classes, contributes to the construction of effective assessment tools for DL student outcomes.

2.00 1.25