Influence of assistive technology applications on dyslexic students: The case of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Saudi Arabia, the COVID-19 pandemic forced students with dyslexia to complete their learning through online applications, like their peers without dyslexia. This study explores the influence of assistive technology (AT) on improving the visual perception (VP) and phonological processing (PhP) abilities of students with dyslexia. Three learning applications were used (Google Classroom, Zoom, and Quizlet) as AT platforms. A quantitative approach was adopted based on a quasi-experimental design. Single-subject experimental methods were used to examine the influence of AT on improving students' VP, PhP, and frequency of access (FA). Fourteen students with dyslexia who were selected as participants through purposeful sampling were divided into two experimental groups based on gender. The results showed that AT influenced the VP, PhP, and FA in both experimental groups. Girls scored higher than boys in VP, PhP, and FA, and a positive correlation was found between VP and PhP with AT applications among girls and boys. A simple linear regression analysis showed that a significant and positive relationship exists between FA and the VP and PhP abilities of students with dyslexia through AT applications.

Covidian education: An enquiry into Arab culture

This article constructs a cultural framework for Arab education amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Such education occurs inside private homes, raising privacy-related methodological challenges to research. To bypass these, numerous researchers were recruited to collect qualitative data from within the homes of friends and relatives. They collected large-scale data (2304 observations and 1292 interviews) and examined 1422 initiatives taken to facilitate education during the pandemic. In addition, they scrutinised 1390 relevant witticisms, on the basis that the humour of a culture is an indicator of public feeling. Data analysis reveals the existence of ‘covidian education’;this is digital and, thus, less tangible than pre-covidian education, necessitating spatial and temporal rearrangements. It is parent-centred, adding educational responsibilities to parents' workloads. It undermines integrity, with parents taking examinations on children's behalf. Being home-based, it compromises the privacy of students' and teachers' residences. It modifies gender relations, eliminates existing actors and welcomes new stakeholders. Compared to pre-covidian education, it is culturally dissimilar and educationally inferior. It presents ‘façades’ of positive experiences that mask negative realities, and does students more harm than good. We find that unprecedented issues arise in relation to ‘covidian natives’ (whose education comprises solely the covidian form) and ‘covidian graduates’.