Disability laws in Saudi Arabia mandate that higher education institutions provide support for special needs learners in order to ensure educational opportunities equivalent to opportunities for their nondisabled peers. These institutions experience challenges, however, in providing the necessary support to undergraduate and postgraduate students with learning disabilities (LDs). We conducted an exploratory study to assess educational support requirements and affordances for undergraduate and postgraduate students with LDs attending institutions of higher education in Saudi Arabia. We completed semistructured interviews with 22 special needs learners diagnosed with a LD (16 undergraduate and six postgraduate). The findings suggest that additional support services are needed for undergraduate and postgraduate students with LDs attending Saudi institutions of higher education.
At the present time, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is recognised as a pressing consideration in educational establishments worldwide. Accordingly, the present research proved to be valuable to teaching staff, teachers in (Special Educational Needs) SEN and leaders in schools. This work's aim was centred on explaining and examining the viewpoints and experiences of teachers in regard to the adoption of ICT for learners with SEN (Special Educational Needs) in the overall learning setting, and identifying the relationship between inclusion and ICT. Moreover, the various approaches and conditions centred on making ICT more inclusive have been established. Qualitative interviews were carried out with a sample of twenty teachers, the findings of which suggest the adoption of ICT for learners with SEN of all ages; more specifically, computer systems were widely used for word processing alongside writing. ICT may be applied in an effort to fill the void in terms of inclusion whilst accordingly counterbalancing any contribution and differences in terms of the inclusion of those learners with SEN. However, in an effort to achieve this, there is a need for teaching to be adapted to the needs of students, with pedagogy needing to be incorporated alongside technology. In regard to further research, suggestions could include more comparable researches or researches concerning the potential of one-to-one for those students with SEN.
At a time when pandemics such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spread rapidly, the deployment of online education is essential. However, to successfully leverage online education in such times, it is important to investigate learners’ motivations and beliefs about online education and associated barriers as well as the role of religious and social values. To investigate these motivations and beliefs, this study included semi-structured interviews with 10 female undergraduate students. These interviews explored the perceptions of students with regard to their engagement with online learning and assessment amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia’s higher education system. The findings indicate that the challenges linked to the sudden shift in learning mode and changes in assessment techniques impacted students’ engagement with learning and assessment. The findings also indicate that personal challenges decreased the willingness of students to learn online, but that their beliefs about learning online were improved by the quality of online learning. The study identified that one of the most important elements of improving beliefs about online learning is open communication between students and instructors, as this contributes to shared understanding and acceptance. The results are presented and discussed in connection with current literature, research implications, and future directions.
The inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) into the regular educational system is a major concern. Hence, in the present study, the reactions of 100 qualified reqular elementary school teachers were evaluated to explore their opinions on the inclusion of students with SEN in the mainstream schools within Saudi Arabia. Moreover, these opinions were scrutinized based on certain criteria of the teachers including gender, educational level, teaching experience, knowledge and awareness about SEN, in addition to the type, character, and severity of students' SEN. The outcomes of the study showed that the level of strategies used by the male/female teachers for teaching the children with special educational needs was on an average level. The study has also shown that there are no statistically significant differences for variables such as "years of experience", "educational level", and "teachers' knowledge of teaching students with special needs. As for the variable of "gender", the study has shown statistically significant differences in favor of the female teachers. The study has also shown that mild mental disability followed by mild visual and health disabilities are the most amenable categories. However, the least amenable categories for inclusion are severe mental disability preceded directly by the behavioral disorder.
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