Problems Facing Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Teachers in Using Educational Technologies from Their Perspective: A Field Study in the City of Benghazi

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify the problems facing male and female teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing in using educational technologies from their perspective in the city of Benghazi. It also sought to uncover the impact of variables such as gender, educational qualification, academic specialization, and the learners' degree of hearing impairment in determining these problems. The study adopted a descriptive-correlational methodology. The study sample consisted of 70 male and female teachers, purposively selected from those working at the Al-Amal Center for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing and the Sanad Center for Speech and Language Therapy in Benghazi during the academic year 2025. The study utilized Al-Tuwaijri’s (2014) scale, which consists of 38 items distributed across four domains: financial, technical, and administrative aspects; teacher-related aspects; problems related to the hearing-impaired student; and aspects related to the curriculum and lesson plans. The validity of the instrument was verified by calculating internal consistency (0.81–0.83), and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The results showed that the severity of the problems was at a moderate level across all domains. The domain of problems related to the hearing-impaired student topped the list of means, followed by the teacher-related domain, then the curriculum and lesson plan domain, and finally the financial and administrative domain. Furthermore, the results of the t-test and one-way ANOVA indicated that there were no statistically significant differences at the (0.05) level attributable to any of the variables (gender, educational qualification, academic specialization, or the learners' degree of hearing impairment). This indicates that these problems are of a general institutional and organizational nature that transcends individual differences among teachers. The study recommended activating educational supervision, organizing specialized training courses, and developing study plans to effectively integrate educational technologies into the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing.