Challenges Faced by Disabled Students in Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought changes to the scenario of teaching and learning in schools and higher institutions of education. The shift from face-to-face traditional mode to online platforms has brough many challenges along with it. This 'new norm' of pedagogy has also posed challenges to disabled students in higher learning institutions across Malaysia especially when using online platforms to study. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the mental and emotional challenges and learning problems faced by disabled students in online classes during the current pandemic. Fifteen disabled students of various disabilities from universities participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were employed to interview the participants and the collected data was analysed qualitatively using the self-determination theory. The findings showed that most of the disabled students

Exploration of In-Service Teachers’ Preparedness and Perceived Challenges about Inclusive Education in the United Arab Emirates

“…Furthermore, the lack of feedback from their teachers made the learning process much more difficult because the special needs students primarily depended on the teachers' and colleagues' feedback during their educational activities. Similar issues were noticed in recent studies (Bakaniene et al, 2022;Paramasivam et al, 2022), wherein the special needs students reported mental stress challenges because they were not familiar with online teaching mediums such as Skype, Zoom and Google Meet. Further, they were not familiar with other modern electronic gadgets used for online learning.…”

“…Further, a considerable number of teachers across the globe, including those in the education sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were not prepared enough for the drastic transition from face-to-face teaching to the online mode of instruction (Erfurth & Ridge, 2020;Dawson & Heylin, 2022;Maatuk et al, 2022). The requirements for inclusive education, which teachers achieved through their direct physical help in the classroom, became a challenge for teachers with the online mode of instruction (Yazcayir & Gurgur, 2021;Paramasivam et al, 2022). In the UAE context, there is a dearth of studies related to inservice teachers' preparedness and the challenges they face in inclusive education.…”

A Pragmatic Approach to Academic Challenges of Students with Visual Impairment during Covid-19: Teacher’s Experiences

“…Teachers in the current study also reported that the students with visual impairment face difficulty in accessing the lectures during online teaching. It was revealed through interviews that sudden introduction of online classes for these students, was an obstacle for which they were ill-equipped (Paramasivam et al, 2022).…”

“…The disabled students must overcome emotional setbacks, isolation, exacerbated mental health, lack of confidence and anxiety, so they can effectively familiarize to the new learning challenges to which they have been newly introduced. Some challenges related to the topics mentioned earlier include, the lack of communication between the teachers and students, uninterrupted internet connection and the need to adapt to a completely new environment (Paramasivam et al, 2022).…”

“…The welfare and security for all students need to be given to excel in their education. The time has arrived for the teachers, students and authorities to accept the challenging circumstances and find pragmatic solutions (Paramasivam et al, 2022).…”