Digital inequality in context: A socio-technical analysis of Arab students’ remote learning in Israel

The COVID-19 pandemic's shift to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) via platforms like Zoom created a global, real-world test for digitally mediated learning. This study provides an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted psycho-academic impacts on a particularly vulnerable population: Arab students in Israel, a minority group facing pre-existing socioeconomic and digital disparities. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with 30 students, I analyzed their lived experiences. To make sense of these narratives, I employ a hierarchical theoretical framework where the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) serves as the primary organizing lens, supported by Bourdieu’s theories of capital to explain structural inputs and Cognitive Load Theory to explain psychological mechanisms. The findings reveal a "double-edged sword" experience. A subset of students successfully leveraged the flexibility of recorded lectures to enhance their academic performance. However, the majority confronted significant barriers. Core challenges included heightened extraneous cognitive load resulting not from the technology itself, but from the collision of the technology with environmental distractions and technical failures. Crucially, the experience amplified a perceived resource gap with Jewish peers. By mapping participants' specific digital and domestic conditions against their academic outcomes, I demonstrate that "Zoom fatigue" in this context is a socially constructed phenomenon. I conclude that remote learning's effects are profoundly shaped by the user's socio-technical context, highlighting the urgent need for policies that prioritize digital equity.