The purpose of this study is to investigate student experience with the Internet, and their attitudes towards using it, in an attempt to determine the impact of these experiences and attitudes on their view of the implementation of blended learning. Data from 142 Saudi students at a leading university in Saudi Arabia were collected via an online questionnaire. The results reveal that students have both experience with and positive attitudes towards using the Internet. Demographic variables had no effect on these attitudes, but experience variables showed significant effects. Interestingly, there were mixed interactions regarding student study year; negatively with Internet experience and positively with preference for the implementation of blended learning. Neither experience with the Internet nor program of study appeared to influence student preference for blended learning but age, study year, and attitudes towards the Internet were associated with positive attitudes towards blended learning. Importantly, students in the present study supported the implementation of blended learning, but not entirely online learning. Student attitudes towards the Internet in general appeared to influence their attitude to learning approaches that use the Internet in blended learning environments. Discussion of these results is presented with suggested implications.

This study aims to investigate student satisfaction with using online discussion forums (ODFs). It also aims to examine the relationships between student satisfaction with using ODFs and student demographics as well as with their experience with ICT and online education. Data are collected from 2171 students from four leading universities at Saudi Arabia through using an online survey. Overall, the results indicate that students are satisfied with using ODFs in their learning. In addition, student satisfaction with using ODFs had significant relationships with the majority of student demographics and experience with ICT variables. Interestingly, all student experience with online education variables had significant and positive relationships with student satisfaction with using ODFs. However, factors such the availability of the Internet, preference of traditional learning, life commitments, and experience with ICT and online education may affect student satisfaction with using ODFs.