Abstract
The present study aims to develop the skills of the cloud computing applications and the knowledge economy among the university students by designing a participatory electronic learning environment. A sample was chosen from the students of the "General Diploma" in the Faculty of Education, King Khalid University. This sample was divided into two groups; experimental group that comprised of 15 students trained through the participatory e-learning environment; whereas, the control group comprised of 17 students, who were trained through the Blackboard Learning Management System. Skills for cloud computing applications and a knowledge economy skills scale were developed. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Mann was used for identifying the normality test of variables. Whitney test and Spearman correlation test were used to analyze the results, which indicated that the design of a participatory e-learning environment based on the theory of communication contributed to improve the skills level of cloud computing applications and knowledge economy skills. The results showed that participatory e-learning environment based on the theory of communication significantly contributes towards improving the skills level of cloud computing applications and knowledge economy skills among the students from Saudi Arabian universities. Moreover, future studies need to focus on blueprint in the context of the educational system of Saudi Arabia.