Uncovering Synergistic Educational Injustices of COVID-19 and AI
This research addresses educational inequality for students in higher education, but it is incremental as it applies existing methods to new data.
The study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic and AI proliferation in Iranian higher education have created hidden educational inequalities and cognitive disorientation, as revealed through student narratives.
Grounded in critical realism and using narrative inquiry, this article explores this article explores the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence within higher education. Through the analysis of student narratives collected in Iranian university settings, the study reveals that learning experiences during and after the pandemic, coupled with unprepared exposure to AI tools, have generated hidden yet impactful layers of educational inequality and cognitive disorientation.