Examining the Educational User Interface, Technology and Pedagogy for Arabic Speaking Children in Kuwait

Amandeep Dhir (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Asmaa Alsumait (Kuwait University, Kuwait)

Abstract: The emergence of educational technology has resulted in a widespread popularity of different forms of education technologies among various multidisciplinary researchers. This is evident based on the high number of empirical, theoretical, and conceptual studies that are published on educational technology-related research. However, many open research questions and challenges remain unresolved. In this study, we are going to: 1) present an educational technology research agenda underpinned by extensive research and studies; 2) highlight the missing interconnections between empirical findings of published studies and the pedagogical theories; 3) discover if educational technology research is overly dominated by studies conducted in developed countries, while developing countries, for example, Arabic speaking populations in the Middle-East in general and the Gulf states, in particular, are overlooked by researchers. Based on our in-depth review of the existing literature, we will discuss the challenges of designing educational user interface, technology, and pedagogy-related research, and finally propose guidelines and recommendations for future research to overcome some of the existing challenges.

Keywords: Arab child, Arabic, child-computer interaction, educational technology, educational user interface (EUI), learning, pedagogy

Categories: H.5.0, H.5.2, L.2.1, L.3.1, L.3.4, L.3.6, L.3.8