The Effectiveness of Distance Learning (BlackBoard) in Pursuing the Educational Process at Taif University During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing the COVID-19 pandemic as it is trying with all its efforts to pursue higher education in its universities and schools through distance learning. The current research tried to investigate Taif University experience in distance learning and the effectiveness of BlackBoard in pursuing education in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic from the viewpoints of teachers and students. To achieve this goal, the descriptive survey approach was used. Two questionnaires were designed. A random sample was chosen from all colleges of the university. The sample consisted of 240 faculty members and 804 students. The results showed great effectiveness of BlackBoard in pursuing education from the viewpoints of faculty members and to a very great degree from the students' point of view. No impact of the two variables (gender, rank) appeared in the viewpoints of faculty members in that effectiveness. Male students' viewpoints were higher than those of females, and the viewpoints of Master's students were higher than those of undergraduate students on this effectiveness.