Experiences of Parents and Teachers with Virtual Classrooms during the COVID-19 Restrictions: A Study Focusing on Inclusive Education in Malaysia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in emergency remote teaching in many countries. In Malaysia, not all households were prepared for remote teaching. This has caused some groups of students to be left out. Therefore, in this study we aim to investigate the experiences of parents and teachers concerning inclusiveness of the education delivered via virtual classrooms during the pandemic time in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed online to gather feedback from parents, teachers and anyone having both roles. 379 respondents completed the questionnaire. The findings indicate that stable Internet access, adequate information and communications technology (ICT) competencies among teachers and parents, and a more holistic role of the Ministry of Education could contribute to implementing a more inclusive remote teaching. Statistical data showing significant associations suggest that parents and teachers having master’s degree and above tended to be more concerned with providing inclusive remote teaching to the students. Readiness in making virtual classrooms more inclusive was higher among those teaching science and mathematics subjects than those teaching art and humanities subjects. An implication of this study is to guide the implementation of digital teaching and learning in the future, considering the involvement of policy makers, researchers, teachers, and parents.

Assessing Teachers’ Practices in Providing Inclusive Online Education: Development and Validation of an Instrument Based on Inclusive Practices among Teachers in Malaysia

“…The affective domain. Previous studies investigating online teaching have revealed that teachers who possessed a higher level of affection were more likely to be aware of the unique challenges faced by students in an online teaching and learning environment [6][7][8]19,[38][39][40]. Some teachers in these studies were willing to learn more so that they could make necessary changes to adapt to the diversity among their students and address inequality by providing, for example, an asynchronous mode of teaching and learning and various digital contents that helped students to understand better, and so forth.…”

“…Due to COVID-19 restrictions, traditional face-to-face teaching had to be switched to online teaching. It has been a challenge for many teachers to ensure that all students attending classes on digital platforms receive the same and equal opportunities to learn, as they did before the pandemic, in physical classrooms [6][7][8][9]. On 5 May 2023, the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern [10], and many schools had even returned to traditional face-to-face teaching when restrictions were lifted before this…”

What Is Known about Assistive Technologies in Distance and Digital Education for Learners with Disabilities?

“…In the case of the educational inclusion of people with special needs, distance education can become a real opportunity to actively participate in learning along with the rest of the population [20,21]. Such a process, according to the information provided, should be accompanied by educational designs and assistive technologies that balance the inequalities of social and family origins of people with special educational needs, the differences in pedagogical capacities for technology-mediated education, and skills in the use of emerging technologies designed for various types of disability [22][23][24].…”

Role of Administrators in Blended learning in Higher Education Institution

“…To address the difficulties and resource needs of institutionalizing blended learning, administrators must also enable collaborations with other institutions (Lim & Wang, n.d.). An extensive number of financial resources, technological infrastructure, and pedagogical and technical assistance are needed for the integration of blended learning at a higher education institution (Phua et al, 2022). Administrators can actively look for relationships with other institutions to exchange knowledge, work together to solve problems and obtain funding for blended learning programs (Romero-Hall & Ripine, 2021).…”