Contribution of Technology-Rich Environments to Offset Learning Loss Among Students with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

With the recent technological progress and enormous amount of digital information and data, many countries tend to design their strategic plans to invest in technology to enhance learning outcomes on the micro and macro levels. Thus, educational institutions became highly dependent on technology, particularly on technology-rich environments, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the novelty of the topic, A mixed method was used through exploratory sequential design in two stages to explore the phenomenon in more depth by using different research tools to collect data. In the first stage, qualitative data were collected through interviews with six educational leaders; then in the second stage, the sample comprised 1,837 teachers for the collection of quantitative data. The results showed statistically significant differences in the reality of employing technology-rich environments to offset learning loss for student with disabilities. In addition, the results demonstrated teachers’ contributions to achieving technology-enhanced educational environments. Moreover, this study illustrated the challenges that arise in applying technology to offset learning loss among students with disabilities.