Success Criteria For Implementing Technology in Special Education: a Case Study

TL;DR

This study evaluates the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia's investments in special education technology, identifying key success factors and proposing a framework to improve implementation outcomes.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for success criteria in implementing technology in special education based on empirical data from Saudi Arabia.

Findings

Implementation levels are below expectations.

Key success factors include educator skills and administrative support.

Technical and pedagogical issues significantly impact success.

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made a large investment in deploying technology to develop the infrastructure and resources for special education. The aims of the present research were to find out the rate of return of these investments in terms of success and, based on the findings, to propose a framework for success criteria. To achieve these aims, a mixed methodology-based research was conducted. Our study found that the use of technology in special education could not reach the desired level of implementation. We found that various success criteria such as professional experience and technology skills of special educators, administrative support, assistive hardware issues and assistive software issues, pedagogical issues, and teaching style are the key influencing factors of the implementation process.