Covidian education: An enquiry into Arab culture

Abdulrahman Essa Al Lily, Ahmed Ali Alhazmi, Fathi Mohammed Abunasser, Hanadi Jumah Buarki, Aliaa Adel Shams Eldin Gomaa, Anas Mohammad Al Hanandeh, Shaher Rebhi Elayyan, Ayed Mohammed Alghamdi, Khawla Abdullah Almufeez, Maha Affat Aldoghmi, Nouf Abdulaziz Al Mohsen, Samia Mokhtar Mohamed Shahpo, Khaled Saad Ben-Motreb, Ahlam Mohammed Al-Abdullatif, Amani Mohammed Bukhamseen, Eman Abdulaziz Aldoughan, Sarah Saleh Almustafa, Merfat Ayesh Alsubaie, Munira Hshbel Alqhtani, Maha Saad Alsaeed, Hibah Khalid Aladsani, Mostafa Samy Amira, Lena Khaled Almotreb, Ahmed R. Elsayed, Weaam Mohamed Ismaeel and Sumaia Attia Al Hasan

Technology in Society, 2021, vol. 66, issue C

Abstract: 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’.

Keywords: Educational technology; Distance learning; Distance education; COVID; Coronavirus; Cheating (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:teinso:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s0160791x21001482

DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101673

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