Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using word clouds in brainstorming on developing design thinking skills through the web environment among Taibah University students in Saudi Arabia, and the degree of design thinking skills among students. The lesson of E-learning course was developed in two different modes, brainstorming via the web and virtual classes. Quasi experimental factorial design was adopted in this research. The independent variables were the two modes of courseware (the mode brainstorming through a word cloud, and the second mode virtual classes). The dependent variables were the design thinking skills. The study sample consisted of 72 students and were randomly (simple random sample) selected from ten classrooms. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to analyse the collected data through the SPSS software. Analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) were performed to examine the main effects of the independent variables (Brainstorming) on the dependent variables (Design thinking skills). The findings of this study showed that students using the brainstorming via the web mode performed significantly better than those in the virtual classes mode. And that the students have a moderate degree of design thinking.