This empirical study examines the role of educational technologies in connecting male and female university campuses in Saudi Arabia. In order to do so, it addresses the research question: What are the outcomes, ramifications and implications of the ways in which educational technologies have been employed to reconfigure social relations between male and female campuses in Saudi Arabia? This question is answered by a naturalistic study of a state university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, based on analysis of interviews, observations and documents. From an analysis of the data following the guidelines of the grounded theory technique, two themes emerged: (a) the influence of social relations on the way educational technologies are developed and used, so as to sustain certain aspects of the social structure; (b) the reciprocal influence of the technologies so developed and used on other aspects of the social structure. Considering both themes leads to a theoretical proposition that educational technologies might be introduced to preserve particular components of the social configuration, although once introduced, these technologies might impinge in return upon other components of the social configuration.

This interdisciplinary work lies at the intersection of education, technology and political sociology. It is intended to contribute to the politicisation of educational technologies, something that so far seems not to have explicitly constituted a major component of the international contemporary theoretical literature. It addresses the research question: How have higher education components acted politically (and/or been politically acted upon) in relation to educational technologies? This question is addressed through a naturalistic investigation of a Saudi university, analysing interviews, observations and documents. Analysis of the raw data in line with the grounded theory approach pointes to four key themes: Politicising Actors, De-Politicising Actors, Politicised Actors and De-Politicised Actors. From these themes can be grounded a theory: that educational technologies entail a political game involving either players or played. This can imply that, in Saudi academic circles, political power appears not to have been fairly distributed. The political recommendation therefore is that there is a need, at least temporarily, for prioritisation of a ‘left-wing politics’ of educational technologies that seeks political fairness.

This article looks into the claim that the international academic community of educational technologies seems to have functioned in a “tribal” way, having formed themselves around tribe-like patterns. It therefore addresses the research question: What are these claimed tribe-like practices that such a community exhibits? This question is answered qualitatively, examining empirically the habits of three Saudi Arabian Bedouin real tribes, followed by empirical comparison of these tribal habits with the habits of the academic community of educational technologies. Having analysed the data using the grounded theory approach, three key themes emerged: Cultural Similarities between Tribes and Academic Communities; Political Similarities between Tribes and Academic Communities; and Social Similarities between Tribes and Academic Communities. Having considered these themes collectively with reference to the existing literature, a theoretical proposition has been grounded: that academic communities are similar to tribes in the sense that all, naturally, constitute themselves in ethnic groups characterised by distinct cultural, political and social norms. The implication is thus that such communities are, at least partially, culturally, politically and socially different. Echoing such an implication, the recommendation is not to seek to remove such cultural, political and social differences and therefore make them act as one, but rather to foster cross-community cultural, political and social exchange and therefore learning.

This work looks into the culturalisation of educational technologies, a subject that appears thus far to not have received sufficient attention from the international academic community. It is structured around the research question: How have educational technologies been exposed and subjected to the influence of societal cultures? This question is addressed by a qualitative case study of a Saudi state university, analysing its documents, interviewing its members and observing its daily social-academic dynamics. The data were interrogated using the grounded theory approach. This method of analysis thus singled out two main themes: The Influence of Societal Cultures on Educational Technologies and The Influence of Educational Technologies on Societal Cultures. A theoretical proposition arises from these themes; that the field of educational technology is a fertile ground for anthropological and historical enquiry, with possibilities for mutual feedback between societal cultures and educational technologies. The recommendation is that researchers and commentators in the field of educational technologies seek to benefit from anthropological and historical ways of thinking.

This article is informed by the Fun Theory, a theory that calls for the institutionalisation of fun in social settings. It highlights how the academic and non-academic literature shows some individuals to find the practice of graffiti to be fun. It then attempts to build an empirical framework for the idea of institutionalising this fun practice in the social settings of the higher education sector. It addresses the research question: To what extent does the institutionalisation of graffiti in the societal culture of higher education institutions enhance public expression among members through their reflection on daily social and academic life? This question was addressed by a semester-long experiment, wherein graffiti was incorporated into the day-to-day social activity of a Saudi public university, by officially allocating certain walls that members could legally write upon and, further, draw whatever they wanted. The experiment appeared to be fruitful in the sense that the allocated walls were full of writings and drawings, enabling and promoting among members a sense of public articulation based on consideration of their own daily academic and social experience. Thus, it could be suggested that the Fun Theory in general and the institutionalisation of graffiti in particular could hold value for organisations in general and for higher education institutions in particular.

Este trabajo contiene una serie de normas entendidas como directrices para vivir y comportarse correctamente entre los Saudís y/o para entender su cultura. La mayoría de éstas reglas han estado durante mucho tiempo sin escribirse y solo verbalmente comunicadas de uno a otro. Como resultado, visitantes de Arabia Saudita no han sido capaces de seguir estas reglas de manera apropiada. Aquellos interesados en los Saudís o en su civilización han informado no comprender ni reconocer estas normas. Por tales razones, estas reglas deben ser deletreadas en negritas. Esta publicación se ha escrito para responder a esta necesidad, así como para informar al púbico en general sobre la naturaleza de los roles de géneros y las relaciones en este país. Cada cultura se rige por un código de conducta interno, y este trabajo ofrece el primer código escrito de la sociedad Saudí. Es el producto de observaciones cercanas a las actividades diarias y más de 2,000 entrevistas con nacionales y residentes, durante los últimos cuatro años. Este código muestra 666 (muchas veces no registradas anteriormente) normas de cómo el cuerpo humano debe actuar dentro de Arabia Saudita. Cubre todo de arriba hasta abajo; el rostro, ojos, oídos, boca, extremidades y genitales. Estas reglas deben ser cuidadosamente consideradas si alguien desea estar dentro del circulo de los Saudís. Para facilitar la lectura, este libro es presentado ‘enlistado’ (una pieza de escritura presentada en forma de una lista numerada o con viñetas).

This thesis seeks to contribute to the field of learning management system (LMS) development in tertiary educational institutions, particularly to advance the adoption of learning management systems (LMSes) by exploring the incorporation of socially-motivated discussion forum models. This study proposes a Web-based application, which includes four different discussion forum models for LMSes, in order to test usability and student preferences. First of all, I thank Allah (Subḥānahu wa ta'āla), for giving me the strength and ability to complete this Master's dissertation. I owe sincere thanks to my research advisor, DR. Hussein Suleman, for his patience, continuous guidance and all the support that he has extended to me during my time at the University of Cape Town. From the time I started studying he has been helpful and supportive, which has meant a great deal to me. I am especially gratefully that our meetings always left me a more motivated and enlightened student. He shared a lot of his knowledge with me, so I have learnt much and gained many academic skills. I would like to express my love and gratitude to my father Meshari Almukhaylid, my mother Nada Alkawari, my sisters Munierah, Shaimaa, Shatha and my brother Mansour for their support and sacrifices while I was studying. Without their encouragement, I would not have had the chance to complete my studies. And I cannot thank my best friend, Nawal Alhaidari, enough, for supporting me throughout my project. I wish to extend my appreciation to my alma mater, King Faisal University, for giving me the opportunity to study abroad, to the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia as well as the Saudi Cultural Mission in Cairo for their invaluable support. Special thanks are extended to every participant, for their time and effort offered during the experiment. I am also thankful to my family, friends and everyone who wished me well and hoped for my success.

The increasing use of social media for learning purposes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has opened new horizons for self-learning. Although several affordances are associated with social media use, there remains limited understanding of the social affordance's users enjoy from social media, specifically, users engaged in informal learning-a free-choice learning option where learners participate in activities voluntarily. Being aware of these social affordances can improve our understanding on how social media users learn informally as they draw upon those affordances. This study identifies the social affordances of social media when presented as an informal learning tool to learners; and in so doing, seeks to respond to the question What are the social affordances of social media tools in an informal learning context? Following a descriptive systematic literature review synthesis as a methodological approach, the literature on social media and informal learning from an information system (IS) perspective were identified and analyzed to identify the social affordances. The findings show thirteen social affordances which online users enjoy in informal learning context when using social media. Given that social media was not designed for learning purposes, these findings contribute towards the discussion of social media as a learning tool by providing a descriptive contribution on the social affordances enabled by these platforms.