INVESTIGATING TEACHER'S BELIEFS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP DISTANCE EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Distance education (henceforth, DE) involves technological, organizational, social, educational, and psychological dimensions, and its success depends on teachers' beliefs about it. So the teacher's beliefs about DE play a critical role in bringing about a change in the system of teaching and learning process. The study concentrates on teachers in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, to scrutinize their beliefs about DE. This study included (107) teachers in different stages of education. It used an online questionnaire to assess teachers' beliefs about DE Questionnaire was finalized in the form of (24) statements that address the following parameters: Beliefs about the importance of using DE, Beliefs about creating the teaching experience, beliefs about expected benefits of DE, and beliefs about learner strengthening. The study found that teachers' beliefs are generally geared toward adopting DE. Teacher's beliefs do not affect by gender or teaching experience, but there are differences in the arithmetic means between teachers belonging to scientific fields and humanities fields which were for teachers who belong to scientific fields. The study recommended that to encourage teachers, especially in humanities, to use training programs related to DE to strengthen their positive beliefs toward ED utilization, and to help them overcome the difficulties that may prevent them from using DE efficiently.