Case Study of a Student with Disabilities in a Vocational School during the Period of Online Virtual Classes due to Covid-19

Abstract

In this research we will get an insight into the achievements in mastering foreign languages for one specific student with difficulties. The student with disabilities, the foreign language teacher, the student's mother and the educational rehabilitator participated in the research. The teacher states the support of the inclusive secondary vocational school that the student attends and copes with all challenges. One of the methods used in teaching was mobile learning during the three-month online teaching period of pandemic situation caused by Covid-19. During this period Croatia was forced for the first time in history to implement online teaching. For the purpose of this study all of the students besides this student attended classes in the virtual classroom called Edmodo. Edmodo is the mobile application which is considered as a tool for mobile learning. Mobile learning means that students use their portable devices in order to learn. The interview, used as a method of data collection, was written by participants via email due to the required physical distancing. The materials were then transcribed and a quantitative data analysis was performed. Difficulties in the work of foreign language teachers have been identified, such as lack of experience, lack of teaching assistants as well as lack of additional teaching aids and specific materials and the specific teachers’ training for teaching in the contemporary inclusive school. At the end, the authors suggest guidelines for teachers in vocational schools in adopting new skills and competences in their teaching process in an inclusive school.

English language teaching and learning during Covid-19: A global perspective on the first year

“…One of the basic concerns in this process was sustaining the quality of language education in spite of the clear effects of the pandemic on English language teaching programs, pedagogy and evaluation aspects (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020). More specifically, the findings indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic presented strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for language teachers and students (Hadianti & Arisandi, 2020;Huang et al, 2021;Karakuzu et al, 2020;Moser et al, 2021;Situmorang et al, 2020;Svalina & Ivić, 2020). In emergency online teaching, the teachers used online teaching platforms and applications (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)…”

“…At the same time, online teaching of English during the pandemic created an opportunity, particularly for disabled students who needed special care. The findings suggest that when courses are designed in an inclusive way, students with disabilities benefit from such an online program (Svalina & Ivić, 2020). Apart from these benefits, the transition to online teaching due to the pandemic has increased the experience and knowledge of the teachers and students by envisioning new possibilities for the richness of language teaching, since this period necessitated creativity and collaboration in teaching from a global perspective (Yi & Jang, 2020).…”

Exclusion Reloaded: The Chronicles of Covid-19 on Students with Disabilities in a South African Open Distance Learning Context

“…Considering the already existing institutional barriers to inclusive learning for SwDs, it may be difficult to fulfil Peterson's standards. Such barriers, as also identified by the lecturers interviewed in Svalina and Ivic [37], include lack of experience, lack of teaching assistance, lack of additional teaching aids and specific materials, as well as lack of specific lecturer's training for lecturing in the contemporary inclusive environment.…”

“…The novel nature of the Covid-19 and the forced transition into full online mode [4] probably did not afford the university time to consider Peterson's recommendations. This also emphasizes lack of experience, lack of teaching assistance, as well as lack of specific lecturer's training for lecturing in the contemporary inclusive environment [37], as major barriers to inclusive education during this pandemic.…”

Emergency remote education in foreign and second language teaching

“…Besides, the publications reporting students' appreciation of instructional practices (SAPR+) remarkably outnumbered those which reported the opposite (SAPR-). Appreciation may be due to specific circumstances when, for example, students do not need to travel arduously to schools (Shahzad et al, 2020) or the new modality is actually advantageous for disabled learners compared to learning in physical classrooms (Svalina & Ivić, 2020). Lastly, more studies reported that students receive sufficient instructional support from their teachers in ERT (SSUP+) than those reported the opposite (SSUP-).…”