Arabic Tweets Sentiment Analysis about Online Learning during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic can be considered as the greatest challenge of our time and is defining and reshaping many aspects of our life such as learning and teaching, especially in the academic year of 2020. While some people could adapt quickly to online learning, others consider it to be inefficient. The re-opening of schools and universities is currently under consideration. However, many experts in many countries suggested that at least one semester should be online, during the pandemic. Understanding the public's emotional reaction to online learning has become significant. This paper studies the attitude of people of Saudi Arabia towards online learning. We have used a collection of Arabic tweets posted in 2020, collected mainly via hashtags that originated in Saudi Arabia. Our sentiment analysis has shown that people have maintained a neutral response to online learning. This study will allow scholars and decision makers to understand the emotional effects of online learning on communities.