Educational Technology: A Way To Enhance Student Achievement At The University Of Bahrain

Educational Technology can empower teachers and learners, promote change and foster the development of twenty-first century skills. Improving education quality is a priority for most developing countries in which governments are facing a challenge to identify efficient ways to use their scarce resources and raise the quality of education. Data to support these beliefs are still limited, especially in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the other Gulf countries. Therefore, the current research aims to investigate the current situation regarding using Educational Technology at the University of Bahrain from the following aspects: the Educational Technology adopted by the university in the teaching and learning processes, obstacles facing the adoption of educational technology and the effects of Educational Technology on student achievement and academic staff teaching effectiveness. The results show that at the University of Bahrain, student learning and achievement have been affected when the teaching and learning processes are enhanced by Educational Technology. Educational Technology has motivated the students to get more involved in learning activities through which they become more active and more interested in learning. Moreover, the academic staff believe that adopting such technologies can enhance their communication with the students, reduce the teaching pressure caused by the course material preparation and make the lecture material available at the time of the discussion. However, the findings demonstrate some impediments facing both the students and instructors in adopting Educational Technology at the University of Bahrain, such as the insufficient ICT infrastructure and computing facilities, lack of sufficient technology budget and IT investment, and technical support.