Online Education and Assessment: Profiling EFL Teachers' Competency in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The expanding digital era, emerging geopolitical dynamics, and the birth of the new ‘normal’ that the world has witnessed in the recent times have made the urgency of revamping the academic arena obvious to all. These developments have also made it essential for teachers to be technologically and pedagogically ready to cater to individual needs by being adaptive. This calls for identification of gaps between current pedagogical practices and best practices for the new age classrooms based on the premise that certain competencies in the teachers are essential to ensure the achievement of projected learning objectives in the paradigm of the online learning process. The study uses Ally’s (2019) Competency Profile for the Digital Teacher (CPDT) to determine the level of competency of the English Language Instructors at the ELI, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia in the online teaching-learning and assessment process. The study is quantitative in nature using a questionnaire with thirty-five items factoring to nine major themes for online teaching and eight assessment strategies (Best, 2020) that are seen by experts as competencies that teachers will need by the year 2030. The participants are 67 EFL teachers affiliated to the English language Institute, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. An exhaustive 35 item questionnaire with a section each devoted to teachers’ general, digital, and assessment competency. Results indicate that EFL teachers at the ELI, Jazan University are competent, digital literate and use online assessment at high levels. The study found only one significant difference attributed to teachers' use of technology across gender. The study recommends EFL teachers at the ELI, the university to cope with the new and emerging needs of the digital learners.