After few years in working in the industry following my PhD, I joined King Abdulaziz University in 2014. I currently work there as an Associate Professor at the Information System Department @ Faculty of Computing and Information Technology.
Since September 2021, I have been on sabbatical leave and currently affiliated with the University of Durham in the UK as a visiting scholar.
My current research interests include: Technology Enhanced Learning, adaptive Learning, MOOC and the use of XR and other emerging technologies in education. Supervisors: Peter Blanchfield, Helen Ashamn, and Tim Brailsford Phone: +202 499-9671
This research proposes a new architecture for Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS). Arc... more This research proposes a new architecture for Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS). Architectures in the context of this thesis refer to the components of the system and their communications and interactions. The architecture addresses the limitations of AEHS regarding interoperability, reusability, openness, flexibility, and limited tools for collaborative and social learning. It presents an integrated adaptive and collaborative Web-based learning environment.
The new e-learning environment is implemented as a set of independent Web services within a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Moreover, it uses a modern Learning Management System (LMS) as the delivery service and the user interface for this environment. This is a two-way solution, whereby adaptive learning is introduced via a widely adopted LMS, and the LMS itself is enriched with an external - yet integrated - adaptation layer.
To test the relevance of the new architecture, practical experiments were undertaken. The interoperability, reusability and openness test revealed that the user could easily switch between various LMS to access the personalised lessons. In addition, the system was tested by students at the University of Nottingham as a revision guide to a Software Engineering module. This test showed that the system was robust; it automatically handled a large number of students and produced the desired adaptive content. However, regarding the use of the collaborative learning tools, the test showed low levels of such usage.
International Journal of Learning Technology, 2007
The take-up of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH) by the educators has been slow, in part due ... more The take-up of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH) by the educators has been slow, in part due to the complexity of authoring and the often short'lifetime'of the AEH software. AEH system interoperability can address these problems. This paper reports on a web services ...
International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022
Students need to monitor their progress constantly to improve their performance, and with large c... more Students need to monitor their progress constantly to improve their performance, and with large classes at university level education, both online and offline, most instructors are not able to provide individual students with progress reports other than separate assignments or exam results. Some e-learning systems track students progress; however, these traditional personalized e-learning systems hide students data; thus, students are not provided with the full picture of their progress and are unable to position themselves among their peers. This research aims to introduce a way to track English language learners progress through an interactive gamified social visualization tool in the form of a car race game without jeopardising student privacy or hiding crucial progress information. The results of this study showed that social comparison of students progress and the gamification aspects of the tool made students more engaged and motivated to win the race, which affected their academic performance positively.
Journal of Infection and Public Health, Nov 1, 2021
Background Designing a health promotion campaign is never an easy task, especially during a pande... more Background Designing a health promotion campaign is never an easy task, especially during a pandemic of a highly infectious disease such as COVID-19. In Saudi Arabia, many attempts have been made to raise public awareness about COVID-19 infection and precautionary health measures. However, most of the health information delivered through the national dashboard and the COVID-19 awareness campaigns are generic and do not necessarily make the impact needed to be seen on individuals’ behavior. Health messages need to be applicable and reverent to the individual in the audience. Objective In light of Fogg-Behavior model, this research aims to build and validate a behavior-change-based messaging campaign to promote precautionary health behavior in individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intervention messages can then be targeted appropriately during the pandemic. Methods An initial library of 32 text-based and video-based messages were developed and validated based on Fogg behavior model for behavior change. Based on this model, three groups of messages were created to reflect the model’s three theoretical concepts of motivation, ability and triggers. Each group of messages is designed to target different segment of the audience. The content of the messages was developed based on resources from the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. The validity of this content was evaluated by domain experts through the content validity index. Results Fogg-behavior model was used to segment the audience into three different groups based on their perceived ability and motivation. The three groups of messages designed for those groups were found relevant to Fogg theoretical concepts. Thirteen professional health care workers (n = 13) evaluated the content of the message libraries in Arabic and English. Thirty-two messages were found to have acceptable content validity (I-CVI = 0.87). Conclusions This research introduced Fogg Behavior Model as a behavior change model to develop targeted messages for three groups of the audience based on their motivation and ability level toward maintaining precautionary behavior during the pandemic. This targeted awareness messaging campaign can be utilized by health authorities to raise individuals' awareness about the precautionary measures that should be taken, maintain these measures and hence help in reducing the number of positive cases in the city of Jeddah.
2020 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE), Dec 16, 2020
The Web-based learning environment promises to have a profound impact on learning processes. One ... more The Web-based learning environment promises to have a profound impact on learning processes. One way in which this field of research is bringing about beneficial effects for learners is through learner modelling that offers the content and learning resources to learners depending on their learning needs and personal traits, often in an interactive manner. A number of studies have focused on the integration of learner’s learning styles and other personal traits in adaptive Web-based learning environments utilizing computer-based techniques. An important factor in these studies is to automatically predict the learning style. This paper provides a review of recent studies in learning styles modeling and prediction in e-learning systems. We identified three research questions and employed a systematic literature review technique to select and critically analyze the most relevant and important papers in automatic prediction of learning styles. An overview of learning style theories and learner modeling is provided followed by a discussion on learning styles theory selection, predictors and dimensions, and prediction and integration techniques.
This research proposes a new architecture for Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS). Arc... more This research proposes a new architecture for Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS). Architectures in the context of this thesis refer to the components of the system and their communications and interactions. The architecture addresses the limitations of AEHS regarding interoperability, reusability, openness, flexibility, and limited tools for collaborative and social learning. It presents an integrated adaptive and collaborative Web-based learning environment.
The new e-learning environment is implemented as a set of independent Web services within a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Moreover, it uses a modern Learning Management System (LMS) as the delivery service and the user interface for this environment. This is a two-way solution, whereby adaptive learning is introduced via a widely adopted LMS, and the LMS itself is enriched with an external - yet integrated - adaptation layer.
To test the relevance of the new architecture, practical experiments were undertaken. The interoperability, reusability and openness test revealed that the user could easily switch between various LMS to access the personalised lessons. In addition, the system was tested by students at the University of Nottingham as a revision guide to a Software Engineering module. This test showed that the system was robust; it automatically handled a large number of students and produced the desired adaptive content. However, regarding the use of the collaborative learning tools, the test showed low levels of such usage.
International Journal of Learning Technology, 2007
The take-up of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH) by the educators has been slow, in part due ... more The take-up of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH) by the educators has been slow, in part due to the complexity of authoring and the often short'lifetime'of the AEH software. AEH system interoperability can address these problems. This paper reports on a web services ...
International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022
Students need to monitor their progress constantly to improve their performance, and with large c... more Students need to monitor their progress constantly to improve their performance, and with large classes at university level education, both online and offline, most instructors are not able to provide individual students with progress reports other than separate assignments or exam results. Some e-learning systems track students progress; however, these traditional personalized e-learning systems hide students data; thus, students are not provided with the full picture of their progress and are unable to position themselves among their peers. This research aims to introduce a way to track English language learners progress through an interactive gamified social visualization tool in the form of a car race game without jeopardising student privacy or hiding crucial progress information. The results of this study showed that social comparison of students progress and the gamification aspects of the tool made students more engaged and motivated to win the race, which affected their academic performance positively.
Journal of Infection and Public Health, Nov 1, 2021
Background Designing a health promotion campaign is never an easy task, especially during a pande... more Background Designing a health promotion campaign is never an easy task, especially during a pandemic of a highly infectious disease such as COVID-19. In Saudi Arabia, many attempts have been made to raise public awareness about COVID-19 infection and precautionary health measures. However, most of the health information delivered through the national dashboard and the COVID-19 awareness campaigns are generic and do not necessarily make the impact needed to be seen on individuals’ behavior. Health messages need to be applicable and reverent to the individual in the audience. Objective In light of Fogg-Behavior model, this research aims to build and validate a behavior-change-based messaging campaign to promote precautionary health behavior in individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intervention messages can then be targeted appropriately during the pandemic. Methods An initial library of 32 text-based and video-based messages were developed and validated based on Fogg behavior model for behavior change. Based on this model, three groups of messages were created to reflect the model’s three theoretical concepts of motivation, ability and triggers. Each group of messages is designed to target different segment of the audience. The content of the messages was developed based on resources from the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. The validity of this content was evaluated by domain experts through the content validity index. Results Fogg-behavior model was used to segment the audience into three different groups based on their perceived ability and motivation. The three groups of messages designed for those groups were found relevant to Fogg theoretical concepts. Thirteen professional health care workers (n = 13) evaluated the content of the message libraries in Arabic and English. Thirty-two messages were found to have acceptable content validity (I-CVI = 0.87). Conclusions This research introduced Fogg Behavior Model as a behavior change model to develop targeted messages for three groups of the audience based on their motivation and ability level toward maintaining precautionary behavior during the pandemic. This targeted awareness messaging campaign can be utilized by health authorities to raise individuals' awareness about the precautionary measures that should be taken, maintain these measures and hence help in reducing the number of positive cases in the city of Jeddah.
2020 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE), Dec 16, 2020
The Web-based learning environment promises to have a profound impact on learning processes. One ... more The Web-based learning environment promises to have a profound impact on learning processes. One way in which this field of research is bringing about beneficial effects for learners is through learner modelling that offers the content and learning resources to learners depending on their learning needs and personal traits, often in an interactive manner. A number of studies have focused on the integration of learner’s learning styles and other personal traits in adaptive Web-based learning environments utilizing computer-based techniques. An important factor in these studies is to automatically predict the learning style. This paper provides a review of recent studies in learning styles modeling and prediction in e-learning systems. We identified three research questions and employed a systematic literature review technique to select and critically analyze the most relevant and important papers in automatic prediction of learning styles. An overview of learning style theories and learner modeling is provided followed by a discussion on learning styles theory selection, predictors and dimensions, and prediction and integration techniques.
Uploads
The new e-learning environment is implemented as a set of independent Web services within a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Moreover, it uses a modern Learning Management System (LMS) as the delivery service and the user interface for this environment. This is a two-way solution, whereby adaptive learning is introduced via a widely adopted LMS, and the LMS itself is enriched with an external - yet integrated - adaptation layer.
To test the relevance of the new architecture, practical experiments were undertaken. The interoperability, reusability and openness test revealed that the user could easily switch between various LMS to access the personalised lessons. In addition, the system was tested by students at the University of Nottingham as a revision guide to a Software Engineering module. This test showed that the system was robust; it automatically handled a large number of students and produced the desired adaptive content. However, regarding the use of the collaborative learning tools, the test showed low levels of such usage.
The new e-learning environment is implemented as a set of independent Web services within a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Moreover, it uses a modern Learning Management System (LMS) as the delivery service and the user interface for this environment. This is a two-way solution, whereby adaptive learning is introduced via a widely adopted LMS, and the LMS itself is enriched with an external - yet integrated - adaptation layer.
To test the relevance of the new architecture, practical experiments were undertaken. The interoperability, reusability and openness test revealed that the user could easily switch between various LMS to access the personalised lessons. In addition, the system was tested by students at the University of Nottingham as a revision guide to a Software Engineering module. This test showed that the system was robust; it automatically handled a large number of students and produced the desired adaptive content. However, regarding the use of the collaborative learning tools, the test showed low levels of such usage.